Hopefully we will see in the future ESL's that have more power, and are not just directional. But perhaps ESL's are best suited for directional lighting (particularly recessed lighting). Whether it is feasible to make omni-directional ESL's could be the topic for another long discussion. I think it certainly is possible, but the people building these things have much more experience with cathode ray TV tubes (directional). And then I wonder how much space an omni-directional ESL would take up. Might only be suitable for large globe lights, but this might not be so bad. After all, several ceilling fixtures throughout my house are basically just little bulbs inside a glass globe to diffuse the light.
A CRT accelerates charged particles then uses electromagnets switched at high speed to steer the resulting beam in a pattern across the target phosphor screen. The angle of deflection you can achieve with this method is somewhat limited, which is likely why the recessed downlight market is what they chose. If they produce something A19-ish, expect it to have the directional problems you complain about with LED. Only,
LED can be rather omnidirectional with ease.
And also remember that these "500 lumen" bulbs suppossedly do a better job of illumination than the lumen rating alone would suggest (not sure if that means it actually has a higher light output, or whether the light it does output is just optimally distributed), this has been noted in several online reviews by different people. This is just the opposite of LED bulbs, which seem to have higher lumen rating than their actual illumination would suggest (although this might not be the case in recessed LED fixtures, perhaps someone who has actually done a comparison can comment? )
Substitute the term "lux" or "candella" for "lumen" and you'll get it right. Only it's hard to find lux/candella ratings on sources for general lighting ... hmm ...
This is not how the consumer thinks. You can argue that LED lights will save money in the long term all you want, but the vast majority of consumers will not care to understand or listen. Like idleprocess mentioned, consumers don't like to be made to think too much. If there are two "energy saving" products on the shelves, most consumers will just grab the cheaper one. ESL's could have an advantage in the actual marketplace. Even for people like us who know better, perhaps some of us just do not feel we can afford to buy all at once 12 recessed LED lights for a room.
And these ESL's would probably cost significantly less if they were being mass produced like the Cree LED downlights.
Have you see the electronics it takes to drive a CRT? Even though these need only scan a constant pattern, there are still high voltages and high frequencies involved.
These appear to be part of their driver circuits. 2 transformers, 2 big power/switching IC's, 5 big caps, 2 IC's, and numerous other small outboard components. Not shown - the electron gun, the windings / magnets, and the other bulb innards. They're going to be challenged to make any money at a $15 retail price.
LED bulbs are hitting the $10 price point with a steadily-maturing industrial base behind them. They're solid-state devices driven by DC power - which can be converted from AC mains power simply and cheaply.
Even the high-voltage ballasts for CFL's have a simpler task than a CRT driver - zap the arc into existence then maintain it. Component count on CFL drivers is pretty low last time I saw one cracked open.
Another point that you neglected is potential theft. As a greater number of people buy expensive LED lighting, it is quite within the realm of reason that these lights could begin to become the target of theft. A less expensive bulb (even one that does not last as long or save as much money) might make more sense in high crime neighborhoods or outside locations. So what other options for these people who want to use energy efficient lighting but absolutely hate CFL's ?
Wait ...
what? Are you being serious? If your residence has been burgled, you generally have far larger problems than someone stealing your light bulbs, such as your TV, computer, jewelry, cash, firearms, etc being gone. If the thieves had enough time on their hands to steal your light bulbs, they've probably also relieved you of your plumbing fixtures, electrical wiring, door hardware, and flooring. But maybe they were polite about it and swept up after they were done.
Suppossedly these ESL bulbs have a better quality of light than LED's, and this would seem to be confirmed by looking at the spectrum graphs. Apparently better phosphors can be used when the excitation source is an electron beam rather than the UV from the mercury vapor in a CFL.
This article has the only graph I could find. Certainly not as spikey as CFL and a bit more full than LED, but also less smooth than incan/LED and the red spike is similarly situated.
Also, most of the reviews of the relative handful of pre-production units they released years ago seem to have been conducted by shills.
Perception of spectrum is quite subjective.
I found CFL's pleasing enough when they were novelties priced at about $10 each, but they became positively unsatisfying when I started shopping on price.
I personally dislike how the LED manufacturers are relentlessly pursuing 2700-3000K in an effort to replicate the incandescent - I'd much prefer something 4000-5000K, the color of daytime sunlight. But I recognize that I'm a minority, thus don't squawk about it too loudly, but do vote with my wallet when the opportunity presents itself.
Like I stated previously, there is much more to quality of light than just "color temperature".
The markets understand this too, which is why the markets seem to dislike the cheaper CFL's that cut corners on phosphor and produce horrid spectrum as a result. But CCT is a simple thing that's easy to remember and compare, unlike CIE coordinates or spectrum graphs. So long as the light has reasonably balanced spectrum, it's a useful comparison.
I have been wondering why no really true full spectrum LED's have been made available.
There were some experiments with near-UV LED's striking phosphor in an arrangement extremely similar to how florescent tubes work - I gather that package degredation from the UV exposure and lower efficiency than conventional white LED's lead to their abandonment.
The markets seem satisfied with the various warm white LED options out there - be it the phosphor mix on a blue die to produce warm or a cool white LED with red/amber LED's to fill in the red.
I think high CRI LED's might have demand in office lighting (hopefully), but then again most offices now do not even use "full spectrum" fluorescent tubes, so perhaps people do not care (or do not know). And in many cases, it is not actually the office renters themselves that are buying their lights, so there may be a lack of direct incentive to make good aesthetic choices. With more marketing and consumer awareness, there would likely be more demand for higher CRI lighting.
It's been my experience that most offices use whatever the building super's buddy/brother-in-law who he gave the service contract to as a favor can source the cheapest in order to maximize their profit. Like it or not, current-generation LED interior lighting will represent a step up over the mixed bag of T12's I've seen deployed in almost every office building.
I read that when this company first began taking order for these ESL bulbs through their site, they sold out within only 2 hours!
Apparently the media coverage online had caused several environmental blogs to write about, which generated considerable interest before it was even available. So while this ESL bulb might not really have a broader appeal, it certainly is being enthusiastically embraced by a small subgroup of consumers. There is a strong niche market.
Time will tell. Per Vu1's
most recent blog entry, they're about to ship 40k units soon.
I've got to say, you're assuming that ESL has this potential to be amazing and marvelous on the basis of information you seem to have gleaned second-hand on a
single beta product, but have contempt for LED - which has appreciable variety now - based on experience with one or two examples. Reassure me and tell me you're not a statistician...
Anders likes to spout off about things he knows nothing about and he is the only one promoting it. I should ignore it, but the less knowledgable may take what he says as fact and make bad decisions.
