THE $50 LIGHT BULB

General Electric Co. offering consumers $50 LED light bulb that will last 25,000 hours
John Funk, December 7, 2010 (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"…For $50, General Electric will sell you a light bulb designed to save you at least $85 over the next couple of decades…The GE "Energy Smart" LED uses just 9 watts of power but gives off the same diffused, soft white glow of a standard 40 watt incandescent bulb.

"It's light emitting diodes (or LEDs) operate at a lower temperature than either an old-fashioned incandescent or even a modern compact fluorescent bulb…A more powerful version of the Energy Smart LED, designed to match the output of a 60-watt incandescent, should be available in the second half of 2011…"

"The smart LED contains none of the mercury of a compact fluorescent, screws into any standard socket, and is rated to last 22.8 years, or 25,000 hours -- saving you the $85 over its lifetime, compared to an incandescent bulb…[The] $50 price tag is sure to put off many consumers…

"In comparison, a GE 10-watt compact fluorescent bulb…would cost you just $3.50 [in a dozen] or $6 [singly]…These bulbs are rated to last 8,000 hours. An old-fashioned GE 40-watt soft white incandescent bulb, rated at "double life," would cost you about 60 cents [in a six-pack]… [But] would last only 2,000 hours, twice the life of a standard 40-watt bulb, but still only a fraction of the high-tech lamps…"

"…[O]ld-fashioned bulbs won't be manufactured after 2014, because incandescent technology can't meet the new federal light bulb efficiency standards…[to] be gradually phased in, beginning in 2012.

"The Energy Department designated the new smart LED bulb from GE as an Energy Star product…No other incandescent-shaped LED bulbs have won this designation…GE is marketing the bulb as ideal for a hallway, a bedside table or a desk lamp…[and] already selling the bulb on its web site…"