Tripping the light fantastic at LightFair

Try telling folks you're going to look at a convention center full of lightbulbs and the response is neither envy nor enthusiasm. But a visit to the LightFair trade show in Philadelphia this week was illuminating. A leap in lighting has occurred with lightbulbs changing from disposable to durable.

If you looked hard enough you could find CFLs, and some with a new twist, such as TCP's bulbs with a claimed life of 20,000 hours, a first that's soon to hit stores, according to Thomas Pfeiffer, a TCP marketing channel manager. That's about twice as long as most CFLs we've tested. Halogen bulbs were mentioned, such as Sylvania's SuperSaver line, which has the rare distinction of being made in the U.S. And organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, were quickly presented as a nod to the future. But mostly, energy-saving LEDs, or light-emitting diode bulbs, were the stars of the show.

"We learned from our CFL experience. So we're giving consumers what they want—LEDs that are comparable to an incandescent in brightness, color, shape, and dimming," says Stephanie Anderson, a spokesperson for Osram Sylvania. A line of Ultra High Performance LEDs will arrive in stores this July that are omni-directional, dispersing light nearly in all directions, unlike a spotlight, and replacements for 40 and 60-watt incandescent bulbs. LED replacements for 75-watt incandescents are slated for autumn. The 100-watt incandescent isn't the big seller, and that's why it's the first to be phased out next January and why manufacturers have focused their efforts on replacements for 60 and 40-watt incandescent bulbs.

Sylvania claims its LED replacement for a 60-watt bulb uses only 13.5 watts of energy and will last 25,000 hours—about 17 years if used four hours a day. It will sell for around $30, a drop from just five months ago when the $40 LED debuted. "Cost is going down because fundamentally LEDs are semi-conductor chips," says Anderson.

Philips unveiled a 17-watt LED that replaces a 75-watt incandescent and works with a standard dimmer. The EnduraLED A21 will be in stores store this fall for $40 to $45, has a claimed life of 25,000 hours, and a five-year warranty. Philips says it meets or exceeds Energy Star criteria and will be submitted to Energy Star for qualification. Philips was the first to earn Energy Star status for a LED replacement for the 60-watt incandescent.

—Kimberly Janeway