I spent some time in the home improvement stores this weekend and noticed a newer bulb from Philips designed to replace the standard flood light.  The BR30 LED bulb is Energy Star compliant, delivers 730 lumens, and uses a decent 13-watts of energy.  Plus, it’s mercury free, lasts about 25,000 hours, and has a standard warm color of 2700 Kelvin.  While the price is hovering at $40 at Home Depot right now, I expect that to slowly drop.  Plus, the bulb is an easy install — just screw it in — so testing this is a no brainer.

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I’m sure by now you’ve read some of the political talk circulating the web as a result of a recent article by The Washington Post about the Philips LED bulb that won the L Prize and $10 million.  The contest was meant to spur lighting innovation and make LEDs more affordable, but readers noted the bulb’s unrebated MSRP of $50 and basically flipped out.

Even Energy Secretary Chu commented on the price: “Nobody expects to pay $50 for a light bulb and quite candidly, if you’re filling your house with light bulbs like that, they should be part of your will,” according to Andrew Restuccia of The Hill.

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Watch this video.  It’s a mash-up of Fox News bashing the light bulb provision in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (“EISA”).  Most of the commentators seem to have an aversion to CFLs for one reason or another (i.e., bulb appearance, bulb cost, light quality, light color, mercury, cleanup), but I’m not hearing these same people talk much about the new EISA-compliant incandescent bulbs that are currently available.

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Some folks are up in arms over Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, which requires about 25% more efficient light bulbs starting in January 2012.  The bi-partisan law phases out the standard Edison bulb in favor of better options like this upgraded light bulb.  The Philips EcoVantage light offers an incremental improvement over the norm with 28% energy savings, a low price, and incandescent-style light.

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I’m going to be honest, I hate my CFLs.  After blowing all sorts of cash on these things, I’ve yet to find one that performs the way I’d like it to.  Plus, since lighting accounts for some 11% of residential energy use on average, it’s an area that deserves attention.  In doing so, I’ve been playing with various options and think LEDs may just be the ticket.

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If you’re looking for long-lasting, energy-efficient lighting, 60-watt replacement LEDs are on the way to big box retailers.  These lights screw in just like typical incandescents, but they use less than a quarter of the energy and have no mercury, unlike CFLs.

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