Osram Sylvania is shipping the first batches of its Ultra LED bulb at the price of $50 to some Lowe’s stores.
The bulb uses 20 watts of electricity, and it’s slightly larger than a regular 100-watt bulb, so it may not fit in all fixtures. It has 25,000 hours of use, or more than 20 times the lifespan of a standard, incandescent bulb.
Its competitor Philips also plans to start selling its own, slightly brighter 100-watt-equivalent LED bulb at Home Depot’s website starting in a few weeks for about $55. Startup Switch Lighting Bulb Co., with its unusual liquid-filled bulbs, plans to start selling 100-watt equivalents late this year or in January.
The federal government banned the manufacture of regular 100-watt bulbs on Jan. 1 as a consequence of new energy-efficiency standards. Gradually, 75-watt bulbs will be banned at the start of 2013, and 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs at the start of 2014.
