Customer Reviews

Philips 75-Watt A19 EcoVantage Light Bulb, Soft White, 2 Pack

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I replaced six of my standard light bulbs with these Philips 75 watt EcoVantage bulbs. As near as I can tell, these 75 watt bulbs do indeed put out the same amount of light as a standard 100 watt bulb. I did not notice any difference in color from the old 'soft white' ones. If you are like me, and dislike fluorescent 'energy savers', this is a good step forward. I use and recommend the Philips line of energy saving incandescent light bulbs. The 'Halogena' energy savers are also good, and more efficient, but are a little higher in price. It is good to have a choice.

First, the photo is strange... I just bought a pack of these and it says 72W replaces a 100W incandescent at 1490 lumens. The photo says it's 75 watts and 1500 lumens, so it looks like it has changed a bit (perhaps to comply with EISA 2007).

Anyway, a 28% energy savings compared to regular incandescent bulbs is great when you can't tell the difference. The bulb looks and works just like a regular incandescent bulb and a 28 watt savings is 28 watts of pure heat that I don't need in Texas in the summer.

NOTE: I would use fluorescent if I could but I cannot where I need to use these bulbs.

These bulbs aren't that expensive either, at about $1.50 per bulb (plus tax), though they seem to be more $$$ on Amazon than at a local hardware store that starts with "H", has "ome D" in the middle, and ends with "epot".

If they last for 1000 hours and save 28W, then that's 28kWh saved, which in my case is over $2.80 at over $.10/kWh which more than pays for the bulb... and that doesn't account for the extra money it saves in less AC time because it generates less heat that has to be removed from the house.

And being compliant with EISA 2007, they won't be taken off the market like regular 100 watt bulbs come 2012.

I only wish they had a longer rated life.

Like them much better than CFLs as there isn't any warm-up time. Works with my garage's motion sensor.

I hope this bulb catches on so I can use them for the rest of my life. The beam is the best.

The environmental zealots have really gone crazy with the ban on traditional incandescent bulbs. The only real energy savings come from replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs. CFLs produce significantly more light per Watt than incandescents. CFLs also bring mercury into our homes, landfills and watersheds. Their light quality is terrible: a ghastly blue-white that makes skin tones look sickly, and a partial spectrum that is emotionally disturbing.

The least bad alternative is a halogen light encased in a standard A19 glass bulb. Halogen light ranges from slightly warm to near daylight, and has a continuous spectrum. However, Halogen bulbs, like the Philips EcoVantage A19 line, produce only slightly more light per Watt than incandescent bulbs. If they were to replace incandescents on a lumen-for-lumen basis, they would need much higher Wattage than the bulbs that are actually marketed. This would upset the environmental lobby. So manufacturers are offering bulbs with a lower Wattage and faking the comparisons.

The current 2011 Philips A19 EcoVantage bulbs product sheet P-6250 does not list 75 Watt bulbs. The shipping product is 72 Watts. There are three models: Soft White 40982-1, Clear 41048-0, and Natural Light 22699-3. Soft White bulbs are frosted and have a slightly warm tone. Natural Light bulbs have a blue coating to cut down the red spectrum and approach natural daylight. They also appear to have a different filament that puts out 19 percent less light and lasts longer. Both Soft White and Clear bulbs are listed at 1490 lumens. Natural Light bulbs are listed at 1200 lumens.

Here is where the 100 Watt fake comparisons come in. On the EcoVantage Consumer Products page on the [...] web site, Philips says: "Compared to a 100W A19 bulb with 1440 lumens, the 72W A19 EcoVantage with 1490 lumens saves 28% energy." They are comparing the Halogen bulb to a 100 Watt incandescent with a long-life filament (which produces less light for the 100 Watt input). A "real" 100 Watt bulb, the Sylvania Standard 100W (4-pack UPC: 0-46135-12750-2) is rated at 1710 lumens, or 15 percent more light than the EcoVantage 72 Watt.

The 1710 lumen Sylvania is rated at 750 hours life (at which point half of the bulbs will have failed). The 1490 lumen Philips EcoVantage is rated at 1000 hours life. The 1200 lumen EcoVantage Natural Light bulb is rated at 1250 hours life.

The real answer is to stock up on 100 Watt incandescent bulbs from online merchants. Check the lumens! They can no longer be sold by stores in California and some other states. I think that U.S. manufacturing will end on January 1, 2012. The next to go will be 60 Watt incandescent bulbs.