The Amazing Switch LED Bulb

Incandescent light bulbs were invented by Thomas Edison. They replaced gas lamps, and served society well for a century. Trouble was they used too much electricity.  A proper reading light required a 100 watt bulb.

Then, about a decade ago, we got compact fluorescent bulbs. They used less than half the power of an incandescent bulb to get the same amount of light.  Problem is compact fluorescent bulbs are expensive and they are filled with toxic gas.

Light emitting diodes have also been around for a while, but they had limited use because the technology resisted being scaled up to match the light delivered by a 100 watt incandescent bulb. Fortunately, a lot of smart people have been working the problem, and now, a company called Switch was come out with a series of LED bulbs designed to fit in standard lamp sockets.  They start with a 40 watt incandescent equivalent on up to the just announced 100 watt equivalent bulb.  The latter is the holy grail.  Using only 15 watts of power, the Switch 100 is dimmable to 20%, and lasts about 20,000 hours. It's ingenious design allows its components to be broken down completely for recycling. 

Switch 100

According to the government's energy information administration, about 202 billion kilowatt hours were used for residential lighting in 2010.   That's about 40% of all energy required for lighting in the United States.  Imagine if you could cut that by 85%.  That's what bulbs like the Switch 100 deliver.  Would that mean we could get rid of all nuclear power.  I think so. I hope so, given what we've seen about the consequences of nuclear power from Chernobyl and Fukushima.  The massive amount of efficiency gained with LED bulbs also means fewer power plants running on fossil fuels, reducing pollution of the atmosphere which is the best way to combat climate change.

I checked with Batteries Plus, the only outlet locally that carries the Switch bulbs.  The Switch 100 is not available yet.  A Switch 60 costs about $50.  Though they last a long time, that is a lot of money. This is where we need the government to step in with a tax incentive to encourage early adopters.

Here is the link to the Switch website...http://www.switchlightingco.com/index.html