General Electric today introduced a 100-watt equivalent LED bulb which is the clearest example yet of how high-tech lighting has become. The company’s Energy Smart LED bulb consumes 27 watts to give off the same amount of light as a 100-watt incandescent lamp. It will be released in the first half of next year
. The price has not yet been set. GE’s announcement, made at the Light Fair industry conference in Las Vegas, shows how lighting manufacturers have finally cracked one of the toughest challenges in LED lighting — making lamps able to give off a lot of light in all directions. Philips today also introduced its 100-watt equivalent, as did Sylvania; both products are extensions of existing product lines and are due this summer.
The bulb will give off 1,600 lumens, has even light distribution, and a color temperature of 3000 Kelvin, which is white light. It’s rated for almost 23 years at 3 hours per day and is dimmable. Price, though, remains a challenge for broader consumer acceptance, even though LEDs pay for themselves in energy savings over their lifetime. Depending on the brightness, general-purpose LED lamps range from under $20 to $50 for Philip’s high-end LPrize LED. GE’s 9-watt LED bulb, designed to replace a 40-watt incandescent, is priced at about $50 but is available for $36 on Amazon.The push for more efficient bulbs in the U.S. stems from a 2007 law requiring higher efficiency starting in the 100-watt incandenscent bulb categor