Safer alternatives to CFL light bulbs

By Bruce Thompson

A more environmentally friendly alternative to compact flourescent lights(CFL) is likely to be one of several forms of solid state lighting, variations on the familiar light emitting diode (LED). Here is a link to the U S Department of Energy page.

The Osram white LED featured provides 65 lumens per watt. For comparison purposes, a standard General Electric 75 watt soft white incandescent bulb provides 1170 lumens, or 15.6 lumens per watt. The Osram LED is 4.16 times more efficient.

There is also great potential in Organic LEDs (OLED) which are flat light sources that are creating using ink jet printing techniques. The CFL is not the only successor to the incandescent bulb.

White LEDs are already in production for battery powered applications, such as flashlights.