NEW YORK — As of Jan. 1 of this year, the 60-watt incandescent light bulb — that classic of the genre; the Edisonian ideal; the signifier that illuminates in your mind’s eye when you’re asked to picture “a light bulb” — was banned forever. Perhaps you prepped by hoarding a box of bulbs in the back of your closet. Or perhaps this news took you by surprise, and you now live in fear of the moment the beloved incandescent in your bedside lamp flickers out.
Either way, there will come a time when you’ll need to buy an alternative bulb. Don’t be scared. I’m here to help.
First of all, I must stipulate: You adore your incandescent bulbs. I get it. In 2008, writer Ron Rosenbaum penned a heartfelt ode to the “painterly glow” of incandescence. He argued that to ban incandescent bulbs was to “ban beauty.” The aesthetics of incandescence are amazing. The unfortunate downside is that incandescent bulbs are awful energy hogs. Along with their lovely light they also emit a ton of useless heat, which wastes electricity.
New bulb technologies are way more efficient. Like 80 percent more. That’s a big difference. Given that (according to lighting industry experts I spoke to) there are something like 4 billion screw-in light sockets in this country — the bulk of which remain occupied by leftover incandescent bulbs — the energy savings from a nationwide switch will add up.
At the time Rosenbaum was writing, the primary challenger to the incandescent bulb was the compact fluorescent, or CFL. CFLs are the size of a standard bulb but have spindly, spiraling fluorescent tubes in place of a filament. They blink to life with a depressing flicker and often take a few moments to achieve full brightness. They cast a wan, sickly light. In sum, they are unlovable. The outrage over the incandescence phase-out made sense when CFLs were the only alternative.
Luckily, better options have arrived. Bulbs using light emitting diodes (LEDs) illuminate instantly with no flicker. The quality of their light is, to my eyes, far warmer than you got from those dank CFLs. And LEDs are even more efficient, and last longer to boot. Yes, they’re pricier, but LEDs are vastly superior to CFLs in every other way.
But which LED bulb is best? I experimented with a few brands to see if I could suss out differences (Ordered from my least favorite to my top choice):
9 watts, 713 lumens
Insteon claims this bulb’s color temperature is comparable to an incandescent’s, but I found it threw off an almost greenish light. The pea soup hue repulsed me. The Insteon’s physical design — dominated by a big, crenelated podium at its base to disperse heat — leaves the illuminated part of the bulb as only a half globe, meaning it casts light in just one direction.
Cree Soft White LED 60-watt Replacement
9.5 watts, 800 lumens
The Cree wasn’t as greenish as the Insteon, but was still not my cup of tea, color-wise. Too harsh. It might be OK for your cubicle. Or, like, your abbatoir. Just keep it out of your living space, where its cold light will instantly kill the mood.
10 watts, 800 lumens
This TCP bulb had the warmest, reddest tone of all the LEDs I tried. Its physical shape is attractive and functional. No complaints. A totally solid choice.
10.5 watts, 800 lumens
The SlimStyle has a radically different physical shape. Imagine if you could press a classic light bulb between the pages of a book to make it flatter. A bit like a Frisbee with a socket-fitting screw at its base. It’s not as red and warm as the TCP, but its bright white light was clear, pleasing, and free of greenish undertones. Put this one in your kitchen, put the TCP in your living room, and call it a well-lit day.
14.5 watts, 800 lumens
The Finally bulb uses induction — a technology that traces its roots back to Nikola Tesla. (You can read about it at finallybulbs.com/acandescence.) Using induction to produce light is nothing new, but in the past it tended to require an apparatus too large to fit inside a standard light bulb form. The Finally Bulb managed to shrink the induction unit down. Though the Finally bulb is very energy efficient when compared to an incandescent, it’s a bit less efficient than an LED. At 14.5 watts, and a lumens-to-watt ratio of 55, it’s more in line with a CFL. It also contains traces of mercury, while LEDs don’t.
Given these drawbacks, why am I bothering to mention the Finally bulb? Because its light quality is superb. Rosy pink. Toasty enough to warm even Ron Rosenbaum’s heart. To my untrained eyes, it’s nearly indistinguishable from an incandescent. When I set up two light fixtures side by side in the office and asked people to compare the Finally to these LED bulbs, the Finally won every time. “It makes my skin look radiant,” enthused one colleague.
You won’t go wrong buying one of my recommended LED bulbs now. But the Finally bulb is scheduled to hit shelves this October. You might wait to see if your stock of precious incandescents can hold out until then.
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