Canadians invent ‘most energy-efficient’ light bulb

There’s a new energy efficient lightbulb in town, and not only was it invented by Canadians, but it’s about the funkiest looking illumination device we’ve seen since the lava lamp.

The flashy device promises to produce as much light a 100-watt incandescent bulb while, using only an eighth of the power, reports the CBC.

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It’s makers are three University of Toronto graduates, and they took to crowdfunding website Kickstarter to get the project off the ground. Initially the trio, who met at a solar car-building competition in 2005, were hoping to raise a paltry $20,000. They quickly blew past that marker and are currently sitting on $141,911 in pledges after less than a month of fundraising.

Make no mistake — these bulbs aren’t cheap. A $30 donation will get you a single 10 watt bulb, while a $45 will get you the 12 watt model. But NanoLight’s makers promise that users will quickly earn back that initial investment in electricity savings.

The NanoLight's genius is in its complex circuit board design, which is implanted with numerous tiny LED lights facing in different directions.

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According to its makers, the NanoLight is superior to the current energy efficient LED lights on the market for a number of reasons.

For one, it lights in all directions, something current LED lights cannot do. It also produces the equivalent of 100 watts of light, something that is still relatively rare among LED lights. The Nano Light is also reportedly one of the coolest on the market, in that it won’t overheat when used in an enclosed fixture the way many other LED bulbs will.

Those interested in getting their paws on the first generation of these groundbreaking new bulbs need look no further than NanoLight’s Kickstarter page, which will be accepting pledges until Friday, March 8, 2013.