Environmental Product Review #1: Our first LED lightbulb

The spiral glow of a CFL may be an icon in the green energy movement but I just don't like them. They consume less energy and make a good environmental choice on that level, but they suck in that they contain mercury, requiring special precautions when they break or are disposed and also that they can burn out spectacularly & pose fire hazards Incandescent bulbs are being phased out in Ontario by 2012, though, so we needed an option.

For the past year I've been emailing green stores in Toronto saying "are we there yet", looking for a reasonably priced residential LED bulb. Given that an LED bulb can last 10K hours or more and draws about 6 watts, reasonably priced is still pretty freaking high which seems to have kept them out of reach for local retailers. Finally, at the green living show I found the wise and very friendly people at Green & Clean Energy Co. Ltd and their glorious $40 bulb.

Not a typo. Forty freaking dollars. Fortunately the wine garden was close at hand.

Took a deep breath and brought one home. My first impression was that I disagreed with the claim that they're balanced to sunlight. Sunlight on my planet doesn't look like this. This is a very bad photo, the light it cast is brighter than this, enough to see and read comfortably by. Still, you can see how it might give one the willies.



The plastic dome (cool to the touch) covers three tiny pin lights. (don't look directly at them, really really) Tinted domes are available to give a more incandescent glow but we went for the honest light. After about two days we agreed that it's better described as moonlight, perhaps a little poetic but just how it looks to us. Everything it illuminates looks clearer and more real than items in other rooms. As we've got used to the LED, the incandescent and CFL (don't like them, still have them, won a gift pack and don't like wasting resources) lights now look strange by comparison. And as we're able to we'll be replacing all bulbs with LEDs. We crunched the numbers on it and although the replacements will mean that the bulbs in each fixture will often cost more than the fixtures themselves, the energy savings alone pays for each bulb within the first one to two years. The bulbs may then last up to 20 years of nearly free light, which makes them initially expensive but excellent value.

Because we're nerds, we've even had friends and neighbours over to stare at our bulb. The general first impression is a) it's really nifty, b) it's too expensive and c) we're insane for having bought it. After explaining the value of it most people let up on point c and a little on point b, but it will likely take a price break to get these bulbs into the minds and then hands of the masses.