Philips 20-Year LED Light Bulb Unveiled On Earth Day

Dutch electronics giant Philips scheduled the release of their new bulb, which the company indicates will last for 20-years, to coincide with Earth Day. The 10-watt LED (light-emitting diode) bulb won the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize” and is rated to last 30,000 hours.

The life span, when stretched over four hours per day, is equivalent to twenty years. Philips new bulb emits 940 lumens (a measure of luminous flux) of soft white light. According to Philips’ North America executive Ed Crawford, who was quoted by Y! News, the super efficient bulb is:

“83 percent more energy efficient than the standard 60-watt incandescent.”

Philips goes onto say that if the United States were to replace each and every 60-watt incandescent bulb:

“[…] the nation would save about 35 terawatt-hours of electricity or $3.9 billion in one year.”

Equivalent to taking roughly 4 million cars off the roads, the company said that the nationwide changeover would mitigate carbon missions by 20 million metric tons. Prior to the release, Crawford was quoted having said:

“Consumers are no longer looking at a product that will last just six months to a year, they are looking at a product that is much more efficient and will be with them for decades. With LED bulbs, we are looking at a wholesale change in buying lighting technology, going from a disposable good to a durable good.”

Currently, the 20 year bulbs are priced at $50, however, Philips said that it was in the process of planning discounts which would potentially bring the cost down to as little as $25.

While the price tag is obviously significantly higher than standard incandescent light bulb prices, the company said that the high initial cost would be offset by energy savings equivalent to $165 over the lifetime of each bulb.