The light bulb, as everybody knows, was invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1879. This was after several other inventors had tried and failed to perfect the technology of using a filament, powered by electricity, to produce illumination or incandescence. Scientists as early as the 1850s had been working on this theory. Edison himself made three thousand different experiments to develop his incandescent light bulb.  And the world has become a much brighter world because of his persistence.

Today, a host of other types of light bulbs have been developed. Though they basically perform the same functions, there have been changes made in terms of rated hours, costs, and energy efficiency.  There are halogens, fluorescents, LED lights, compact fluorescent lights, sodium lamps, and high intensity discharge lamps.

Through the course of their development, some light bulbs have been found to be highly inefficient while others contain mercury and lead which are toxins to the environment. The incandescent light bulb, for example, is facing the prospect of being totally banned in some countries because of studies showing that it wastes as much as 90% of the energy it consumes.  Fluorescent have issues as well.  They contain mercury and are found to emit ultraviolet radiation. Fluorescents have also been said to cause headaches, visual impairment, fatigue, and even stress.

What about compact fluorescent light bulbs given that there is still the “fluorescent” in the term?  They contain the same elements and produce the similar effects as the standard linear fluorescents.  Although the risks posed by the CFL has yet to gain global attention, some groups, and Canada in particular, are trying to give out as much information as they can of how they can affect the environment and health.

Low pressure sodium or SOX lamps are relatively safe but technically, they are currently ideal for use only as road lights. Metal halide lamps have a little more functional use, but both require additional auxiliary equipment for installation.  For metal halides, full brightness can be achieved after two to four minutes, so it is not intended for instant lighting, but they can also be used both indoors and outdoors but for indoors, a high ceiling clearance (8 to 10 feet) is required.

LED light bulbs are the least tainted when it comes to choice of lighting.  It is energy-efficient and friendlier for the environment and the user. LED lights can be manufactured in many shapes, sizes, and color temperatures to be used in more and more application. As the technology progresses here and manufacturing increasing, the prices are seen to be coming down opening up new area for these to be found in.

Having trouble seeing when you first turn on the light in a room? This is the sign of a room full of compact fluorescent light bulbs! You have probably discovered, or have even been annoyed by the realization that doing the right thing for the environment has left you with very energy efficient bulbs, but bulbs that require warm up time. Now that we have gone energy efficient by replacing all our incandescent lamps with CFLs, having that full instant-on brightness has forced all of us to be somewhat compromised to a partially lit bathroom, hotel room, or kitchen at homes when we first turn on the light. In the winter especially, you may noticed, the colder the room, the dimmer the initial light.

All compact fluorescent lamps require a warm-up time in order to reach full lumen output. When a CFL is first switched on, the metals, mercury and/or amalgam are cool and not at its optimal light performing state, taking over a minute to properly vaporize and balance, so it can reach full brightness. A standard CFL without amalgam will light first light up at about 80% of its rated lumens. Whereas, a CFL with amalgam typically turns on around 50% of its light output and will take up to three minutes to warm up. Amalgam is used in many CFLs that are enclosed in decorative glass. Since heat is harder to dissipate when enclosed, the amalgam helps the mercury in the lamp to vaporize and work better at higher temperatures and prevents overheating of the lamp. Either way we are left with a dim room for our first few minutes of needed light. At least, that has always been the case until now!

YOU CAN GET SO MUCH MORE THAN MUST INSTANT-ON!

Now, the largest manufacturer of CFLs, Technical Consumer Products (TCP), has made available as of August 1^st 2011 the latest generation of CFLs, called “TruStart” Technology. Built with TCP’s Exclusive Advanced IC Chip, these CFL spirals are the first of their kind to come as close to instant on brightness as incandescent bulbs do without delay. Another fabulous advantage is that TruStart™ lamps last twice as long as traditional CFLs! Their unique program start ignition allows them to provide 20,000 hours rated life when compared to 10,000 hours or less on most CFLs. It get's better! Not only does this new generation of CFL lamps offer phenomenal start-up time, but they also have end of life protection. CFLs have internal ballasts that can overheat and start a fire toward or at their end of life. TruStart™ lamps offer ballasts that automatically shut off if their temperature gets too high. At 4.7 inch M.O.L. and 2.4 inch diameter it should fit anywhere your previous light bulb did! With over 400,000 switching cycles, TruStart™ lamps are also fully compatible with occupancy sensors, and have been UL approved for reseeded cans and enclosed fixtures. They work better everywhere! Yes, you have just discovered the most perfect and universal CFL to date – TRUSTART!

How would you like to win ten million dollars?!! Most of us will never accomplish that, but all of us can at least benefit from a great new product from Philips Lighting. You can set your pig-tailed CFL light bulbs aside now if you want! Philips has just won the DOE's $10 million L Prize Competition for creating the most affordable and effective light bulb! This was the creation of a decidedly non-curlicue 60 watt equivalent LED lighting solution. Philips was named the first winner in the 60W replacement bulb category at a Washington DC event, yesterday. It has taken three years to find a winner capable of meeting the high standards set forth by the DOE. For the Doe and public at large, it wasn't just a question of being able to product a great product in the lab, but of "ensuring that performance, quality, lifetime, cost, and availability meet expectations for widespread adoption and mass manufacturing." Philips has succeeded. DOE requirements further stipulated that the 60W incandescent “killer” or “terminator” use less than 10 watts of power, and provide energy savings of 83 percent. If Americans replaced all of their 60 watt incandescent lamps with Philips' dynamic winner, the DOE estimates savings of $3.9 billion in a single year. The bulb is expected to hit shelves very soon - as early 2012.

Hawaii has the nation's highest kilowatt rates, and so demand for this new product is expected to be very keen in the Aloha State. 21st Century Lighting Enterprises is already offering a close equivalent to this dynamic new LED by Philips. They offer a Philips 12.5 watt LED that looks just like this one, and provides an outstanding 800 lumens of light, or what is the equivalent of a 60 watt light bulb. (The new 10 watt version will provide 900 lumens at 2.5 watts less.)

So where and how do we find such a bulb? If you want to shop online, consumers nationwide can look for this on the web by typing in EnduraLED or more specifically “12.5 watt EnduraLED” or “Philips 12.5 watt EnduraLED.” You can also find it by visiting leading light bulb web sites like LightBulbsUSA.net or Bulbs.com.

So what can we expect in the future? Stay tuned! Another leading edge technology company named Switch also intends to introduce some beautiful 60 and 75 watt LED incandescent equivalents before the end of this year.

Finding it difficult to find a decently bright LED MR16 that is not overly worth the investment? For a while now we have been seeing LED MR16 in Home Depots and other outlets around the $15 rand, and while for some application these work well they only give a off a highlight that is not meant as a source of light. Reaching those “high power” lumens can be kind of pricy setting one back into the $40 range hardly making it worth the “risk” of testing one bulb. But as with any technology, as time passes these products are becoming more adjusted to the needs of the consumer, and for the first time we are seeing brighter lumens while maintaining those low wattages and in a reasonable price range. Here below we have compared with what many consumers are currently familiar with to what is now available. With the same watt consumption as the Home Depot Sylvania 78570 3 Watt Accent LED G5.3 Base MR16 bulb or the Philips AccentLED 4MR16ACCSP10 227033, these newer competing products can produce over 3 time the lumen output.  

For this article, a promo code was provided for the 138 lm IS3MR16LEDFL3833K was provided to us from LightBulbsUSA.net.

The Philips EnduraLED 11E26PAR30S