Panasonic's new EVERLED light bulbs to light up your life for 19 years
By Laura June 
posted September 16th 2009 3:56PM
posted September 16th 2009 3:56PM
Long-lasting light bulb technology is nothing new -- people have been trying to up the lifespan these bad boys for some time. Long-lived light bulbs are generally uber-expensive, too, but we like to keep our eyes on such things. Panasonic's just unveiled the EVERLED, a line of bulbs set to be launched in Japan at the end of October. Lighter and more efficient than other LEDs on the market, these babies use 85 lumens per watt for a 40W bulb. Though the bulbs are not going to be cheap -- about $40 -- the company claims they'll have a lifespan of 19 years, bringing the overall costs down considerably. Still, we'd have to see them last that long to believe it.
[Via Inhabitat]
[Via Inhabitat]
The real question is whether it is bright enough to replace current bulbs?
It's a little over 1/3 the brightness of a conventional 60W incandescent bulb. It can certainly replace your desk lamp, which is the ideal application IMO.
Task lighting - Yes.
Area lighting - nope.
Have they tested allready ? :p
Laura June,
Thank you for using the reference of how many lumens per watt (the efficacy) of this bulb. That is the true reference of light source efficiency.
When referring to LED lighting, it is also important to note the color temperature of the bulb. The ultra white/blue LED lamps are the ones with a high efficacy. If you look at the 'standard household' warmer color temperature, those LED lamps have 2/3rd's the lumen levels for the same amount of wattage.
Compared to incandescent, these are a big step up. However in the warm, pleasant color temperatures, they are equal to CFL's in efficacy. In comparison to max lumens however, they're fairly dim, sub 400 lumen level. You need 3 of these lamps to reach the same overall lighting levels as a typical CFL. LED's on the market don't yet reach the efficiency of T-5 fluorescent bulbs, which can have up to a 108 lumen to watt output.
Also, the rated life of these LED's are nothing special. Every major manufacturer rates their LED lamps for 35-50k hours.
I had a feeling that the comments section would have people complaining about the shorter-than-advertised life of CFL bulbs, and I was not disappointed.
Here's the secret: CFLs die early if you turn them off after they've been on for less than 15 minutes.
It's something to do with incomplete warming of the inverter, I don't recall exactly. Anyway, after learning about this I started leaving the CFLs on for a while, and I haven't had to replace any bulbs since.
Thanks, that explains why it's my bathroom cfl's that like to fail.
Yeah, that's why I want to get an LED bulb for my bathroom. Unfortunately, in this country at least, nobody sells the bloody things - well, they sell useless pieces of crap like the one above. 340 lumens? Please. Double it and now we're talking.
that's a really helpful tip. thank you.
Can you guys imagine soon the iHouse will be possible! Built in lightbulbs everywhere but they last 150 years!
Way too expensive...
Interesting, in the future we won't be replacing bulbs when they stop working, but when they become obsolete (the newer models having a more natural light, etc.)
I already do that with bicycle headlights, where efficiency is crucial. I've been using a 200-lumen LED headlight from Dinotte for a while now. I'm tempted to upgrade to their 400-lumen (dual-LED) model, even though my current one works perfectly fine.
Oh, and for those who thought $40 was a lot for the Panasonic LED bulb - my Dinotte 200-lumen lamp cost me about $180 (and still does). Even without the rechargeable battery, it costs $120. And worth every penny.
I love that these new-fangled bulbs tout their uni-directional light dispersion as an advantage. They say, "all the light is directed downwards, so none is wasted on the ceiling or walls!" Bullshiz! Imagine how weird the room would look if the only light came from what is essentially a spotlight in the middle of the ceiling! Furthermore, not all light sockets face downwards. Table lamps would end up sending all the light upwards (leaving the shade/bowl completely dark), and ceiling lights with sideways-facing dual sockets would direct all the light sideways.
They really need to get on figuring out how to make the light omni-directional.
Where does it say the light is unidirectional? From the photos it looks like the cover is translucent or frosted, and acts as a diffuser.
