GE Ends Development of Incandescent Bulbs, Focuses on LEDs
It was February of 2007 that GE announced a high efficiency incandescent (HEI) bulb that was comparable to that of compact fluorescents (CFL). The HEI bulb provided better light quality and without any nasty mercury. The bulb was expected to hit the market sometime in 2010.
But announcements of Australia, Canada, and even some U.S. states planning to ban the bulb made companies like GE and Philips question their longevity. Especially when these bans would start as early as 2012.
So in October of 2007, GE announced it would be closing plants and even cutting hundreds of jobs in order to restructure its light bulb business. Harvard business school professor Daniel Snow claims that GE’s HEI was the company’s “last gasp” of inspiration on the Edison bulb.
GE spokesman David Schuellerman said this about GE’s current plans:
GE Consumers & Industrial and GE Global Research have suspended the development of the high-efficiency incandescent lamp (HEI) to place greater focus and investment on what we believe will be the ultimate in energy efficient lighting — light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Research and development of these technologies is moving at an impressive pace and will be ready for general lighting in the near future. LEDs and OLEDs used in general lighting are now poised to surpass the projected efficiency levels of HEI, along with other energy-efficient technologies like fluorescent, and have the additional benefits of long life and durability.
I was actually looking forward to the HEI bulb - I love CFL efficiency but the sterile light gives me seizures. Hopefully LED lighting can mimic that of incandescents. If not, you might catch me joining forces with that crazy Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Photo: © Jonoman1 | Dreamstime.com
“…some U.S. states planning to ban the bulb…” Mr. Stone, it would be nice if you would research your subject before posting an article. The Federal Government of the United States has already passed a ban on incandescent bulbs, to take effect in 2012. No individual states are “planning” to do something that has already been done.
If you work in an office cubicle under flourescents, you’ll hear lots of people talk about the headache-inducing flicker. The new CFL’s will also burn a “welder’s” spot onto your eye if you look directly at many of them. The intensity of the light is the problem. Incandescents are softer more natural light. All of this is knee-jerk pinheads thinking they have the right to force and mandate what people decide is best.
CFLs are no good outside in Northern climes. They burn out rapidly when trying to start in the winter, and I’ve actually had one that was close to starting a fire in my house - the base was blackend and the tube was just starting to melt. As a concerned consumer, I wrote the manufacturer about it and they were totally unconcerned, claiming there was no way for it to start a fire. I have the proof. There is also the diposal problem, lack of equivalent lumens, cost, and durability issues. I don’t see that they last much longer than standard incandescent bulbs. I now have bought 300 bulbs, so I’m set for the rest of my life with real light bulbs. taz
uh… that’s not an led bulb
this is unfortunate and short-sited.
the ban should be on the old designs and allow for the new high efficiency ones to be used at least for some time frame for a few reasons:
GE and others invested in improving the efficiency and they should be reworded for this not punished.
companies that do the right thing should be rewarded for their investments in improving old technologies.
The disruption of the local economy when these people in these plants are let go will be horrible for them. I bet most people in these plants have been there forever and are older and just will not be able to retool for other jobs like their younger counterparts.
allow these plants to upgrade to the high efficiency incandesents and buy some time for transition of people and technology improvement to other light sources.
Look how long it took GE to come out with the higher efficiency incandesents.
LED’s may not be ready for prime time when this ban takes effect and their cost effectiveness in every application has not been proven as of yet.
LED’s are coming but are not here yet so this is premature to kill the incandesent at least the new high efficiency version.
Some apps a floresent are not good for like outdoors and short time on applications. also longevity issues with both of the above reasons.
Also smart motion technologies that turn on and off make incandesents more cost efficient than floresents due to their ability to be dimmed and turned on and off more times and their ability to get bright compared to floresents.
Don’t get me wrong i love the floresent bulb screw in replacments I have switched to them 90%.
But hallway lighting that gets turned on and off the incandesent still wins. add smart motion they get better yet.
I have no clue to what many of you are talking about with the so-called shortcomings of CFLs. Do you buy the cheapest or oldest models?
Avoid Walmart’s home brand “Great Value”. Avoid discount or bargain no-name CFLs, especially at dollar store or discount stores. I like Sylvania (at Lowes) for some things and Feit Electric from Costco for others.
