Six of the 20 teams competing in the Energy Dept.’s Solar Decathlon will use LED light bulbs from the Lighting Science Group in the houses they have worked on for over two years. The houses are supposed to blend affordability, consumer appeal and energy-efficiency. Each house will each be judged in ten separate competitions to determine the winner of the overall decathlon. The teams hope the LED bulbs, which put out 25 to 30% more lumens per watt than other lamps, give their houses an edge. The bulbs are also more efficient than CFLs, contain no mercury, are “instant on,” and totally recyclable. And the warm light they emit is said to be virtually indistinguishable from that of a traditional incandescent bulb.
