GE frees CFL lighting from the tyranny of ugly

Was it Arthur C. Clarke who said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic? If he was correct, it would follow that GE's new Energy Smart CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulb is most magical. A true product of "ecomagination" (their word), the imagineers (Disney's word) at GE have taken the their tried and true CFL hardware and housed it in the form factor of a traditional light bulb. Of course there are already a vast number of options for homeowners wishing to go green on the lighting front, but we're hard pressed to find something that works across the board in traditional lighting fixtures (at least without looking awful as it does so). The product gets its national outing at Target on December 28, and starts popping up at more retailers over the coming months. To tide you over until then, we've provided some earth shattering video after the break.

[ack154 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:35AM]

I thought there were some out there already like this? I always see oddly shaped, but enclosed bulbs in the CFL area.

[Kevin @ Dec 11th 2008 10:39AM]

They do have CFLs shaped like regular bulbs but they usually have a large external ballast while this one has everything inside the bulb enclosure.

[Flashpoint @ Dec 11th 2008 10:44AM]

or...if you need more brightness, switch to H.I.D's in your home.

Marijuana growers swear by them.

[kjb434 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:49AM]

There are some like this without the outside ballast. I have had them for the last 3 years. To to Ikea and get them. They also do a great job of making the light warmer versus the horrible light that comes from most CFL's

[iCandy @ Dec 11th 2008 10:55AM]

CFL lights are a$$!, the light that it generates changes the color of everything, hurts your eyes and makes fresh steak look like rotten puke...

I will be hording regular light bulbs until LED's are available

[silverblackvoid @ Dec 11th 2008 11:04AM]

didnt know i could like a light bulb design!
gotta admit...it does look kewl.

[konshuss @ Dec 11th 2008 11:06AM]

for a split second i thought that said 'tranny'

oh no, the tranny of ugly is taking all the lights!

[ack154 @ Dec 11th 2008 11:17AM]

@ iCandy:

There are different kinds of CFLs that provide different outputs. You may want to try one of the others. Some are more like daylight, some are more of a "blue" and some are just normal. Look around a bit.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 11th 2008 11:28AM]

Most of my house is CFL's and they look great. I notice no flicker or weird coloration or anything -- and I'm the kind of person who can see the rainbow effect on DLP TVs very very easily.

Only problem with the CFLs is they take a minute or two to warm up full, but they hit 90% as soon as you flip the switch so I don't consider it really a negative -- just an interesting note.

[CraziestGadgets.com @ Dec 11th 2008 11:46AM]

the only innovation here is the innovative marketing that got free publicity from engadget. bravo pr team.

[Taylor @ Dec 11th 2008 12:38PM]

Couldn't someone (like "Billy Mays here"), sell some cheap plastic thing that you could snap around these CFL bulbs (like a condom) to make them look "antique", yet be reusable when the bulbs go out? That would be the cheapest route and most "green".

[GeekPI @ Dec 11th 2008 1:05PM]

"Even though the incandescent bulb measured slightly brighter than the equivalent CFLs, our subjects didn’t see any dramatic difference in brightness. And here was the real shocker: When it came to the overall quality of the light, all the CFLs scored higher than our incandescent control bulb."

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4215199.html

[Mark @ Dec 11th 2008 2:04PM]

Regular bulbs are less ugly than CFLs? When was this decided, I must know!!!

For me personally, I can only live with 5000K 93 CRI T8 4' fluorescent tubes in an electronic ballast housing. The best color rendering, the closest temperature to daylight and the most efficient (even more than most LEDs). And when they're in an enclosure they blend in.

Also, to dumb haters: fluorescent tubes are available in more versions than the cheapo ones installed in your office. The better ones don't make everything look green.

[Reid Sorenson @ Dec 11th 2008 4:55PM]

Yeah, IKEA has had some like this for years. Look almost identical to regular light bulbs on the outside, but have the curly CFL on the inside. They are frosted glass and fit perfectly into any normal light socket. I have about 8 of them in my house. Maybe these are brighter, though? The IKEA ones only seem to come in pretty low wattage-equivalents.

[nikster @ Dec 11th 2008 8:27PM]

Yeah but Ikea is foreign. Just like the whole idea of saving energy.

;)

[macserv @ Dec 12th 2008 10:35PM]

@ack154: You can tint the thing to any color temperature you want, and it does help a little bit. However, if you look at the light generated by any CFL through a spectrograph, it's all blue and green. It's hard on your eyes and everything's always just a little "off".

