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earth energy Group congratulates GEs World Debut of LED Bulb that Replaces 100-watt Incandescent

GE Energy Smart® 27-watt LED bulb
  • Ohio-based GE scientists, engineers and product designers worked to leapfrog the competition and go beyond industry expectations for a 75-watt incandescent replacement being introduced first
  • New 27-watt GE Energy Smart® LED bulb results from collaboration with ecomaginationSM Challenge winner Nuventix, creator of LED cooling technologies for energy-efficient lighting
 
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio – May 7, 2012 – (NYSE:GE) — GE Lighting (NYSE: GE) this week will illuminate a light-emitting diode replacement for the 100-watt incandescent light bulb—developed in its East Cleveland, Ohio, LED lab—that packages 27 watts of input power in a standard “A-19” bulb shape. The GE Energy Smart® 27-watt LED bulb incorporates proprietary synthetic jet technology that was enabled by GE’s collaboration with ecomaginationSM Challenge winner Nuventix, creator of LED cooling technologies for energy-efficient lighting.
GE’s 27-watt Energy Smart® LED bulb, on store shelves in the U.S. and Canada the first half of 2013 (MSRP to be determined), will debut on a global stage starting May 9 at LIGHTFAIR International in Las Vegas, the world’s largest lighting trade show. GE’s existing portfolio of LED bulbs includes a 13-watt LED (60-watt incandescent replacement) and a 9-watt LED (40-watt incandescent replacement), which was the first incandescent-shaped (A-19) LED in the world to earn ENERGY STAR® qualification.
“Our innovation team has tackled a previously insurmountable technical challenge: cooling a 100-watt A-19 shaped replacement LED bulb without making it physically bigger,” says Steve Briggs, general manager of LED systems, GE Lighting. “Each subsystem such as optics, electronics and thermals needed to be designed for miniaturization and cooperative performance. We explored the limits of what’s possible and pushed far beyond industry expectations and competitors’ thinking and product offerings.”
 GE Energy Smart® 27-watt LED bulb
GE Lighting debuts the new GE Energy Smart® 27-watt LED bulb, a replacement for the 100-watt incandescent, this week at the world’s largest lighting trade show.
New LED bulb performance metrics
GE testing confirms 100-watt incandescent replacement metrics: 1,600+ lumens, uniform omnidirectional light distribution, 3000K color temperature, 25,000-hour life rating (22.8 years at 3 hours per day), dimmable, no mercury, instant full brightness and 60+ lumens per watt—all fitting neatly in the standard A-19 bulb shape.
“Our achievement does more than backfill for the 100-watt incandescent bulb,” adds Briggs. “We now have a clear path to attaining even higher light levels, which will give customers more energy-efficient lighting options in both commercial and residential settings. This product fills a real customer need and further extends GE’s LED lighting leadership.”

LEDs are semiconductors that produce light. They must be cooled to ensure long life. In collaboration with GE, Nuventix developed a method for moving air to cool LEDs using an oscillating membrane, called a synthetic jet (an alternative to a fan), which fits within the envelope of the A-19 bulb shape.
“We expected our collaboration with GE Lighting would power some big advances in the application of lighting,” notes Jim Balthazar, CEO and president of Nuventix. “Once we came together last year, our teams wasted no time getting in the lab to build on the genius of GE’s LED bulb design, and to incorporate a synthetic jet solution that enabled GE to leapfrog its competitors. We’re a leader helping a leader, and it’s going to benefit consumers that want high quality LED lighting that performs as promised.”
Incandescent replacements need to perform as expected
Every GE Energy Smart® LED incandescent replacement bulb, including the coming 100-watt replacement, offers smooth, incandescent-like dimming, minus the stepped dimming, flicker, shimmer, pop-on, drop-off or even inaction that plague other LED bulbs touting a dimming capability. GE’s LED bulbs also feature an aesthetically pleasing incandescent size and shape, and a design that allows for a soft-white appearance when turned off, a consumer preference that GE discovered through market research.
The 100-watt replacement LED will expand GE’s current family of LED bulbs already offered in a broad range of shapes, wattages and colors, including its 40- and 60-watt LED standard incandescent bulb replacements, spot and flood lights (PAR20 & PAR30), ceiling fan bulbs (A15), medium globes (G25), small globes (G16.5), candles (CA10) and night lights (C7). All of GE’s Energy Smart LED bulbs are rigorously tested to ensure constant color, long life and verifiable lumen ratings.
About Nuventix
Nuventix is the company that cools, providing the only answer to the growing problem of thermal management in electronics. From chips in LED lighting to computing and beyond, the Nuventix SynJet® offers a reliable, quiet and energy efficient cooling solution in a variety of sizes and form factors. Nuventix, with its innovative SynJet technology product line, has been solving thermal management problems for customers around the world since 2003. Visit www.nuventix.com External link.
About GE Lighting
GE Lighting invents with the vigor of its founder Thomas Edison to develop energy-efficient solutions that change the way people light their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. The business employs over 17,000 people in more than 100 countries, and sells products under the Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Evolve™, GTx, Immersion ™, Infusion ™, Lumination™ and Tetra® commercial brands, all trademarks of GE. General Electric (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter to build a world that works better. For more information, visit www.gelighting.com External link.
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Polling for LED lighting comments

