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speechlesstx · Mar 13, 2012, 08:33 AM

I know your arguments before you make them, "we have to start somewhere" blah, blah, blah. But why is our DOE awarding Philips $10 million for creating an "affordable" alternative that sells for $50?

$50 Light Bulb Wins Government Affordability Prize

The U.S. government has awarded appliance-maker Philips $10 million for devising an “affordable” alternative to today's standard 60-watt incandescent bulb. That standard bulb sells for around $1. The Philips alternative sells for $50.

Of course, the award-winner is no ordinary bulb. It uses only one-sixth the energy of an incandescent. And it lasts 30,000 hours–about 30 times as long. In fact, if you don't drop it, it may last 10 years or more.

But only the U.S. Government (in this case, the Department of Energy) could view a $50 bulb as cheap.

“I don't want to say it's exorbitant,” a Home Depot bulb-peddler quoted by The Washington Post demurs. He goes on to say, though, that he could see how a consumer shopping by price could come to that conclusion.

The Post says retailers are reluctant to this the bulb, lest they earn the wrath of Philips, a major supplier.

The Department of Energy created its so-called “L-Prize” to encourage manufacturers to come up with energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) alternatives to incandescent bulbs. To be deemed the winner, a bulb had to be affordable.

Yeah and they told me those ugly, pricey, hazardous CFLs would last me 7 years and they burned out at about the same rate as incandescent bulbs.

Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess said of giving Philips $10 million for a $50 bulb no one in their right mind will buy, “It just underscores the difficulty that we have in getting any kind of efficiency out of the Department of Energy, let alone energy efficiency.”

Government affordability, that's a good one. Can this regime be more out of touch with main street?

Dr1757 · Mar 13, 2012, 08:57 AM

This underscores another attempt by our government to tell us what to do for things like reduced capacity of toilet bowls that you now have to flush twice.

Everyone I know is stocking up on the "bad" bulbs before paying fifty dollars for one Philipps bulbs. What a Joke!

paraclete · Mar 13, 2012, 03:45 PM

We changed over all our light bulbs here years ago under a government plan, so far I have only replaced two and they were smaller bulbs. My old bulbs are still sitting in the cupboard. If the bulbs where you live aren't lasting you might talk to your utility company, they may have the taps on their transformer turned too high so the bulbs aren't operating at their rated current. This used to burn out the old bulbs and it may burn out the new ones. As to the price, I've never seen a $50 bulb there should be plenty of the new bulbs available at a lower price

tomder55 · Mar 13, 2012, 03:52 PM

Do you have a hazmat team ready to dispose of the bulb should it break ?

paraclete · Mar 13, 2012, 08:39 PM

Nope, haven't had one break either

speechlesstx · Mar 14, 2012, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by paraclete

We changed over all our light bulbs here years ago under a government plan, so far I have only replaced two and they were smaller bulbs. My old bulbs are still sitting in the cupboard. If the bulbs where you live arn't lasting you might talk to your utility company, they may have the taps on their transformer turned too high so the bulbs arn't operating at their rated current. This used to burn out the old bulbs and it may burn out the new ones. As to the price, I've never seen a $50 bulb there should be plenty of the new bulbs available at a lower price

Clete, a fluorescent light uses a ballast. The ballast's function is to limit the current.

Fr_Chuck · Mar 14, 2012, 07:08 AM

I will say that I changed over my entire house to the energy savings bulbs about a year or two ago. I saw my power bill drop by about 20 percent and I have never changed a single bulb so far ( OK except the one I hit with a sword*long story)

If this bulb could save even more, OK I would not be completely against it.

tomder55 · Mar 14, 2012, 07:57 AM

Kudos for having that choice.

I'll probably convert to LED one of these days .I'm pretty sure they will not cost that much in the 2nd and 3rd generations. But that would also depend if they serve my illumination needs.

Too bad the consumer won't have the choice... The bulb of choice is being phased out and the alternatives are either cost prohibitive (even if the last longer and reduce energy there is still a big up front cost )... or in the case of CFL ,riskier to use.