The Pharox LED bulb from Lemnis Lighting represents yet another small step toward providing a mercury-free, fully recyclable alternative to current CFLs while further improving energy efficiency. So, what’s the downside?
The Pharox is the best LED bulb I’ve seen, and while it addresses some of the issues we’ve had with other bulbs reviewed here, it still has a couple of hurdles to overcome before being ready for prime-time: power and price. Like other LEDs the Pharox contains no mercury and lasts up to 50,000 hours or 35 years of regular use. Many LEDs today provide highly directed light (almost like a flashlight). The Pharox distinguishes itself with the beautiful soft white light it shines in all directions. The quality of light, omni-directionality and incandescent-style form-factor would make it an ideal replacement for most household applications if only it were brighter and didn’t cost so much.
The Pharox is a 40 watt incandescent replacement bulb (230 lumens) that uses a meager 4 watts of power. That’s about 1/3 the energy required for a 40w equivalent CFL but at about $60 per bulb at retail, you pay a lot for that increase in efficiency (although calculations we did for our last LED review showed even expensive bulbs pay for themselves over time). Then there’s the issue of power, most people use 60-100w equivalent bulbs throughout their homes, and you’ll have to decide for yourself if a low-output bulb like this works for you, but for me 40w equivalent just isn’t enough light for most applications.
Overall, I really liked the quality of light output by the Pharox as well as its convenient shape, but the high initial cost and low light output will keep me from swapping out my CFLs just yet. Here’s how I rated these LEDs:
What’s keeping you from switching to LEDs? Let us know in the comments!
Dare to compare: Here you see the Pharox on the right and a 60w equivalent CFL on the left.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Carnival of the Green #117! « Confessions of a Closet Environmentalist // Mar 3, 2008 at 2:05 am
[…] marking his territory, JP Davidson of GreenDealsDaily reviews two green gadgets for us: the 40W Pharox LED light bulb and the BOGO solar powered flashlight, which donates a second unit to the developing world with […]
2 Anna // Mar 3, 2008 at 8:35 am
JP,
There is one LED that I think is doing a great job, which is the LR6 made by LED Lighting Fixture, Inc
This bulb can replace your 65 watt light bulbs but it comes with a price tag of $125 a light. In addition, it does not fit all fixtures. There is a list on the site which tells which one it works with. When I wrote about it in October, it did not work with the lighting systems (ie lutron) but they were working on it. A couple of people commented on how much they liked this light bulb and are using it in their houses.
I saw it at LightFair (the international light show) last April was really impressed with its general illumination.
Nice honest review on the Pharox. I like that you took the time to test it out yourself rather than just write about it. Check out my post on this LED.
Anna www.green-talk.com
3 Lily Wu // Apr 7, 2008 at 2:15 am
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