Cree LED downlight on sale at The Home Depot

Aug. 23, 2010
Solid-state LED downlights are now available from the world’s largest home-improvement retailer at a price below US 50 dollars.
EcoSmart-branded LED Downlights manufactured by Cree can now be purchased in North America from The Home Depot, a major home-improvement retailer, for less than $50.
The EcoSmart LED Downlight is available now via homedepot.com and is targeted to be available in nearly 2,000 The Home Depot retail stores in fall 2010. EcoSmart is a Home Depot brand comprising a line of energy-efficient LED lighting products.

The six-inch LED downlights, powered with Cree’s TrueWhite Technology, consume just 10.5 watts, which is approximately 85-percent less energy than a comparable incandescent and 50-percent less energy than a fluorescent alternative.

The new downlight is designed to be easily installed into most standard six-inch recessed housings for retrofits and new construction, and is dimmable to 5 percent using most off-the-shelf dimmers, says Cree.

A Lighting Facts label accompanying the product shows that the light output is 575 lm at 10.5W, corresponding to 55 lm/W efficacy. The color temperature is 2700K and the color rendering index is 92.

“The EcoSmart LED Downlight delivers on The Home Depot’s promise to offer LED lighting without compromise,” said Bill Hamilton, electrical merchandising vice-president, The Home Depot. “[Our company] is now able to deliver a lighting-class, energy-efficient solution to our customers.”

Created specifically for the residential market, the EcoSmart LED Downlight is designed to last at least 35,000 hours, or approximately 32 years with three hours of daily use, which is nearly four times longer than compact florescent alternatives and up to 16 times longer when compared to incandescent options.

“The availability of the EcoSmart LED Downlight at The Home Depot marks a true milestone in the LED Lighting Revolution,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree’s CEO and chairman. “With high-quality, more affordable LED downlights now offered at the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, consumers don’t have to turn to wasteful incandescent or mercury-laden fluorescent options when they can easily choose energy-efficient lighting that delivers warm light and beautiful color.”