Philips L Prize LED Bulb

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Philips' new LED-based light bulb, released today in commemoration of Earth Day, is not a general acceptance that LED technology is superior to traditional incandescent lighting. Or even that LED-drive light bulbs can (and will) save an owner money over the long run, especially if you're able to pick up the bulb for a discounted cost from its $60 asking price.

The problem with LED light bulbs is one that most computer enthusiasts are quite familiar with by now: The curse of the upgrade cycle.

In the tech world, it's often easy to put off purchases like a new video card or laptop due to the fear of seeing a far superior product hit the market soon after one's big buy. Why buy a Sandy Bridge machine now with Ivy Bridge right around the corner, for example?

It's no secret that LED light bulbs can and will save a person money versus much (much) cheaper incandescent and decently cheaper CFL bulbs. But here's the rub: The savings isn't immediate.

Let's do the math. We'll assume that you pay fifteen cents per kilowatt-hour on your monthly electricity bill. If you run one 60-watt incandescent bulb for eight hours per day, you're going to eat up 14,880 watt-hours (14.9 kilowatt-hours) in a typical 31-day month. Your total cost for that bulb? A whopping $2.24 or thereabouts.

Replace that incandescent bulb with Philips' new LED bulb and you'll reduce your total wattage used to one-sixth of the previous total: The bulb only needs 10 watts of juice to deliver the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb, reports the Washington Post. That puts you at a whopping 2,480 watt-hours (2.48 kilowatt-hours) in a 31-day month, or a monthly cost of $0.38.

Great! You've saved money! Right?

You can pick up an incandescent bulb for around $1. The Philips LED bulb will cost $20 at best, assuming that your local utility company is going to offer any kind of rebates for purchasing LED lighting. Online shoppers can expect to pay $50 for the LED bulb right now.

So, using our figures from earlier which give you a savings of roughly $1.86 per month for using an LED bulb versus an incandescent bulb, it'll take you just over two years and two months to start benefitting from your big, $50 purchase. And what's to say that, within that time, Philips or a competing company won't make a bulb that uses even less wattage, looks better, or is a lot cheaper than today's $50 LED bulb?

LED bulbs are great for saving energy and saving money but, unfortunately, they're not very good at saving time. No matter how you fill the equation, it's still going to take you awhile to recoup your LED investment: What might hit the market by then?


