NeutralAxis

If you don’t mind paying more than 10 times the price of a standard incandescent lamp, a new incandescent technology can boost efficiency around 30% and lasts about 3 times as long.  They’re still not as efficient as a CFL but they’re instantly on at full brightness, which is my only complaint about CFL.  Home Depot and Amazon.com are currently selling them under the Philips Halogena Energy Savers name at around $5 apiece.

The new technology involves enclosing the filament inside a sealed capsule which is made to reflect heat back inward to make the filament burn brighter.  That sounds like it would just get hotter and hotter until the filament broke, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.  Researchers at Deposition Sciences, say they have achieved 50% efficiency gains in the lab, which starts looking more favorable compared to CFL’s typical 75% efficiency gains.  I would think production costs could quickly come down dramatically because the filament in a capsule thing is already being done with halogen bulbs.  A quick look at Deposition Sciences website shows they’re involved in thin film coatings, so its the coating of the capsule that is the new invention it seems.