Paying $60 For A Light Bulb That Lasts 20 Years Is Kind Of A No-Brainer (Really?!)

Consumerist ^ | April 23, 2012 | By Mary Beth Quirk

[SMGFan]

After months in development, Philips is finally ready to sell LED light bulbs that last 20 years. Could be quite a game-changer — after all, if you didn't have to change a light bulb between now and when your unborn child graduates from high school, just think of all the precious minutes you could spend on other tasks. And the environment would surely thank you.

Philips put the $60-bulb on sale yesterday, which was also Earth Day, of course. The bulb uses LED — otherwise known as light-emitting diodes — to light things up, instead of filaments, reports BBC News.

[Stegall Tx]

...Edison bulbs still burning after almost 100 years

Yep. According to this story, one has been going since at least 1905, so that's 107 years so far.

[Brilliant]

I still have a computer I bought 20 years ago. The problem is obsolesence. But I say let the market decide. I don’t want Obama telling me I’ve got to buy it though.

[Sirius Lee]

I respect your opinion, I disagree, I like ice cream.

[mass55th]

"I will not buy it. I will not use them. I do not believe them."

The apartment complex my sister lived in changed all her bulbs to the new ones. I hated those new bulbs as they were dim when first turned on, and took a while to reach their full capacity. When in the bathroom, you'd basically be peeing in the dark.

[Drew68]

Compact fluorescent bulbs used to last a long time until they were all made in China. The Chinese shrinkage could bring the lifetime down to 2 years.

In 2009 I moved into an apartment that had been refurbished with a couple dozen or so CFL bulbs in the ceiling. The bulbs were brand-new when I moved in. Within a year more than half of them were burned out. The savings to my electric bill was more than negated by the cost of replacing the bulbs prior to me vacating the unit.

[SampleMan]

Put in a DC transformer for you light circuit and normal lights will last 20 years.

[Repeat Offender]

Weird......every light, but one (don’t wanna use the flash), in my house just went out moments after reading that story.

[hecht]

after bozo spends billions on them , the price will drop. LED’s are the future and CFC’s are shit

[Utah Binger]

Don't know if I dare get into this discussion. Last time I got flamed to high heaven by the incandescent experts.

We replaced 30 Halogen 75 Watt bulbs with 18, 17 Watt LED lights in our main gallery room. And an additional amount in the downstairs gallery so for 36 LED bulbs that really work with artwork. We had been looking for this type lighting for about three years but this past August we found the TCP par 38 LED. Spent about $1,500. in total. So that's the bad news.

Here's the good news. Our light bill went from $450-500 per month down to $200-250 per month. So now in the 9 months we have recouped all monies spent. An added benefit is that the air conditioning has gone practically off as halogen 90 watt bulbs put out a ton of heat.

Now we are seeing the prices beginning to tumble. So if I outlive the first thirty six I'll need to replace them all in 20 years. Doubt that will happen.

[darkwing104]

Philips put the $60-bulb on sale yesterday, which was also Earth Day, of course.

AKA Lenin's birthday...

[Outlaw Woman]

Yepper. (thx for providing that link)

But we really needed the new and improved version the govt is trying to ram down our throats...which contain mercury no less.

We’ve come along way baby...

[Don Corleone]

Yeah! It makes a lot of sense for those of us past 70. /s

[Cyber Liberty]

Let’s run the math: I can buy an incandescent light bulb that will last a year for 50 cents. In 20 years, I’ll have spent 10 bucks. Compared to 60 bucks? They think we’re pretty stupid.

[griswold3]

How do they know it will last 20 years? They only tested it for 1 1/2 years!!! LOL
Man, they really think we’re stupid!

[Quickgun]

If they can get the price down a little I will install them all over my house. I live in Texas, and we run the air conditioner 9 months out of the year. Led’s don’t get hot. I already have a couple. They will save on air conditioner costs. They also use very little electricity, so there is more savings. (that’s why led flashlights have such a long run time.)The long bulb life is only part of the advantage. Now, at the price they are, I’m in no hurry to switch over all my lamps just yet, but they will come down. The only down side I can see to them is that the light is different, and takes a bit of getting used to.

[svcw]

Nice.
LED lights work really well for illuminating art work and jewelry cases.
The lights are fantastic.
Companies are coming out with equivalent to incandescent light quality and way cheaper.
In the next few months there will be 75 watt equivalent bulbs that fit in standard sockets for around $15 and last decades.
Good job, the art looks great.

[Mr. Lucky]

...but only if you didn’t have to carry on a conversation with her.

[Stegall Tx]

I’m still working on a UPS unit big enough to run my FIOS box and TV for 8 hours. :-)

Have you seen that you can just update a standard UPS with a bigger battery (or battery stack)?

[Neidermeyer]

I have some original CFL’s that are still going after at least 15 years (US made , non-twisty ,, rectangular and 2D types) ... I’ve had Chinese made blow out on first power up ,, some have lasted as much as 5 years in a low stress environment (higher quality “natural spectrum” Chinese made .. on a timer , on 12/off 12 lighting a fish tank) ,, some have failed (ballast) ,, one actually melted the plastic base on failure. I have some LED lighting ,, the major problem seems to be the pcb ,, I have entire rows of led’s go out in an array...

[Humble Servant]

You’re just ASKING for a graphic of Helen Thomas in a Playboy bunny suit, and I’m NOT hanging around to see it!