14 DAY TRIAL // It's becoming increasingly clear that LED-based light bulbs will become the norm in the future, and for this reason, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the first fully working products of this type have started to make their way onto the market, such as the LED-based A-lamp from Cree, touted as being able to meet the ENERGY STAR performance requirements for a 60-watt standard LED replacement bulb.
This is not the first solution of this type we've come across (as some of you might remember, we've talked about Panasonic's LED light bulbs a while ago), but we'll have to admit that Cree's solution is also quite interesting, since it's dimmable, emits an incandescent-like color of 2700 K, delivers more than 800 lumens and consumes fewer than 10 watts.
"This is a significant milestone for the industry," said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and chief executive officer, adding that "in the race to commercialize low-cost, energy-efficient LED bulbs, the industry has forgotten that LED lighting is supposed to look as good as the technology it is replacing. This is the first no-compromise replacement for a 60-watt incandescent bulb."
"We are committed to leading the market and showing the industry what's possible with recent innovations in our LED products and technology. We are excited to show the world what it should expect in an LED light bulb and enable our customers' products with these innovations," Mr. Swoboda concluded.
"This is the first standard LED A-lamp that combines high output with very high efficiency, in a small form factor, without the additional cost and complexity of active cooling or other design compromises," Mr. Rob Glass, Cree, vice president of technology, also commented, adding that "we continue to advance our LED technologies to enable our customers' success and to help accelerate the LED revolution."
Unfortunately, unlike Panasonic, who's offered a timetable for its LED light bulbs, Cree's solution is just in prototype stage for the time being, so there's no way of knowing just when it will make its way onto the market and just how much it will cost.