Philips Unveils World's First LED Replacement for Most Common Household Light Bulb

Royal Philips Electronics unveiled its 12 watt EnduraLED light bulb, the industry's first LED replacement for a 60 watt incandescent light bulb. Shown for the first time here at the Lightfair International tradeshow, it marks an important breakthrough in the use of LED lighting technology in everyday applications. Consumers will now have an LED alternative to the most commonly used incandescent bulb, which will deliver up to 80% energy savings and last 25 times longer than its century-old predecessor.
The significance of developing an LED equivalent to the 60 watt has been recognized by many international organizations, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), who created the L-prize competition to spur development of this highly sought after innovation. Philips' entry was the first, and to date remains the only submission for the L-Prize, which was used as the basis for the 12 watt EnduraLED. Exceeding the Energy Star specifications for a 60 watt bulb, the EnduraLED uses only 12 watts of power while delivering an industry benchmark of 806 lumens.
Every year more than 425 million 60-watt incandescent light bulbs are sold in the United States, representing approximately 50% of the domestic incandescent light bulb market. According to calculations by Philips, this LED replacement has the potential to save 32.6 terawatt-hours of electricity in one year, enough to power the lights of 16.7 million U.S. householdsor 14.4% of the total number of households in the entire US. It would also eliminate the generation 5.3 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
The new lamp uses an innovative design and remote phosphor technology to deliver the same soft white light and shape consumers are familiar with in an incandescent. The EnduraLED works with standard dimmers, further simplifying use and allowing consumers to enjoy an effective, low energy solution for lighting in the home. For business users, particularly those within the hospitality sector, the new lamp will provide instant plug-in savings, through extended life and reduced energy and maintenance costs, in comparison with traditional bulbs.