It is helping to speed along the release higher lumen bulbs

While the difference between A19 and A21 is negligible to many buyers, the increased size and surface area does help Philips get around the pesky heat issues that often occur when trying to produce so much light. Some other manufacturers, especially those who are going through great pains to produce a 100W-equivalent, would call this cheating, but it is helping to speed along the release higher lumen bulbs.

Osram Sylvania’s upcoming 1600 lumen model is also an A21 while GE’s will use SynJet active cooling from Nuventix. The Switch100 bulb should be available before too long (no date has been announced) and that will use the company’s standard design, but that design is liquid-cooled. In other words, everyone has had to take some unconventional steps to get to 1600+ lumens.

At 81 lumens per watt the A21 LED is not as efficient as the company’s L Prizing winning bulb, but it does hit a respectable number. Their standard 12.5W model produces 800 lumens making for 64 lm/w. That’s a rather pedestrian number by today’s standard, but the bulb is available for about $20.

Over the course its life Philips expects the A21 LED to save its owner around $214 in energy spending, making for a nice return-on-investment for anyone that wants to invest now and save later. With an expected price of about $65 in December, these will be quite expensive to buy in bulk.

Along with the A21 Philips also announced the DimTone BR30 LED lamp. This is a directional bulb, often used as a floor or spotlight. The BR30 uses Philips’ Airflux technology, which optimizes cooling and means the bulb does not require an expensive, finned heat sink.