October 13, 2004—At a time of sharply rising energy costs, super-efficient, cost-effective lighting for commercial, industrial, and residential applications takes a long-awaited, major step forward with the introduction of Optimized Digital Lighting (ODL)—a revolutionary LED (light emitting diode) light bulb, representing the first 100% digital and 100% solid state, high performance, low cost LED floodlight from Lighting Science, Inc., a subsidiary of The Phoenix Group Corporation (PXGC) of Dallas, Texas.
According to Lighting Science, Optimized Digital Lighting(TM) LED R-30 light bulbs are now available—costing up to 80% less than other comparable LED light bulbs currently on the market and delivering longer useful lives.
Fred Maxik, Inventor and CEO of Lighting Science, says,”At a retail list price of $33 per bulb compared to existing LED light bulbs costing as much as $198 for R-30 floodlights, high performance LED light bulbs are now available at a truly affordable price to replace widely used 65-watt incandescent floodlights in commercial, industrial, and residential settings.
Very low energy consumption ODL(TM) R-30 bulbs from Lighting Science consume only 5.6 watts of electricity and replace 65-watt incandescent bulbs and 15-watt fluorescent bulbs. Compared to existing analog incandescent units that are widely used in commercial and residential applications, ODL lamps reduce energy usage by almost 90% for the same end lumens, with a useful life that is up to 25 times longer (50,000 hours). Relative to fluorescent lighting, ODL units reduce energy usage by as much as 50%. ODL bulbs use the same light fixtures as incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs.
Lighting Science technology delivers significant savings in initial costs as well as in operating energy costs, the best light quality, functionality, and up to 30% greater light output per watt compared to other LEDs. Applications include hotels, restaurants, retail stores, outdoor facilities, governmental facilities and residential lighting. “Other LED bulbs are not practical for these uses due to their significantly higher costs, the fact that more than one bulb can be required to replace a typical 65-watt incandescent bulb, or because other LEDs have much shorter useful lives or poorer light quality,” explains Maxik.
Invented in 1968, LED technology uses semiconductors to convert electricity into light. Until recently, LEDs were used mostly as indicator lamps in electronic components and as signaling devices, such as traffic lights and automotive taillights. Until now, the historically high initial cost of LEDs, their lesser light quality, their limited functionality, and their appearance have delayed their widespread use for general illumination purposes. Their requirements for direct current and limits in color quality also impeded their deployment in mass applications, such as replacements for 65-watt incandescent bulbs.
A standard incandescent R-30 floodlight costs about $3.50 per bulb, but only lasts about 2,000 hours. However, an ODL bulb from Lighting Science lasts up to 50,000 hours. To equal one ODL bulb, a customer would have to purchase 25 incandescent bulbs for $87.50 (versus one ODL bulb for $33).
A series of incandescent bulbs delivering a total of 50,000 hours of use would cost $276 to operate at a cost of $0.085 per kilowatt-hour for the electricity. “One ODL bulb would use only $28 of electricity over the same period, a savings of almost 90%,” Maxik notes.
For more information, contact Lighting Science.
