I’m in the process of remodeling my kitchen and the subject of lighting is being discussed with our architect. I listened intently as he described how there would be various can light fixtures in the ceiling with halogen bulbs. He also described how the under the counter lighting would use fluorescent lights. In my mind I was replaying comments I had heard on a local radio home improvement show where they were on the topic of lighting for an energy efficient”green” home. They were pushing the compact fluorescent bulbs very heavily on the show, touting the energy and economic benefits of CFL.

Involved with the edge of technology for most of my life, I was more interested in hearing about LED lighting. I know that it uses much less power than either halogen or CFL. But there was never any mention of LED lighting by either my architect or the radio show host. I have researched LEDs enough to know that there are emerging solutions out there but for some strange reason, they are flying very low below the radar. It appears that the majority of the issues have been solved enough to where technically speaking, LEDs have a superior advantage. They use a fraction of the power of any other technology, generate much less heat and have 80,000 hours of lamp life! There are socket compatible replacements to any incandescent, fluorescent or halogen lamp on the market plus the LED technology lends itself to many more packaging options. They obviously are more costly at this time but total life cycle costs are already better, even at the higher initial cost. Plus once they gain any kind of market traction, they will come down the cost curve like any other electronics device.

What gives? Am I missing something or do the LED suppliers not know what kind of gold mine they are sitting on? Maybe it’s like the auto and oil companies that do not want to promote hybrid and alternate fuel cars. They may feel there is too much money to be made in incandescent light bulbs to make the change in technology. Where are you Al Gore?!