Yes, the price is high, but it will come down over time.
It is these micro actions that will make the difference in per-capita energy consumption over the long haul.
One of the better known forces in LED lighting technology is teaming up with retailer Home Depot to start selling six-inch LED downlights.
The EcoSmart LED Downlight uses Cree TrueWhite Technology, which means that they have been tweaked with an eye to the colors they cast in your house. The lights consume 10.5 watts of energy, which Cree says is about 85 percent less energy than required by a comparable incandescent light and about 50 percent less than a comparable fluorescent bulb. The lifespan for the new Cree bulb is 35,000 hours: translation, 32 years of life with approximately three hours of daily use. They are priced at less than $50. Cree says the lights will fit most standard recessed housing; they are dimmable to 5 percent, using off-the-shelf dimmers.
The EcoSmart LED Downlight can be purchased at the Home Depot Web site already. You will have to wait until the fall until the product becomes available in approximately 2,000 Home Depot retail stores.
Cree is a publicly held company based in Durham, N.C. The company just reported a 100 percent leap in LED sales for its fourth fiscal 2010 quarter, achieving sales of $240 million for that period.
