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Behold, the $15 LED bulb
Lighting Science Group teams up with Indian electronics manufacturer Dixon Technologies to unveil the world's first $15-or-less 60-watt equivalent LED bulb.
Tue, Aug 30 2011 at 2:00 PM
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Photo courtesy Lighting Science Group/Dixon Technologies
Even though some LED (or light-emitting diode) light bulbs boast lifespans that last decades while consuming minimal energy compared to old school incandescent bulbs, their price — often hovering around the $40 mark — has remained a sticking point with many consumers. Sure, the savings in the long run are remarkable, but who really wants to spend more than $20 on a single light bulb?
Well, meet the latest creation from the geniuses over at Lighting Science Group: an omnidirectional, 60-watt equivalent A19 LED bulb with a sticker price of $15 or less. That's right, folks — a $15 LED.
Developed in cooperation with Indian electronics manufacturing giant Dixon Technologies, this low-priced, high-performance bulb with a lifespan of around eight years will initially be released in India later this year before making its way stateside and elsewhere in early 2012. The revolutionary bulb is designed to consume 85 percent less energy than standard 60-watt incandescents and 35 percent less energy than CLFs.
Says Atul Lall, deputy managing director of Dixon Technologies, in an official news release:
With 800,000,000 incandescent light bulbs and 300,000,000 CFLs sold in India each year, the market is ripe for these highly efficient, long lasting and nontoxic products. The economic and environmental implications of this partnership are significant: old-style light bulbs use 60 billion units of electricity each year, 7% of India’s total, and our Lighting Science Group Definity® lamps could save over 70% of that, equivalent to 32 coal fired plants with 500MW capacity.
The tag-team effort between Florida-based Lighting Science Group, the same company that teamed up with Google for the Android-controlled LED and is helping to sponsor the U.S. Solar Decathlon, and Dixon will help transform India, a country that relies heavily on coal-fired power plants and plans to build 80 new ones in the next five years, into “an early, large-scale adopter of LED technology" according to Jim Haworth, CEO of Lighting Science Group. Haworth also believes that the 60-watt equivalent bulbs and other LED lighting solutions (street lights, outdoor and industrial fixtures, etc.) produced by his company and Dixon are poised to become “some of the best selling lighting products in the world.”
Read more about this exciting new development here.
Also on MNN:
- What's the difference between CFLs, LEDs and incandescents?
- Which bulb is most efficient, and why?
- And learn more about LED bulbs here
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
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Every year our local electric company gives each of their customers that walks in and pays their December bill a free 4 pack of CFL bulbs...over the last 4 years I've rebulbed every light fixture in the house. My electric bill is $20/month less today than it was 4 years ago....even with the rate hikes. Small minds never lead.
1 small mind may not win, but 100,000 will have a large impact. Thank you for being forward looking.
Amen! from Another USN Tech 1960s. nice to hear another Forward looking person. Those like us Can Change the world.
Great price, and I'm sure Soro's "Greenies" are very happy. Know who is not happy? The children in the manufacturing plants in India working their fingers to the bone making these bulbs for pennies a day. Great idea Georgie boy, once again cackling all the way to the bank.
Are these "60W" LED bulbs DIMMABLE ????
If I can't dim them, they are useless to me.
Any LED lighting in dimmable with some smarts. And the smarts cost pennies to the dollar.
Yes, they are dimmable.
No, I doubt they are. For that price they have probably cut out the dimming circuitry. Don't conflate these bulbs with LSG's other products that cost considerably more. Plus the dimming other LSG products have is not very good.
Still too much, I'll never buy one. Glad I stocked up on the bulbs I like. I have enough to last for years.
Thanks for adding to greenhouse gases dimwad.
Good don't. Move away to the dark ages. Better for the rest of the world to watch you move to the dark ages. The more Americans move backwards the better for the rest of the world.
But you spend several times more in electricity. If you switched, you would save LOTS of money if that is important to you. I realize some people don't switch because they don't like the light the new bulbs produce (too harsh, time to warm up, etc.).
Why did you even mention if they were dimmable as your last response pretty much said that you wouldn't buy them anyway.
Your wiring has no effect on bulb lifetime. I don't know where you got that idea, but it is completely false.
The technology associated with incandescent lighting and LED lighting is amazing in that your aluminum wiring will not have the amperage going across it. Therefore, your lights will not blow out. Also, since there isn't the same type of a filament inside a LED light, your problem is solved using LED lighting.
Since LED draws less current, they will lessen the load on your wiring. Less load on your wiring means that wiring does not heat up. When aluminum wiring gets warmer, the resistance gets higher. So LED bulbs would help your problem compared to the incandescent bulbs causing it. Your choice.
You know that LED lights wouldn't "blow" at all right. Unlike the incandescent heaters, there's no filament to burn through.
hmmm, we use LEDs at work for illumination and I've seen them "blow". Also, ever look at the new LED stoplights and seen the dark spots in them? Those are "blown" LEDs as well.
They don't "Blow" any electronic item can fail. even iPods. I started using Diodes 50 years ago ( Not light emitting ones but the Older ones that were in a Tiny Glass tube ) They sure have advanced. 10 - 15 years ago they were used as Panel lights. Mag Lights switched to LEDs years ago.
60W bulb equivalent breakeven at 12 cents/kwh and 4 hrs/day is 45 days for cfl or 1260 days for led at today's Lowes prices. If any bulb technology lasts longer than that by one day, it is economically viable. Save for the americans that can't do math. Judging from 30 years of deficit spending by both parties here and the amazing stranglehold lobbyists have over our tax dollars, that would be the majority of voting adults. Pity for the children who learn from them.
All these so-called enviro friendly products are emitting unsafe levels of electromagnetic radiation. From the led bulbs to the smart meters, they are all emitting radiation at levels that are suspect in causing cancer. Do your research.
All electrical wiring emits electrical fields. Any time current flow through wires an electrical field is created by it. If you have an LED TV it will have much greater affect then these LED bulbs. The only way to avoid electrical fields in your house is to stop using electricity.
Wow, absolutely no science education huh? You know that visible light (which you see with your whole life) is electromagnetic radiation between 390 and 740 nanometers right? You know that electromagnetic radiation and atomic radiation (where particles actually fly off the emitting substance and shred your DNA) are two very different things, right?
What a very scarey world you must live in.
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