Although it won’t be released in time to be stuffed into Michele Bachmann’s holiday stocking (darn!), here’s a new low-energy light bulb to keep an eye out for in the near future: The Panasonic LED Nostalgic Clear Type (LDAHV4L27CG).

The Nostalgic Clear Type is the Japanese electronic giant’s attempt to appease consumers scared off by the terrifying, alien forms of energy-saving light bulbs like LEDs and CLFs; folks looking for an energy-saving bulb that appears more, well, more light bulb-y. True to its name, the Nostalgic bares an uncanny resemblance to Edison's old-school incandescent filament light bulbs but with all the qualities of an A-rated, mercury-free LED: a long life of 40,000 hours (40 years give or take), 80 percent energy savings over comparable, 20W incandescent bulbs, an output of 200 lumens, and an agreeable, soft color of 2700 Kelvins. The one caveat? The Nostalgic, which uses only 4.4 watts of juice, isn’t dimmable.

 

Not to be outdone in the incandescent-mimicking game, Toshiba recently unveiled a dimmable, 40W equivalent LED bulb that, at first glance, appears to be an original Edison energy-hog (personally, I prefer the filament style of Panasonic’s Nostalgic). Although pricing and release information is not yet available, head on over to Panasonic to read more specs about this Good Design Award-winning incandescent replacement. 

Have you held off on investing in LED bulbs not because of their higher up-front cost but for reasons of aesthetics? Does the Nostalgic do it for you?