Comments on: LED Lighting

By: LEDs, the Green Option Even if They Are Blue | Venture Chronicles

LEDs, the Green Option Even if They Are Blue | Venture Chronicles — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:49:09 +0000

[...] I am a big fan of LED lighting but even here I find the solution to be a glass half empty. LEDs have a funky cold blue light, something that will no doubt be corrected over time, but the bigger problem is that LED light has to be concentrated which means it doesn’t disperse well so for area lighting it is not an option. On the plus side, LED lighting generates a lot less heat than other options and of course lasts pretty much forever. [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:28:02 +0000

Dan,
Fair points but I think the problem with high-tech lighting is that outside of new construction there is little sense of urgency about implementing it. Consumers are smart enough to know that just changing a few lights isn’t going to move the needle on your household electric bill.

Kitchen appliances, air conditioning, and space heating are almost 60% of a typical home electrical consumption, according to DOE. Lighting is about 8%, roughly the same as home electronics. Furthermore, you tend to use lighting in non-peak hours, further eroding the economic justification.

Prices will fall dramatically in the early cycle and flatten out in the mass market, I’ll retrofit at that point.

Now if you want to see something that is an economic game changer, look at http://www.hidlabs.com/. Their industrial HID solid state ballasts are revolutionary AND have a payback period of 3-6 months.

By: Dan Keldsen

Dan Keldsen — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:50:55 +0000

And if you wait another 2 years after that, it’ll be half (or less) the cost again.

Nothing new in the downward spiral of pricing vs. capabilities in technology.

Not saying you are wrong to wait 2 years, but the price will always be falling.

It’s going to be 10-20 years probably before LEDs or anything with that level of efficiency is so cheap that it’s a no-brainer, so in the meantime, it’s about long-term investments and making sure that companies like this survive long enough to enable that distant future.

I agree that $40 a bulb seems a bit much now – so for the very short-term, using bulbs like this for hard to reach locations, or that need to be running (for security, perhaps) for long periods of time, could still easily pay you back in relatively short order.

BTW – the new LED Christmas lights are pretty sweet. Should pay back in the extra cost in 2-3 seasons.