I think it’s great that you’re comparing the two and giving people more information about how to choose their lighting. It’s something we don’t think about much, but it can have a huge impact on our lives.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
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Much ink (cyber and physical alike) has been published over the years, both in EDN and elsewhere, regarding the relative merits and shortcomings of various supposed successors to the venerable incandescent light bulb. CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) were initially seen by the “green” crowd (which, to be clear, counts yours truly among its members) as the most likely candidate, thanks to their touted higher efficiency and longer lifetime versus incandescent precursors. But they haven’t particularly panned out, in my opinion.

So why am I dissing CFLs so badly now, versus at any point in the past or future? It’s because shortly before I began writing this missive, General Electric announced that it was phasing out the production of CFLs (see additional coverage in Engadget, Gizmodo, and The Verge). Instead, the company will focus its ongoing development and manufacturing attention on what it sees as their successor, the LED. “But Brian,” you might be saying, “LEDs are pricey, too!” You’re right, but the prices have dramatically dropped in recent times, to the point where they’re now at or below CFL alternatives, with further decreases to come.

And this is key: I’ll suggest that consumers’ existing experience with other LED-based devices leads them to believe that, unlike fluorescent-based lights, LED light bulbs will tend to last “forever,” thereby more effectively rationalizing the prices paid for them. Admittedly, the base-based circuitry is still heat-sensitive, and overall construction quality varies from one manufacturer to another. But as a general rule, I think you get my point. And in other respects, such as color temperature, form factor flexibility, turn-on time, and the like, LEDs are at least the equal of incandescent forebears, if not the superior approach.