The Federal Commerce Fee has sued a California-based mostly gentle bulb manufacturer and its principals to cease them from misleading shoppers by exaggerating the sunshine output and life expectancy of its Mild Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs. As part of the FTC’s continuing work to stop deceptive promoting, the company filed a complaint charging that since 2008, Lights of America, Inc. has overstated the sunshine output and life expectancy of its LED bulbs on packages and in brochures. The company also fees that Lights of America misled shoppers about how the brightness of its LED bulbs compares to conventional incandescent lights. Manufacturers have just lately begun promoting LED bulbs for family use because they are a higher-effectivity, longer-lasting alternative to incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs. Although the initial worth tag could also be higher, properly-designed and manufactured LED bulbs save on energy costs and final for much longer than other kinds of light bulbs. The FTC alleges that in many cases, Lights of America’s LED bulbs produced considerably much less mild, as measured in lumens, than the company claimed in its promotional supplies.
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For instance, one bulb was promoted as producing 90 lumens of light output, but Lights of America’s personal assessments confirmed it produced solely 43 lumens. Additionally, in many circumstances, Lights of America deceptively compared the brightness of its LED mild bulbs with incandescent bulbs, the FTC alleges. For instance, the firm claimed that one of its LED lantern bulbs could replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb. However, while the typical 40-watt incandescent bulb produces about 400 lumens, the Lights of America LED bulb produced solely 74 lumens. Furthermore, the FTC complaint states that in lots of situations, Lights of America’s LED bulbs wouldn’t final as long as the company’s promotional supplies stated they’d. In one case, for instance, the firm stated that one of its LED recessed bulbs would final 30,000 hours. Impartial checks, nevertheless, confirmed that the bulb would not last so long as claimed because it misplaced eighty % of its gentle output after only 1,000 hours. In filing the complaint, the FTC is searching for a permanent injunction to cease the defendants’ allegedly illegal conduct, in addition to financial redress for consumers who bought the deceptively labeled merchandise.

The Commission vote authorizing the filing of the complaint was 5-0. It was filed within the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on September 7, 2010 against Lights of America, Inc.