Until full-spectrum LED lighting is cheap and done right, it's halogen for me... much more light per watt, and several times the life of conventional incandescents.

[cwj @ Dec 11th 2008 10:37AM]

Expect a call from the Disney family about "your" word.

[esoterica @ Dec 11th 2008 10:40AM]

I was just going to say...

[Kali4 @ Dec 11th 2008 11:05AM]

damn damn damn!

I gotta learn to type quicker, or at least how to more efficiently procrastinate this "job" thing.

[ID10T @ Dec 11th 2008 12:08PM]

Are you new? This is Engadget... They LOVE Apple, and Steve Jobs is Apple. And Steve is Pixar. And Pixar is Disney. They are all under the same family tree in my opinion.

[ran @ Dec 11th 2008 10:38AM]

Just add some frosted glass and warm colors then it'll definitely be suitable as a replacement.

[Kris120890 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:42AM]

It says in the video he holding a clear glass model. Products in store will be frosted. No word on colour in models though.

[tom @ Dec 11th 2008 10:42AM]

Here you go.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50060609

[orelses @ Dec 11th 2008 11:03AM]

The ones on the market are larger and do not fit all normal bulb applications. GE has made one that does for the most part. The height of the bulb is a primary issue.

[Snyder @ Dec 11th 2008 12:25PM]

The Philips Softone ones I have used for years do have (roughly) the same size and shape as a traditional bulb. Only difference to the GE Model: The split between CFL tube and electronics (which are encased in solid plastic) is visible from the outside.
Of course, compared to the huuuge old GE CFLs it's a big step forward.

[Adam Zey @ Dec 11th 2008 8:32PM]

The one pictured in this article is not the shape of a normal lightbulb. I can tell just looking at it that it won't fit in my lamp, which requires exactly standard shaped bulbs; the socket on mine is deeper than one would normally expect, and so the way that the neck of this bulb suddenly flares out would likely prevent it from fitting in my and other lamps.

[Kali4 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:39AM]

Isn't an Imagineer the title of Disney's Engineers?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Imagineering

It would be nice if they found cheaper LED lighting solutions for me though. CFL lights create too much of a strain on your eyes. That's not to say I haven't already made the switch so that I can afford a few more video games though.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:40AM]

The things people will go through so they don't have to change... Making cf look like old incandescent? Why? What purpose does it serve other than being able to clip that cheap lampshade on it?

[Kali4 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:55AM]

HEY!?!?! Why are you calling my bodacious party hat cheap? Besides, on top of the lighbulb is the easiest way to store my hat.

[Robert Abramson @ Dec 11th 2008 2:48PM]

A large issue is actually size-- many CFLs are too large to fit into older light fixtures, especially at higher outputs. If they've really managed to make the bulb smaller, this actually would let me use them in my bathroom and kitchen, for example, where I've got permanent fixtures in the ceiling.

Granted, they don't say what wattage this one is.

[Josh @ Dec 11th 2008 10:40AM]

how is it less ugly? it looks exactly the same, except covered in clear glass

that's like trying to paper bag a chick, but using a ziplock...totally ineffective

[Fletcher Kasmer @ Dec 11th 2008 10:43AM]

i shouldn't be laughing...

[Josh @ Dec 11th 2008 10:46AM]

ahh, clear glass prototype, guess i should have watched the vid first...oh well, low ranking time

[lolec @ Dec 11th 2008 10:52AM]

in the video , they say the commercial version will be covered with frosted glass. Also, the new thing here is that every component fits in the same volume as a traditional bulb, http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/396151/3134647/0/1167657740/12V_DC_Fluorescent_lamp_CFL_lamp.jpg they get rid of that tumor at the bottom.

[sloan2s @ Dec 11th 2008 12:16PM]

@ Josh

Well, unless the color blue looks better on her?

[Tankyu @ Dec 11th 2008 3:44PM]

Well Josh, it all depends on what your intentions are with said chick.

[Josh @ Dec 11th 2008 4:32PM]

hahaha, now that's just sick...

[Sandra @ Dec 11th 2008 10:41AM]

Welcome to last year GE, there have been CFL bulbs like that on the market for at least a year, I have some in my bathroom.

[coolblue @ Dec 11th 2008 10:47AM]

so you have a bulb with the balast inside the actual bulb rather than in a large plastic case?

