Pharox LED light bulb

Last October, we reviewed the EarthLED EvoLux(TM) bulb and praised it for using just 13-watts of power to deliver the same illumination as a 100-watt incandescent bulb.

As that EarthLED review mentioned, there's lots to like about LED bulbs:

• No mercury (unlike CFLs)
• Very low power consumption for significant luminance
• Very long lasting - approximately 50,000 hours compared to say 750 hours for a 100-watt incandescent bulb.
• Relatively cool to the touch since the energy produces light, not heat. So LED bulbs are great to use in hot climates when you don't want your indoor illumination adding strain to your air conditioner.

The only thing we didn't like about the EarthLED bulb was the cost. A single bulb would put an $80 dent in your wallet.

That's why we were thrilled when Lemnis Lighting, a Dutch company, sent us information on its Pharox LED bulb. This 4-watt LED bulb is designed to replace a 40-watt incandencent.

That's right - Pharox offers 90% energy savings over your old incandescent filament bulb, plus all the other benefits listed above. Pharox has a friendlier sticker price too - only $34.95 through Amazon.com.

Now, $35 is still a lot for a bulb, but if your one Pharox LED bulb lasts as long as 50 incandescent bulbs (which Lemnis claims it should), you'll probably come out ahead financially in the long run while saving tons of energy in the process.

Indeed, Lemnis asserts that if every American household switched four 40-watt incandescent bulbs to Pharox 4-watt lamps, American would save $113 billion in energy costs over the lifetime of the Pharox bulbs.

And now for a few caveats:

• A 40-watt bulb may not be sufficient for your needs. We installed our sample Pharox LED bulb in a small closet/hallway area and found that the bulb casts enough light for us to choose towels and rummage through our medicine bin, but just barely. We're hoping that Pharox comes out with a 6-watt replacement for a 60-watt incandenscent...

• The light is very white. A comment on Amazon describes the light as greenish. I wouldn't go that far. In fact, you might think of the Pharox light as a sort of 'heavenly glow', the sort of light in which seraphim might bathe. Or you might just think, "Gee, that's some darn white light."

• Some folks complain that CFL bulbs take a fraction of a second (or longer) to turn on after the switch is flipped. We didn't have that problem with the Pharox bulb, but strangely it did seem to take a smidgen of time to turn off after we flipped the switch. Either that or our eyes are playing tricks on us, which is totally possible.

Where to buy:

The Lemnis website directs consumers to Amazon.com, as mentioned above, where a 3rd party retailer sells the bulb for $34.95.

P.S. - For what it's worth, EarthLED now apparently offers a ZetaLux 7-watt LED bulb that claims to offer illumination comparable to a 50-60 watt incandescent bulb. The bulb is priced at $49.99 and offered in either cool or warm styles. Bulk pricing lets you lower the per-bulb price if you're willing to buy four or more ZetaLux bulbs at a time.