Best summary of energy efficient light bulbs

Who's that good looking guy on TV?

I'm not sure if you've heard yet, but I'm now a famous TV star. The paparazzi have been hanging outside my home all weekend. It's all because I of my 15 second spot on this week's energyNOW! episode (seen online or on Bloomberg TV channel). I was featured in their "blogger" section and I had to answer the very difficult question, "Do efficient light bulbs save energy?". My answer, delivered like a seasoned policy analyst, was: "Yes, of course they do, it's simple math."

But enough about me, if you have any other questions about my new found fame, please send them to my assistant. Also featured was Martin LaMonica, Cnet's excellent blogger. The actual episode was very entertaining, and also featured a segment from LightFair 2011, which I also attended. The episode centered around the incandescent bulb ban that will begin to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012 and the light bulbs coming on the market to replace the 100 watt, then 60 watt, then 40 watt incandescent.

Before I watched the episode, I wasn't really aware of all the alternatives people will have to replace standard incandescents. In our next post I'll look at some of the other issues the episode brought up, but for now, here are some of the bulbs featured on the episode:

Lighting Science Group's 60 W equivalent LED that sells for $18

Switch Lighting's 100-W equivalent LED (Avail in Oct. for about $30)

Philips EcoVantage 43 watt light bulb (halogen incandescent)

Philips Halogena

GE's hybrid light bulb - Halogen and CFL

The episode "Battle of the Bulbs" from energyNOW! can be seen below:

Tags:

energyNOW!

halogen cfl

hybrid light bulb

lighting science group

switch lighting led

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/24/2011 - 18:51

Thanks for the article, this is pretty interesting information. But basically, there is still no definitive good or bad light bulb correct?

ckmapawatt Wed, 08/24/2011 - 22:12

Ummm....how do you define good/bad?

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/13/2011 - 17:06

Too bad they played up the mercury issue (at about 16:00) without talking about the (greater) mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants...

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/13/2011 - 17:15

Geez and Joe Barton - apparently incandescents are "efficient" and "not an environmental hazard" - those went mostly unchallenged. And the only way CFLs save energy is if you burn them continuously? What? argh... Wish I could do these interviews ;)

ckmapawatt Mon, 06/13/2011 - 19:49

That was definitely the most frustrating aspect, and it's one I plan to address in the next post! The guy came across as an idiot. He thinks CFLs should be the same price as an incandescent. That's comparing apples and oranges. I had these dummies who think everything should be on a "free market". There is no such thing as a truly free market when it comes to energy.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/20/2011 - 07:16

I heard that the energy efficient bulbs can be dangerous for your health, I read about it here: <a href="http://www.onlydesigned.com/f29/energy-efficient-bulbs-603/" rel="nofollow">Energy efficient bulbs</a>. I think its good that they save energy, so I hope this is all wrong?

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