Philips eyes LED prize

Leading light bulb maker and compact disc player inventer Philips has thrown its hat, or bulb, in the ring to win a $10 million US government prize for the first mass-market ready LED light bulb.

It’s a tough challenge, and a number of entrants have already been summarily rejected by the government, which has strict standards.

The idea is to get a good bulb in place from the start, which is what did NOT happen with the compact fluorescent light, which definitely gave “made in China” a bad name as part of it.

That said, Philips has a fighting chance of winning, with what it has entered. And, in many ways, if the price is right, an LED would trump a CFL.

LED lights positioned to replace CFLs

Some of the things many people have complained about on compact fluorescent light bulbs either aren’t true, or aren’t as true, with today’s bulbs as the first generation of them. They do warm up quicker now, and have more natural light tones.

But, it’s true that you can’t use them in dimmer switches, and they still contain mercury.

That’s why, especially as engineering lowers prices, more large-scale applications and users are going LED instead of CFL. In addition to these benefits, there’s another HUGE one for outdoor lighting, which is a drawback for LEDs in other spots.

Because LED lighting is directional, street lights get their light concentrated where it needs to be — and the night world outside city streets sees a cut in light pollution.