LED Equivalent to 100-Watt Bulb Announced

May 18th, 2011 by Glenn Meyers

Switch Lighting's LED

Incandescent lighting enthusiasts who like bright lights but have witnessed a shrinking list of options can have some refreshment; Switch Lighting has announced the first ever LED equivalent to a 100-watt bulb.

The company reports that this energy efficient bulb creates a self-cooling environment inside that allows maximum brightness with fewer LEDs. “This is the brightest LED replacement bulb available and Switch is the only company with this innovative technology,” says the Switch press announcement.

The light was unveiled at the 2011 LIGHTFAIR International Trade Show in Philadelphia during March 17 – 19.

“Nobody in the LED space can produce this incandescent-quality light. The brightest LED you can see on the shelf is a 60 watt-equivalent. We announced our 75 watt-equivalent last month, now we’re announcing the 100 watt equivalent,” said Boris Lipkin, Switch Lighting’s CEO.

As nice as these lights appear to be, they come with a high price tag – as do all LED lights – compared to standard incandescent light bulbs. But they do last up to 20 times longer. When calculating increased lifespan with reduced electricity costs, the figures start to look more appealing, except that the entire expense is shouldered at the front end of the investment. This is where the term investment takes on a more appropriate meaning.

Previous to the LED equivalent to a 100 watt bulb, Switch has offered LEDs that are equivalent to both 60-watt and 75-watt bulbs. In order to solve deal with the problem of LEDs projecting light in only one direction, the company has mounted outward-facing LEDs on metal fingers. Suggested retail price for the LEDs is between $20 and $30.

Gizmag reports “the real key to the brighter bulb is the company’s “City of Light” technology that allows for maximum brightness with fewer LEDs by creating a self-cooling environment inside the bulb. To draw heat away from the LEDs, the bulb dome is filled with a nontoxic liquid that flows out towards the surface of the bulb as it warms. The heat then dissipates evenly over the surface of the bulb and the liquid is then drawn back in to repeat the process.”

According to the US Department of Energy, the energy efficiency of light sources can be characterized in a number of ways. Luminous efficacy indicates how much light the source provides per watt of electricity consumed. This is stated in lumens per watt (lm/W). Another measure of energy efficiency is the total watts a device consumes in providing the intended service.

“With our unique self-cooling technology, we offer the most affordable, energy-efficient light bulb on the market that is nearly identical to the regular incandescent bulbs we’ve come to love,” says Brett Sharenow, chief strategy officer at the San Jose-based company.

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Tags: Bright lights, Compact fluorescent lamp, Incandescent light bulb, LED lamp, light, light-emitting diode, Philadelphia, Switch Lighting, US Department of Energy, watt

About the Author

Glenn Meyers is a writer, producer, and director. Meyers was editor and site director of Green Building Elements, a contributing writer for CleanTechnica, and is founder of Green Streets MediaTrain, a communications connection and eLearning hub. As an independent producer, he's been involved in the development, production and distribution of television and distance learning programs for both the education industry and corporate sector. He also is an avid gardener and loves sustainable innovation.

http://slrman.wordpress.com James Smith

It’s good to see continual progress is being made with the high-efficiency LED lighting. Here in Brazil, almost all home lighting is via Compact Fluorescent Bulbs as is most businesses. I have a couple of the early LED bulbs for area lighting but the quality of the light is not op to the CFB or incandescent lights.

No matter how good the LEDs become, there will be those that complain the “aren’t the same” as they have complained about e-books, automatic transmissions, automotive self-starters and every other new thing since the invention of fire..
Mowenwanders

Looks really dim in the picture
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-Miller/100000952005408 Bruce Miller

Typically LED’s, single ones, in the lab, fed proper D.C. currents produce no heat at all. Why the heat? Does the heat produced imply wasted electrical energy, not converted to light? Can LED arrays be operated from Solar, Wind, Wave, Tidal generated, battery stored, D.C. at lower, matching voltage power-sources without heat losses?
We need domestically produced NiMh batteries without expensive lithium in them to make Solar, Wave, Wind, Tidal electricity a practical reality for Americans. Where did the good ones, the ones in the EV-1 electric cars go? Add them into this picture and LED lighting could really take off!
- http://www.facebook.com/james.vandamme James M. Van Damme
  
  LEDs need to be operated from constant current DC. The power supplies take the 60 Hz AC voltage and convert it and regulate it. This takes discrete semiconductors (transistors) and/or, ICs, transformers, and capacitors. The semiconductors are very sensitive to heat, as are the LEDs, so you have to carefully cool them or the lifetime will be very short. The capacitors degrade with heat and time and may be a long-term failure mode. I’ve given LEDs in the hardware store the touch test and I don’t like them; too hot to keep my hand on. Has anybody done testing to see when they really fail at these temperatures?
  BTW you can run LEDs off of DC but you still need a voltage to current converter. Flashlights get away with it because they use the internal resistance of the battery as a ballast. Not very efficient but who cares.
- http://www.facebook.com/james.vandamme James M. Van Damme
  
  Oh, I forgot to add that while LEDs produce less heat than incandescents, they are very sensitive to heat, being semiconductors. Also, you don’t need batteries when you have a power grid; that’s a big waste of money.
- Guest
  
  Obviously you know nothing of Lithium batteries and less about lighting. Todays Prizmatic batteries will last at (80% charge rate) 3000 cycles and at (70% charge rate) at least 10 years in my vehicle. If you ever ride or drive a real Lithium Yittrium vehicle you will not want to go back. Yes LED lighting has not yet reached the place to take advantage of mass production. The public still is not educated in the US yet. Look at EVTV.ME if you want to learn something about the common man doing conversions, like me. I paid $9 a gallon or $14 a gallon while living in Europe. I will not do it here.
Drbonesteel

Most of the power is used in the transformer while the smd’s get pretty warm, using dc power increases the efficiency, and the hilarius part is the availability of 100 watt lumens for 35$ on ebay 6500kelvin, and what a fixture!
Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Excellent. LED equivalent to glow of 100W is indeed a boon where bright lighting is needed. LED is the future lighting option.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
- Dlatif
  
  I do hope that India will start to produceLED lighting – if they are not doing so now.
  The future is excellent like Apple Computers make this happen.
  Dawood Latif.
  Hamilton, New Zealand.
Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Excellent. LED equivalent to glow of 100W is indeed a boon where bright lighting is needed. LED is the future lighting option.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India