Philips EnduraLED

Philips EnduraLED Photo courtesy Philips

Remember when everyone was supposed to ditch standard incandescent lightbulbs for more-efficient compact fluorescents? Philips’s EnduraLED bulb could replace both. It’s the first LED bulb that can compete head-to-head (and lamp-to-lamp) with a 60-watt incandescent, the most common household light.

Because LEDs lose less energy than incandescents as waste heat, the bulb produces the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent using just 12 watts. The EnduraLED’s yellow phosphor coating filters the LEDs’ bluish wavelengths to produce a consistently warm, white glow.

The bulb lasts approximately 25 times as long as an incandescent, while its energy savings covers the hefty price tag in about four years. And its efficiency is similar to compact fluorescent lights, but without the mercury.

$40 (est.); lighting.philips.com