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Panasonic's New LED Bulbs Shine For 19 Years

Posted by kdawson on from the shine-on dept.

Mike writes "As lighting manufacturers phase out the incandescent bulb, and CFLs look set to define the future of lighting, Panasonic recently unveiled a remarkable 60-watt household LED bulb that they claim can last up to 19 years (if used 5-1/2 hours a day). With a lifespan 40 times longer than their incandescent counterparts, Panasonic's new EverLed bulbs are the most efficient LEDs ever to be produced. They are set to debut in Japan on October 21st. Let's hope that as the technology is refined their significant cost barrier will drop — $40 still seems pretty pricey for a light bulb, even one that promises to save $23 a year in energy costs."

7 of 710 comments (clear)

  1. Re:ROI by ShooterNeo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But compact fluorescents cost $2, save almost as much power/year, and last about 10 years. They are the most cost effective.

  2. Hope they put a capacitor in there by corsec67 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hope they put a capacitor in there with a bridge rectifier instead of just ignoring half of the 50/60 Hz cycle.

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  3. LED diffusion problems by bzipitidoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The LED lights I've seen are too directed. They don't light up a room all that well. Whatever spot the LEDs are aimed at is more illuminated, and everywhere else less illuminated than with CFLs or incandescents.

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  4. Light temperature by jklovanc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My main problem with LEDs that I have seen is that their light is to cold and white. It hurts my eyes and causes migraines. I didn't see a temperature quoted in the article.

  5. Re:ROI by lazybeam · · Score: 4, Interesting

    CFLs in my house have died within a year: the ones installed in the bathroom and kitchen. They don't like the humidity and heat which is why I'm not surprised. The others have lasted since Feb 2007. Brands don't seem to matter.

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  6. Dimness by Masa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But how dim they get over time? It's pretty pointless to have a LED light that lasts 19 years, if the light gets so dim after few years that it is practically unusable.

  7. LEDs are great by DrXym · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I just built a new house which has something like 32 GU10 spotlights built into the ceilings to provide lighting. An LED bulb uses ~1/25th the power of a traditional halogen so I could be turn on every single light in the house for little more than the cost of a single halogen. The initial outlay will pay for itself in a year or two. And I don't have to be climbing up ladders or risking my neck changing they so often because they last much longer.

    The main issues to look for with LEDs is some of the cheaper ones give out a horrible ghostly white light. The box should say what colour temperature they output, and the best ones output 3200K warm white light similar to traditional incandescents. You wouldn't even know its an LED unless you stared at it. The other issue is only some bulbs work with dimmer switches, but there are models which do that too.

    The case for LEDs in other kinds of fixtures is probably less clear cut. LEDs are fairly directional so they probably require some refractive covering to be useful in hang down bulbs. But in the meantime there are plenty of CFL solutions which again save a lot more than traditional incandescents. I really don't see why anyone would bother with incandescent bulbs unless they are ignorant of how much money they're losing or they have have highly specific needs that other kinds of bulbs do not provide.