Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Dimmable 120 volt LEDs for the house?

In the past there have been multiple articles on Technoracle about energy efficiency and ideas for greener, lower footprint living.  Recently we came across a number of really cool LED products that advertise they are ready to replace conventional bulbs and save consumers money while using far less energy.  We're going to test a number of them over the next year and report back.

The first item is a 120 volt, 2 watt LED Dimmable G16.5 Decorative Globe.   This is a product from TCP, which is advertised as a medium base that throws off Halogen white color.  We have ordered two of these (Cost is $17-18 each) to test to see if they do pay for themselves, which we suspect they will.


The second is a comparable product, which is also dimmable. It has slightly more power (rated at 3 watts) and is the dimmable G16.5 Decorative Globe with Candelabra Base.  This product also advertises Halogen  white light.  Our hope is that both of these are able to do the job of regular light bulbs while saving money and throwing off a light that is indistinguishable from conventional bulbs.  



Both of these are advertised as comparable to a 15 watt conventional bulb.  These should therefore be effectively reducing electrical bills by 80% and lasting much longer.  Given conventional incandescent bulbs last around 2 years and cost $1, these should have an ROI of around 4 years based on 1500 hours per year at 8c/kwh.

Technoracle will also begin testing some LED Ceiling Lights to replace conventional Halogen designs. 1000bulbs.com has these on sale for 50% below retail price today so we will order a few and report back.

3 comments:

  1. As a proud Dutchman I would like to point to one of the first 60W-replacing LED lamps by the great-grandson of Philips (yup, that electronics company): www.lemnislighting.com. Philips is now working together with them, but have also brought some LED-product-lines of themselves: http://www.prismaecat.lighting.philips.com/ecat/Light/ApplicationRouter.aspx?fh_location=//prof/en_GB/categories%3C{fepplg}/countries%3E{en_GB}/status%3E{act}/categories%3C{c_0002fepplg_75_ep01}/categories%3C{c_0002fepplg_2310_ep01lssl}/categories%3C{c_0032fepplg_2420_ep01lret}&fh_reftheme=promo_75141014,seeall,//prof/en_GB/categories%3C{fepplg}/countries%3E{en_GB}/status%3E{act}/categories%3C{c_0002fepplg_75_ep01}/categories%3C{c_0002fepplg_2310_ep01lssl}&fh_refview=summary&left_nav=gb_en& (yes I hate also the abnormal long url) and http://www.lighting.philips.nl/lightcommunity/trends/led/masterled.wpd (couldn't use google translate).
    I have used the Pharox (lemnislighting) and am very pleased while it really gives enough light and reacts very quickly when you turn it on/off. With the first generations of LED-lamps it took some time.

    So just a quick tip and really like the Lumiblade....www.lumiblade-shop.com/index.php but a little bit expensive. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Joey - you're right. That is a crazy URL!!! Have you used these for a long time and do they perform as advertised?

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  3. I have only used the Lemnis-light (Pharox : www.pharox-led.co.uk (just found this ordering site for you) and 6W LED) for 4 months and am really pleased with the amount of light and responsiveness. About the philips options I have heard good reviews and tried the smaller ones (15W replacements) for 2 months and they are fine. Not noticeably wrong...which is mostly the same as good. ;)
    Keep up posting about these kind of stuff while it is hard to find good (long-term) reviews about the performance of LED-lamps.

    Thnx!

    :D

    ReplyDelete

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