That Lifespan Is Rated At 25

If you are trying to replace a 100W light bulb, you'll find a number of LED options at costs that are not almost as unreasonable as they had been only a 12 months or two in the past. The present crop, including the Philips 100W Equal LED, hovers proper across the $20 worth level. Initially priced at $25, Philips' LED has since been marked down a few bucks to $22, EcoLight solutions which remains to be barely dearer than what you'll see from rivals like GE and Cree. Philips justifies that by claiming an additional 80 lumens' value of brightness over these two, together with superior dimming capabilities. Nonetheless, our assessments didn't reveal any noticeable difference in either brightness or dimmability. That, together with the truth that Philips gives half the warranty that you'll get with GE or Cree, makes this bulb troublesome to advocate. Philips' 100W Equal LED shares the same, EcoLight solutions flat-topped construct of its smaller siblings in the 60W and 40W classes, however sets itself apart with a novel design that splits the bulb into three sections separated by deep channels.



This helps keep the heat buildup at bay, something that gets particularly necessary when LEDs start placing out this a lot light. Even with the emphasis on thermal management, EcoLight solutions the bulb gets hot to the touch after just a few minutes of use, which isn't unusual for a 100W alternative LED. As such, Philips recommends not utilizing it in an enclosed fixture -- if you happen to do, you'll threat shortening the bulb's lifespan. That lifespan is rated at 25,000 hours, the identical as the opposite 100W alternative LEDs I tested, with the exception of Utilitech. That lifespan comes out to 22.8 years if the bulb is used for a median of three hours per day. Philips warrants the bulb for the primary 5 of these years, while GE and Cree each supply ten-year warranties. 25,000 hours is the longevity benchmark for EcoLight products Energy Star certification -- the Philips 100W Equivalent earned certification over the summer, as did the GE LED I tested. Cree's bulb is not certified yet, nevertheless it meets the criteria -- Cree's team tells me they anticipate it to be certified within the close to future.



Philips claims a mild output of 1,680 lumens at a golden hued 2,seven-hundred Ok from a energy draw of 19 watts. That makes it good for about 88 lumens per watt -- a formidable number, reduce energy consumption but not as impressive as GE and EcoLight products Utilitech, which each manage to place out 100 lumens per watt. Those 1680 lumens are a slight step up from what you may get with GE, EcoLight solutions Cree, or any of the opposite bulbs we examined. With brightness being one in all the first belongings you need from your private home lighting, that number would seem to offer Philips an edge, EcoLight solutions albeit a minor EcoLight one. However, the engineers at Vitality Star check bulbs out for themselves, posting the full specs for each LED they certify online. On Philips' listing, Energy Star charges the bulb at 1,620 lumens -- not 1,680. While an extra eighty lumens is just barely sufficient to make a noticeable distinction, an additional 20 lumens is essentially insignificant. We wished to know which number had it right.



From a easy eye test, EcoLight solutions the sunshine put out from the Philips 100W Equal LED doesn't differ much from its nearest rivals, the Cree and GE 100W replacements. Side by side, the three have nearly equivalent glows, all of them boasting similarly warm tones. That is not shocking, EcoLight LED given that each one three are rated with the same 2,700 Okay colour temperature. When tested, every one erred low, on the yellowy side. Remember, although, that Philips claims to place out 1,680 lumens to Cree and GE's 1,600. That's a reasonably minuscule distinction, however it is one that must be noticeable if you are looking carefully for it. The issue is that I couldn't notice it. Testing bulb brightness will get a bit tough. In addition to measuring colour temperature and color rendering scores, our spectrometer can take luminosity readings from a given mild -- however those readings are simply skewed by things like viewing angle and distance. To get numbers you can rely on, you need something called an integrating sphere.