Where Can You Buy Good LED Light Bulbs?

I had a meeting with a friend who is a sales manager for a company that we deal with. He is very technically savvy but when we talked about the state of LED light bulbs he was unaware of how far they have progressed into the retail market. Home Depot carries Philips LED light bulbs and the Lighting Science Group's Ecosmart LED light bulbs. Lowe's carries Sylvania LED light bulbs and Feit Electric LED light bulbs. The pricing is a little high but the return on investment from LED light bulbs can be just a few months if the light is on more than 8 hours per day. We know from our testing that the product quality is quite good. I think my friend probably falls into the same category as most people - who really browses the lighting section at these stores?

The bottom line is that LED lighting products like the Mr Beams LED lighting product line are finding their way into mass retail. 6 to 12 months ago, I was telling people that it would be 18 months before we started seeing quality LED lighting products hitting the shelves at the stores they shop. 2011 will be a breakthrough year for LED lighting. Expect to see 25W-equivalent LED light bubs selling for $19.99, up through 40W-equivalent LED lights selling for under $40.

Many people wonder how you compare the light output of LED light bulbs to the light output of incandescent bulbs and cfl / fluorescent bulbs. Some manufacturers use the term “equivalent to” or “compare to”. Watts are not a good indication because LED light bulbs and CFL / fluorescent bulbs use less watts to produce similar light. In theory, an LED bulb may need just 10W to produce the same amount of light as a 60W incandescent bulb. So when comparing light from an LED light source to light from an incandescent bulb or cfl / fluorescent, compare lumens instead. Lumens measure the total light output. A 60W incandescent bulb produces about 880 lumens. We have yet to find a LED bulb that produces 880 lumens, but we expect to see some in early 2012.

For comparison purposes, the Mr. Beams MB360 wireless Security Spotlight produces 140 lumens of light. While this is only the equivalent of a traditional 15W incandescent light bulb, this battery powered light is designed to provide efficient light where it is too expensive to hard wire (at a cost of $200 or more). 140 lumens – when focused properly – provides more than enough light to be a great lighting solution to light up playgrounds, basketball courts, driveways, dark pathways, dark garages and dark doorways.

More information is available at www.mrbeams.com