Talk about a bright idea! Most people know that one of the easiest ways to go green and save money at home is to replace a standard incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent. Well, now it’s just as easy to go even greener and save even more money by replacing that incandescent with new a new bulb from General Electric. Called the EnergySmart LED, the 9-watt bulb is super energy efficient—it generates the same amount of light as a 40-watt incandescent with 77 percent less power. It also produces the same omnidirectional quality of white light as an incandescent, unlike earlier incarnations of LEDs, which shed a cone of light in only one direction. The bulb is also shaped a lot like an incandescent bulb, except that it features exterior fins that help dissipate its heat. And its 22,500-hour life span (or about 22.8 years if the bulb is used 3 hours a day per day for its rated life) is between two and three times as long as that of a compact fluorescent. An unlike a compact fluorescent, it contains no toxic mercury. The bulb goes on sale on the company’s Web site today for $50 apiece. If the price seems steep, consider GE’s claim that the bulb will not only save $85 over the life of the bulb, but also that if every household in America bought just one, we could save almost $400 million in energy costs and eliminate 500 billion pounds of greenhouses gasses in a year, which makes the bulb sound like a pretty energy-smart investment all around. Higher wattage versions are in the works, too. To find out more or purchase one online visit GE’s Web site.
