We all know one of the easiest things you can do to “green” your home is to replace your most used light bulbs with either CFLs or LEDs, but sadly neither are perfect solutions. From the small amounts of mercury in the CFLs to the high costs of LEDs (as much as $40 for a “standard” watt bulb), many people are longing for a new lighting technology.

Well long no more. A company called Vu1 (pronounced “view one”) is about to introduce a brand new bulb with their patent pending ESL (electron stimulated luminescence) lighting technology. This bulb is neither incandescent, fluorescent nor LED, but has the best features from each bulb type. 

It has the life and cost of the CFL, the full color spectrum of incandescents, has no harmful chemicals, is durable, gives off virtually no heat, is fully dimmable, and fits normal lighting fixtures. It also looks like a normal incandescent bulb—until you turn it on. Unlike all other lighting technologies, there is no visible “source” for the light. For instance in an incandescent bulb you have the glowing filament. Instead the ESL uses accelerated electrons to stimulate phosphor, which in turn makes the entire surface of the bulb “glow.”

Some people misrepresent the technology by saying it works like a CRT tube in a television. But the only thing these two technologies share is that they both involve accelerated electrons and phosphor. The company says that’s where the similarities end. 

Exactly how the technology works is still a closely guarded secret, but if these bulbs are anything like they are being advertised, then we may be about to experience a revolution in lighting.

Here are some quick stats on the Vu1’s ESL:

• Will last approximately 6,000 hours

• Can be made to match any color temperature

• Full-range dimmability

• 65-70% less energy use than incandescent for the same output of light

• Instant-on

• Contains no toxic materials and may be recycled or disposed of with regular garbage

• Price will be comparable to CFL

• Available in 2009 with a limited release

The Vu1 website says the first “demo” bulbs will be available in Q2 of 2009, so we may not have much longer to wait before viewing this new environmentally-friendly lighting technology.