1540 Lumen Bulb I found in Japan

I was in Japan last week on vacation and was very impressed with their LED bulb selection over there. I'd say its 90% LEDs in stores and about 10% CFLs, whereas in the USA its nearly opposite (although getting better). I found this light and didn't even know a regular A19 bulb was available that could push this amount of lumens. The price was 10,200 yen which makes it about $125, ouch (although everything is more expensive there). It's claimed at 1540 lumens for 17.6 watts (87 l/w). I do believe their testing standards aren't as strict over there so maybe it is just an inflated number.

Edit - Forgot to mention I didn't actually buy it, just took pictures of it.

$125 that's one night out in Roppongi des. Biiru o kudasi

Pretty spendy but it's encouraging to see the outputs gradually getting higher and higher on these. Won't be long before CFL's are just a bad memory.

Ry, too bad you managed to be the first one to post in this thread and had nothing to say pertinent to the thread itself. I also saw just recently one of the mods instructing someone else that this is an English language forum - please stay on topic and resist the urge to clutter threads.

Can anyone provide a link to a supplier in the States (I'm not planning to dash off to Japan to pick up a bulb!)? I did a little searching and could only find an A19 610lm bulb with a plastic heatsink available. Itching to measure and disassemble one....

Would this not just burn the retinas if it was a light in your house? I can see the use of 1000+ lumens outside but inside would be brutal.

Harold_B said:

Can anyone provide a link to a supplier in the States (I'm not planning to dash off to Japan to pick up a bulb!)? I did a little searching and could only find an A19 610lm bulb with a plastic heatsink available. Itching to measure and disassemble one....

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The standards in the US and Japan are quite different. The bulb probably does not meet US standards and is unlikely to be sold over here. (Kind of like the Tata Nano car will not be sold in the US because it can not meet crash test and pollution control standards.)

Acid87 said:

Would this not just burn the retinas if it was a light in your house? I can see the use of 1000+ lumens outside but inside would be brutal.

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A 100 watt incandescent is 1400 to 1700 lumens. This bulb is the replacement for that. Won't burn retinas because there is no reflector to focus the light.

Take the reflector off your flashlight, put a 2-3/8 frosted dome over it and it won't be that impressive indoors.

I found this light and didn't even know a regular A19 bulb was available that could push this amount of lumens.

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They can't, at least without getting red hot.

A19 can't handle ~17 watts and has trouble with half that.

Unless the Japanese have figured out how to beam the thermal to hyperspace or something I'm skeptical.

LEDninja said:

A 100 watt incandescent is 1400 to 1700 lumens. This bulb is the replacement for that. Won't burn retinas because there is no reflector to focus the light.

Take the reflector off your flashlight, put a 2-3/8 frosted dome over it and it won't be that impressive indoors.

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Excuse my ignorance. Never really thought about it not being a focused beam. I also didn't know Incan bulbs were so bright.

Japanese homes run on 220 vold 50 cycle electrical systems. I wonder how this effects the circuitry of the lamp?
us is 240 volt 60 cycle. Donno about other countrys?
Kai. I guess my point was that, yeah that lamp is expensive, but not really considering all of the money I spent when I lived there.

ryguy24000 said:

Japanese homes run on 220 volt 50 cycle electrical systems. I wonder how this effects the circuitry of the lamp?
Kai. I guess my point was that, yeah that lamp is expensive, but not really considering all of the money I spent when I lived there.

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I used to worry about any ill effects from the slight mismatch with Japanese and American electronics, but have never experienced any kind of problem using items made for either country on the other shore.

It is pretty expensive over there, but surprisingly some items are cheaper and shopping around is definitely worth some effort!

Harold_B said:

Can anyone provide a link to a supplier in the States (I'm not planning to dash off to Japan to pick up a bulb!)? I did a little searching and could only find an A19 610lm bulb with a plastic heatsink available. Itching to measure and disassemble one....

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Hi Harold. You are unlikely to find it for sale here, so your best bet is a Japanese website that ships to the US (there are several of them, but you usually have to setup a PO box in Japan (again, another website that does this) and they ship it there, and then it gets forwarded to your domestic address).

Harold_B said:

Can anyone provide a link to a supplier in the States (I'm not planning to dash off to Japan to pick up a bulb!)? I did a little searching and could only find an A19 610lm bulb with a plastic heatsink available. Itching to measure and disassemble one....

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Wait a couple of months. The 100W equivalent LED bulbs are due in the new year in the US.
The 75W equivalent 1100 lm ones are already available.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?318302-Philips-18-Watt-A21-LED-Bulb

I'm sure I can stay busy until they get here (thanks for the updates and suggestions). Perhaps I'll ask an associate that is traveling with a Japan stopover to grab one for me if it's convenient. The heat sink looks underwhelming for a product putting out that kind of total lumens. Their site does say something about a two layer approach to the design to remove heat so I'm just as interested in the thermal design approach as I am in the high output.

Harold_B said:

The heat sink looks underwhelming for a product putting out that kind of total lumens. Their site does say something about a two layer approach to the design to remove heat so I'm just as interested in the thermal design approach as I am in the high output.

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Here is a graphic of the new Toshiba bulb design. They have a heat conducting plate connecting the LED (and what looks like a remote phosphor dome) to the top of the bulb. Many LED bulbs just have a heatsink in the bottom and a non conductive plastic dome. Looks like Toshiba is using the dome as a 2nd heat sink.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20111028/200001/?SS=imgview_e&FD=1567767443&ad_q

The switch bulb is doing something similar except they are using a liquid to get the heat to the dome.

That would be interesting. I can't tell a great deal from the graphic as it tends to blur as I enlarge it but I can't say as I have ever heard of a thermally conductive plastic that is translucent. The samples I have had were all gray or black and completely opaque. The Switch has a glass envelope which will transfer heat a lot better than the plastics (I got a close look at LFI last May). For $100+ though they ought to be doing something spiffy in there!

ryguy24000 said:

Japanese homes run on 220 vold 50 cycle electrical systems. I wonder how this effects the circuitry of the lamp?
us is 240 volt 60 cycle. Donno about other countrys?
Kai. I guess my point was that, yeah that lamp is expensive, but not really considering all of the money I spent when I lived there.

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You're probably thinking of europe - Japan's voltage is 100v running at either 50hz or 60hz depending upon where you are in the country. I bought some LED bulbs there and they worked fine back here in the US, but YMMV.

Leonard

I have access to this bulb. It's dimmable down to 2%. There's a 1800 lm one that will be released soon, and it's tested to LM79 standards. Main market is Japan, as the electricity costs are higher so the ROI is much faster. LEDs are running at 76 degrees celsius.