Complaint:
1. Life of bulb. Doesn’t stand up to claims.
Counterpoint: This used to be a fact much more than now. Now, it’s only with the cheap or no name brands. Sometimes even with a certain model of bulb from a trusted manufacturer. I’ll say in the last 8 years, this improved a lot. My house is nearly entirely CFL, and there are frequently-used rooms without replacements needed for the last 5 years… and some that didn’t last quite as long. Whatever the case, with standard electric rates, you recoup your investment within 12 months of normal use.
2. Cold climates - Outdoors, can’t start.
Counterpoint: I have 10+ lights outdoors, in enclosed light posts, from dusk to dawn settings. They are the most reliable I have, not needing replacement the last 3-4 years (I would suppose from 1 a day starts with long running times). My winters don’t get as cold as some, but they had no problems starting on 0F days.
3. Can’t use them in ‘enclosed spaces’ or enclosed ceiling lights.
Counterpoint: Baloney. I have them in enclosed sconces indoor and outdoor, in enclosed ceiling lights in the PAR38 form, etc. without problems for years now.
4. Color
Counterpoint: They have warm/cool_white/daylight colors now. I personally don’t notice any difference from incandescent. Perhaps a psychological effect?
5. Start Time
Counterpoint: True in some cases. Some are instant-on, with about 60-75% brightness within 1 second start up, and some ramp up. Others are less bright at beginning. Full brightness in all cases I observed within 30 to 90 seconds at worst. I like this because it gives my eyes time to adjust.
6. Flicker
Counterpoint: Have not observed this except in early models or defective models (others of same type don’t flicker). Maybe it’s just me.
7. Lumens - Not as bright.
Counterpoint: False afaik. I think some are even brighter than incandescent counterpoints. Plus, because of energy savings, I sometimes put in brighter than equivalant lights in a previously dim area and still shave off almost 1/3 of the previous electric use (as opposed to the regular 1/4) on that lighting.
8. Mercury
Counterpoint: In the US, your electricity is most likely coal. Burning coal releases mercury as well in trace amounts. The energy you save in incandescent vs CFL translates to more coal kept from the atmosphere than used in the CFL bulb. The mercury hoopla is really overblown in this case. I think Home Depot takes you bulbs for recycling IIRC.
I forget the other points, but use what works for you. I like CFLs. Incandescents are still in my oven and fridge because CFLs will not work there because of heat and humidity, respectively.
I use CFLs solely because they save me money. When leds mature, I might use them, but right now they aren’t there yet in terms of brightness except for flashlights.
Philips and GE only “realised” the incandescent light bulb was doomed after the Ban The Bulb campaign was launched in 2005, allowed to publish an article on the BBC News website in Feb 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4667354.stm) and picked up by politicians in California and Australia in 2007.
[...] like the environmental friendliness of CFL bulbs but also enjoy the shape of incandescent bulbs? GE has a solution — the world’s first incandescent-shaped CFL bulb. The 8,000-hour CFL is [...]
Think CFL lasts longer and safer??? Then look at following links…
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190185
http://www.execulink.com/~impact/fluorescent_lights.htm
Got to agree with Rolf. I don’t know what kind of CFL’s many of you are using, but the newest generation of lamps are great. Flicker issues have mostly been resolved in the major brands. There are many different color spectra available at all of your big box stores; I use a bright white, about 6500K for my aquaria setups, and soft whites in household lamps. I attended a training at GE’s lab in Ohio, and during one of the courses the class was asked to identify which lampshade was hiding the CFL. Only about 10% of the people there could tell, and these were engineers, consultants, and lighting experts. Anyone that tells me they can 100% tell the difference in a shaded or ensconced bulb is probably lying.
As for longevity, I still have some bulbs that I used in my college apartment almost 10 years ago. I want them to burn out so I can get new bulbs. Some of them were even used in bathrooms (round, frosted bulbs for vanity lighting and longer squarish Edison-base bulbs for the exhaust fan.) As long as the ballast has circulation you’re good.
I’ve had great experiences with GE, Philips, Sylvania, nVision and Ikea. Between those 5 brands, there’s probably a CFL that fits your needs. They may not be available in your area, but they exist. There are quite a few other brands that consistently rank very high. The New York times did a comprehensive test sometime last year.