My friend Andre from GreenTable was over the other day to borrow some gear, and he was telling me about some new LEDs that are starting to make their way into restaurants and other commercial settings.

They replace small halogen bulbs, providing the same amount of light with little or no heat, and with the added advantage of drawing very little power.

They’re still pretty expensive – in the 30-dollar range – but last 100 times longer than a typical halogen bulb. I’m looking forward to switching mine out for these when the price is right.

Meanwhile, one company hopes to bring much cheaper LEDs to market later this year…

The company, which specializes in light-emitting diodes, plans to reveal in about four months prototypes of a new style of white-light LEDs that would both cost substantially less to manufacture and provide more light than conventional LEDs.

Combined, the two advantages would enable light fixtures based on LEDs, which are now relatively expensive, to better compete with traditional lamps based on conventional glass bulbs and fluorescent lights, according to Cyberlux President Mark Schmidt. Full story at Cnet