3M Company.... a better LED light bulb.
The high-tech bulb looks like a traditional incandescent but boasts a 25-year lifespan (at three hours of use per day)..
"Functionally, we've mimicked the distribution of light" of a 60-watt incandescent, said Ray Johnston, the 3M scientist who invented the concept and led its technical development.
The interior of the 3M advanced LED light uses the company's multilayer optical film, adhesives and heat management technology to help deliver the same, even light you get from a traditional bulb. The light-emitting diodes, hidden in the base of the 3M bulb, aren't visible.
The 3M Co.'s new LED Advanced Light looks and illuminates like an incandescent light bulb, but uses a host of 3M technologies on the inside. The bulb is designed to last 25 years and will be available later this year.
With incandescent bulbs being phased out of the market by 2014, 3M is betting on the new LED technology to replace both incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs.. One advantage: Some competing bulbs, such as compact fluorescent products, don't look like traditional light bulbs. That also sets the 3M product apart, said Kevin Shevlin, a 3M marketing manager. And some comparable LED products don't illuminate like an incandescent light bulb.
3M points out that its LED light costs $1.63 per year to operate -- a quarter of the cost of a traditional bulb. So even at higher price of LED lighting technology, given its longevity, LED light bulbs will still save you money over the life of the bulb.
Long-term success for the bulb could involve licensing the technology to others, he said, or finding a way to mass produce the bulb to bring down the price.
3M's Johnston started dabbling in LED light technology a few years ago after talking to Tom Simpson, a laboratory manager in the company's display and graphics business in Maplewood. Simpson, who gets credit for the bulb's inception, had a group that was starting to focus on solid-state lighting.
"I told Ray to go talk to the lighting guys and try to hit a home run," he said.
Johnston worked on the idea for two to three years, and it started to secure "strong business interest" from within 3M about 18 months ago, he said.
The 3M team involved in developing the bulb "joyfully ignored boundaries to make this thing go, and go quickly," Simpson said.
The bulb is being manufactured at the 3M plant in New Ulm, with materials sourced from around the globe.
Some team members who developed the bulb have been trying it out at home and give it rave reviews.
"Even behind a lampshade, there's no indication it's any different from an incandescent," Simpson said.
This article highlights the efforts and direction lighting technology is progressing and not necessarily promoting the 3M product. There are many viable LED lighting products available so Contact Premier Lighting for the latest LED options along with other lighting options to help your facility save energy, improve lighting and reduce maintenance costs.