The point of this is that it is the same form factor as a traditional bulb. They have had enclosed cf tubes for a long time but the balast is enclosed in plastic casing outside of the bulb.

I actually like the twisted cf tubes better than normal bulbs although I do welcome the reduction of the ballast size.

[matt @ Dec 11th 2008 1:27PM]

We have had these in the UK for several years now. Not sure why this needs a post?

[Rolf Schewe @ Dec 11th 2008 10:41AM]

Looks like an even more expensive light bulb. They need to skip CFL technology to LED. The mercury in CFL light bulbs is a pain in the neck to dispose of and LED technology is more efficient.

[ladderless @ Dec 11th 2008 10:54AM]

...Except for the MUCH higher energy required for manufacture, and the MUCH MUCH higher overall acquisition cost.

LED for general lighting is simply not ready for primetime. 5-8 years away.

Everyone who gets their electricity from coal burning plants should use CFL sources without concern... There is a net reduction in mercury released, just by the fact that coal plants release mercury, anyway.

Overall, ESL could prove to be a much better lighting source for residential applications, anyway: www.vu1.com

[Rolf Schewe @ Dec 11th 2008 11:35AM]

@ladderless: I think that estimate for public adoption is a little high. Years yes, but not 5-8. Maybe 2-4.

The cost has a lot to do with economies of scale. Once they are mass produced like CFLs are now, they will decline dramatically in price.

As for the mercury I would rather not have it from the bulbs or the energy plants.

Pragmatically, you are right, CFLs are the way to go now. I have been using them exclusively for more than a year now. Yes, they are cheaper and realistic today.

My main point was related to GE's new bulb. That too is for a bulb for a later day. I would rather see these companies invest their efforts into producing a cheaper LED bulb and CFLs that will be obsolete (IMO) in only a matter of years. Wasted resources if you ask me.

[Nelson @ Dec 11th 2008 11:57AM]

Actually, 5-7 years is fairly close. I'm in contact with experts in the LED industry many times each week, and need to know what's going on.

There are many problems with LED that really haven't been solved yet. The biggest is heat -- And the fact that the LED drivers are VERY sensitive to that heat. It is NOT cheap to try and solve this.

To give you an idea, there is one company that has effectively solved it: LLF, which was purchased by Cree late least year (For $107 Million... Not bad for a company that did under $3 million in sales, but that just goes to show you how difficult the R+D problems are with LED). http://www.creells.com/lr6.htm -- Check out the product. It's HUGE, expensive (around $125 each), and puts out the light equiveland of a 60 watt flood... Not enough light for most people spending $125 per bulb.

There are a whole bunch of knock-offs coming to market right now, but they all didn't go through what it takes to solve the issues... And early reports are REALLY bad -- Most of my reps won't sell the knock-offs, because they fail so much.

The other thing about LED is the directionality of the light -- It's a VERY narrow beam. This makes it hard to work with, especially for general lighting (And why LED flashlights make so much sense). By the time you diffuse the narrow beam, you've lost a lot of efficiency.

For years, LED has made sense for signals, accent, signage, and color lighting. For general, white lighting, it's still a ways off... More than 2-3 years.

[THizzle7XU @ Dec 11th 2008 1:15PM]

These lights aren't expensive anymore. A six pack of regular 60 watt equivalent CFLs from GE are usually less than $10 in stores. Considering they are supposed to last about 5 years a piece, that's pretty cheap if you ask me. Three ways are still a little pricey (about $13 a piece), but regular 3-way bulbs are more expensive anyways and you still need to consider they last longer and are cheaper to keep on.

[Josh @ Dec 11th 2008 3:15PM]

My mercury's in retrograde
merc-merc-mercury's in retrograde

[tekd @ Dec 12th 2008 3:46AM]

HID lighting for all then!
But seriously, you could just make new homes have high-voltage light sockets or something that'll take HID bulbs.

[Sanskrit @ Dec 11th 2008 10:41AM]

Okay, so they've freed it from the tyranny of ugly, opting for the mediocrity of dullness, instead.

[Whingnut @ Dec 11th 2008 10:42AM]

But can it connect to a dimmer? That's the big one keeping me from migrating 100% from standard incandescents. Need dimmable bulbs in my home-theater.

[kjb434 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:48AM]

No CFL can be connected to a dimmer switch!

Incandescent bulbs can. I don't know if LED's can.