The First $5 LED Bulb Comes With A Catch


Besting both incandescents and fluorescents when it comes to energy-efficiency and eco-friendliness, LED bulbs unfortunately still haven’t caught on because they’re still too expensive. And even with a sub $US5 price tag, the Pharox 200 Blu still isn’t the perfect alternative.

Does it have a life expectancy of more than 10 years? Yes. Does it consume a mere 5W of power? Yes. Is it free of mercury or lead? Yes. Does it produce as much light as a 60W incandescent bulb? Umm. A 40W incandescent? Try half that.

While the Pharox Blu 200 will cost you just under $US5, making it the most affordable LED replacement bulb to date, it only produces about 240 lumens of light. Which is almost half of what you’ll get from a 40W incandescent bulb. So Lemnis Lighting is actually positioning it for use mostly in accent lighting, and not as a replacement for every lamp and fixture in your home.

However, the tactic will certainly encourage consumers to at least give LED bulbs a shot, which despite the hefty initial investment, should provide ample cost savings in the long run. [Lemnis Lighting via Cnet]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.