Obviously it is difficult to decipher what the website says, but I've seen other websites specifically advertise how great it is for a bulb to finally come along that doesn't waste light by sending it towards the ceiling/walls. With this bulb, it looks like, at the least, the light cannot go "backwards", as the frosted diffuser does not stick out of the sides at all. What people don't realize is that the ceiling often helps reflect the light downward into the rest of the room.
Alex is dead-on here... spend some time talking to an architect or interior designer and they will probably cringe at the suggestion that light is "wasted" by reflecting, washing, or cascading it off the wall or ceiling. Some of my most successful projects emphasized ambient light and reduced the need for task lighting. This type of bulb is clearly better for the latter.
John,
As an efficiency and lighting designer for an Architecture firm - you are absolutely correct. I recently wrote a blog post related directly to this issue. Reflected light can do wonders to the apparent light in a workspace.
http://geekpi.com/?p=412
Try telling that to all the vast number of people who have populated their entire houses with those little 50W halogen spotlights. The issue with these is that because they are directional lights it takes a lot of them to light a whole room. So you end up with using upwards of 1KW (sometimes 2KW or more) to light a room when you could do it with say 60W of CFLs in standard lamps or table lamps scattered around the room. That is a grotesque level of waste but people do it all the time. The reason, of course, is ignorance - if you ask most people how much power their lighting uses they just don't have a clue.
@David
Have you considered seeking professional help? I used to be pretty tightly wound myself so I "understand"
Internet, serious business.
This is good for lazy people like me, if you come to my house you will notice all ceiling light bulbs do not work, because it's too much work to replace them, next time i will replace them is gonna be with these LED lightbulbs!
I have a whole lot of 60W bulbs and a bunch of 100W in use. I can't think of one place I would use a 30W or 40W bulb. Fail.
(open question)
How many Apple fanboys does it take to change a light bulb?
"We don't need to change it. It just works."
I think you mean iLuminators.
I think the proper term is the LEDs "deliver 85 lumens per watt" vs the term "uses"
But that's a lot for US$40 each
Is it a problem that I want to replace every light around me to an LED...
And this brings me one step closer to doing so, and being broke.
You could get a puppy, and the light bulbs at the same time. When the dog dies, you'll know its time to get new lights.
An LED lightbulb is like a Porsche 911 with square wheels.
Hasn't anyone else noticed? The technology that needs to change is the BULB, not what's inside it!
Think about it. The bulb was designed:
A - Convenient. The bulb shape was easy to evacuate air from.
B - Disposable. They burned out fast and needed to be replaced easily.
C - Practical. Electricity was rare, power receptacles few and far between. One bulb per room - better make it bright!
Consider their weaknesses:
A - Fragile! any way you slice it, a bulb still hangs out there in space, making easy targets for the children on flying broomsticks mentioned above.
B - HOT! Who wants to touch a bulb that will burn you?
C - Too bright! Any single-source light has to be.
LEDs could solve all these issues, but not when they're squeezed into a bulb! Spread em out! Diffuse lighting from many LEDs is way easier on the eyes, doesn't take up precious real estate, lasts damn near forever, and uses a fraction of the power without heat!
When GE starts selling OLED sheets to put over my windows, or when MIT couples a tiny WITricity reciever to a single led I can stick the ceiling, then I will remove all the bulbs in my house, stomp triumphantly on them, plaster over their fixtures, and finally light my house with LEDs.
Until then, keep polishing that bulbous turd, cuz it still looks like sh!t to me.
Just like "they" said. The light bulb is going to be history.
Lifespan of 19 years? Yea..RIGHT~ ~!
like turning it on for only 5 - 10 minutes per day just like the philips living color led...which it claims to have 8 years lifespan but with microscopic remarks saying like assume 10 - 15 minutes per day!~
This kind of lifespan claiming is BS!~
The linked site clearly states 40,000 hours life. So it's 19 years assuming it's used 8 hours a day. Seems like a reasonable assumption for most household lamps. But of course, it'll only last about 5 years if kept on continuously.
WHY DOES THIS KEEP COMING BACK UP ONTO THE FRONT PAGE. STOP BUMPING THIS ARTICLE ENGADGET
/cruisecontrol