If you’ve been thinking of switching to LEDs for the energy efficiency, this bulb makes an even bigger earth-friendly impact.
Last month, Sengled showcased its new Element lightbulb at CES 2017 in a model connected home display at Sands Expo. The Element bulb is the world’s first carbon-neutral lightbulb, according to the company.
It’s not actually the bulb itself that’s carbon-neutral, but the company’s “One Bulb One Tree” campaign. The Element bulb is so efficient, it produces less carbon than a tree absorbs, and Sengled plants a tree for every lightbulb customers buy. Because each tree can absorb the carbon each lightbulb produces, the bulb effectively has zero carbon footprint.
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The Element uses 80 percent less energy than a traditional incandescent bulb, and is rated to last for 22 years. The lightbulb offers the equivalent of a 60-watt bulb, but it only uses 9.8 watts.
In addition to its efficiency, Sengled’s new lightbulb can be integrated into your existing sockets, and it has some cool features like customizable scheduling, color temperature tuning (soft white 2700K to daylight 6500K), and energy tracking. You can control Element bulbs individually or as a group, and you can schedule your lights to turn on and off based on your schedule using the Android/iOS app or through a smart-home ecosystem. The app also shows you how much energy the bulb uses, so you can keep track.
For around $60, you can buy a starter kit, which includes two element bulbs and a hub that allows for connectivity. The bulbs also work with Xfinity Home from Comcast, AT&T Digital Life, Samsung SmartThings, Stringify, and Amazon’s Alexa.
The Element is one of the few Sengled bulbs that doesn’t double up on abilities; the Pulse acts as a speaker, the Snap has security features, and the Boost acts as a Wi-Fi repeater.