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On the heels of the Energy Department's announcement last week of the next phase of its L Prize competition, which is designed to spur innovation in energy-saving lighting products, a Washington Post article cast the contest in less than favorable light. Specifically, it depicted last year's winner, a Philips 60-watt incandescent replacement LED, as being too pricey to have broad appeal. That raised a few eyebrows at Consumer Reports where the Philips is one of our top-rated lightbulbs.
"How the expensive bulb won a $10 million government prize meant to foster energy-efficient affordability is one of the curiosities that arise as the country undergoes a massive, mandated turnover from traditional incandescent lamps to more energy-efficient ones," the Post said. An accompanying infographic showed how the lifetime cost of the $50 LED would end up being $5 more than if you stuck with traditional incandescent bulbs. But as the website Think Progress first reported, the math was way off.
The graphic assumed that the kilowatt-hour price of electricity is $0.01, when in fact it's actually around $0.12. The Post later corrected its math, and the new graphic shows how switching from standard incandescent bulbs to the new LED would actually save you an average of $100.
In Consumer Reports' testing of LEDs, we've found that the energy-efficient bulbs could save between $65 and $400 based on their 18- to 46-year claimed life expectancy. What's more, many LEDs deliver excellent performance, including the Philips AmbientLED 12.5W 12E26A60 60W, which earned a near-perfect score of 98 in Consumer Reports' Ratings on the strength of its stellar brightness, warm-up time, and light distribution. The price is coming down as well, with a four-pack currently listed on Amazon.com for $107.99, or $27 per bulb. And it's $25 at Home Depot.
—Daniel DiClerico
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