The bulk of the technologies and products based on them that I encounter in my everyday interaction with the consumer electronics industry are evolutionary (and barely so in some cases) versus revolutionary in nature. A laptop computer, a tablet, or a smartphone might get a periodic CPU-upgrade transplant, for example, enabling it to complete tasks a bit faster and/or a bit more energy-efficiently than before. But the task list is essentially the same as was the case with the prior product generation…and the generation before that…and…not to mention that the generational-cadence physical appearance also usually remains essentially the same.

Such cadence commonality is also the case with many LED light bulbs I’ve taken apart in recent years, in no small part because they’re intended to visually mimic incandescent precursors. But SANSI has taken a more revolutionary tack, in the process tackling an issue—heat–with which I’ve repeatedly struggled. Say what you (rightly) will about incandescent bulbs’ inherent energy inefficiency, along with the corresponding high temperature output that they radiate—there’s a fundamental reason why they were the core heat source for the Easy-Bake Oven, after all:

But consider, too, that they didn’t integrate any electronics; the sole failure points were the glass globe and filament inside it. Conversely, my installation of both CFL and LED light bulbs within airflow-deficient sconces in my wife’s office likely hastened both their failure and preparatory flickering, due to degradation of the capacitors, voltage converters and regulators, control ICs and other circuitry within the bulbs as well as their core illumination sources.

Evolutionary vs revolutionary

That’s why SANSI’s comparatively fresh approach to LED light bulb design, which I alluded to in the comments of my prior teardown, has intrigued me ever since I first saw and immediately bought both 2700K “warm white” and 5000K “daylight” color-temperature multiple-bulb sets on sale at Amazon two years ago:

They’re smaller A15, not standard A19, in overall dimensions, although the E26 base is common between the two formats, so they can generally still be used in place of incandescent bulbs (although, unlike incandescents, these particular LED light bults are not dimmable):

Note, too, their claimed 20% brighter illumination (900 vs 750 lumens) and 5x estimated longer usable lifetime (25,000 hours vs 5,000 hours). Key to that latter estimation, however, is not only the bulb’s inherent improved ventilation:

Versus metal-swathed and otherwise enclosed-circuitry conventional LED bulb alternatives:

But it is also the ventilation potential (or not) of wherever the bulb is installed, as the “no closed luminaires” warning included on the sticker on the left side of the SANSI packaging makes clear:

That said, even if your installation situation involves plenty of airflow around the bulb, don’t forget that the orientation of the bulb is important, too. Specifically, since heat rises, if the bulb is upside-down with the LEDs underneath the circuitry, the latter will still tend to get “cooked”.

Perusing our patient

Enough of the promo pictures. Let’s now look at the actual device I’ll be tearing down today, starting with the remainder of the box-side shots, in each case, and as usual, accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes:

Open ‘er up:

lift off the retaining cardboard layer, and here’s our 2700K four-pack, which (believe it or not) had set me back only $4.99 ($1.25/bulb) two years back:

The 5000K ones I also bought at that same time came as a two-pack, also promo-priced, this time at $4.29 ($2.15/bulb). Since they ended up being more expensive per bulb, and because I have only two of them, I’m not currently planning on also taking one of them apart. But I did temporarily remove one of them and replace it in the two-pack box with today’s victim, so you could see the LED phosphor-tint difference between them. 5000K on left, 2700K on right; I doubt there’s any other design difference between the two bulbs, but you never know… Read Original