Philips AmbientLED 17 Watts LED Lightbulb (Product Review)
by on 08.11.11

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

Finally a 75-Watt Incandescent Replacement (100W Model is Coming Soon)
I liked all the LEDs that I’ve had the chance to review so far. In fact, I use them every day and don’t have much to complain about; in my office, I have a Qnuru 6.4W LED (the cool white model), in my bedroom the bedside lamp uses the FIRST 7W LED, and the living room used the Philips 12.5W LED. Until now that is… While light quality is fine with all these bulbs, brightness for most of these has been hovering around the 40-60W incandescent-replacement level, and that’s not enough for all purposes. That’s why I was so happy to learn that the new wave of LED lightbulbs from manufacturers like GE and Philips are cranking up the brightness. Today, let’s look at Philips’ brand new 17W AmbientLED model.

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

Philips AmbientLED 17-Watt Review
This review is kind of an update on my review of the 12.5-watt model of this LED bulb because they are very similar (as you can see in some of the photos below).

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

They both look like they belong on a futuristic spaceship, or at least on a science-fiction show, but what matters most is how well shape follows function. The strange curvature of the yellow part helps the LED bulb project light in all directions much better than the ‘ice cream cone’ design of so many other LED lights (for example, see the Qnuru and FIRST models)

The 12.5-watt model is rated at 800 lumens, while this new 17-watt model is rated at 1100 lumens.

You might be wondering if it’s dimmable. Short answer: Yes, it is dimmable. I’ve tested it and it works pretty well.

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

As you can clearly see here, the main differences between the 12.5-watt and 17-watt models is that the cylindrical heatsink is longer on the more powerful LED bulb. While LEDs don’t produce nearly as much heat as incandescent bulbs, their components are less tolerant of heat than incandescent filaments. That’s why they need to shed that heat with large heatsinks.

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

Here’s another example of form following function. The way the top part of the bulb is split in three sections helps it have a large surface area to radiate heat and provide airflow. In practice, once the LED bulb is lit this isn’t visible and doesn’t affect light diffusion. Same with the yellow exterior, which acts as a filter for the blueish LEDs inside. Once the bulb is lit, the light is of a normal warm-white tint and isn’t particularly yellow.

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

Light Quality of the Philips 17W LED
Unfortunately, I’m still not set up for very elaborate light quality testing, and since my last reviews I moved to a new apartment so I can’t take a photo in exactly the same room as before (I always keep the camera settings the same between these photos, and I don’t tweak them in Photoshop). In fact, this new room is bigger and has darker walls than the room I used before, so the photos don’t quite do justice to how bright this LED is. You’ll have to rely on my word, I suppose…

I found light quality to be quite good, as with the 12.5W model. As I wrote at the time:

“If I don’t tell people, they don’t know it’s a LED, and I could easily see myself using Philips AmbientLEDs as my main source of light without problem.

To me this really shows that LEDs are ready for prime-time, all that needs to be done is to reduce the price, and that will happen with economies of scale and as R&D into new ways to make them pays off.”

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

We’ll have to wait for the 100w replacement model (which is supposed to come out in a few months) before we have a truly bright LED, but this one is sufficient for most mid-sized rooms, and a couple of them would be enough for most big rooms (I guess it depends on personal preference – some people like things to be really bright, in which case you can either wait for the 100W model or just add a third or fourth 75W replacement LED).

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

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Photo: Michael Graham Richard

Also noteworthy is that a Philips LED bulb using very similar technology to the one used in the AmbientLED 17-watt model won the U.S. Department of Energy’s L-Prize after going through some pretty thorough tests. This is a good sign regarding the quality of these bulbs.

Price: The bulb will be available online exclusively at Home Depot at an initial retail price is $39.97.

If you like this article, you can follow me on Twitter (@Michael_GR) and Stumbleupon (THMike). Thanks.

More LED Light Bulb Reviews
GE ‘Energy Smart’ 9W LED Lightbulb (Product Review)
Qnuru 6.4W and 9.2W LED Lightbulbs (Product Review)
FIRST Green ‘e-Watt Saver’ 7W LED Lightbulb (Product Review)
Philips AmbientLED 12.5 Watts LED Lightbulb (Product Review)

Thanks to Philips and the Home Depot for providing the review units.

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