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Nanoleaf Bloom and Gem LED Lightbulbs Are Openly Efficient by Design

04.07.15 | By
Nanoleaf Bloom and Gem LED Lightbulbs Are Openly Efficient by Design

The image of the light bulb is a-changing. Bulbs are increasingly going naked, attention getters ready to be exposed rather than hidden from view like those fugly CFL bulbs of just a few years ago. Two new bulbs from Nanoleaf fit into this new trend of beautiful bulbs designed with decor and energy efficiency at the forefront of their design.

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The Nanoleaf Gem is the answer when you’re looking for a bulb to use exposed without a shade or cover. It’s a faceted focused glass LED bulb outputting 800 lumens, the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb, yet sips just 8 watts of electricity thanks to the light-emitting diodes inside. There’s also a 40 watt equivalent for softer mood lighting. Both turn on and light up like a traditional bulb with a very pleasant 2700K color temp ideal for reading. But as impressive as the energy efficiency and the purported 23 years life for each unit, you’ll probably buy the Nanoleaf Gem because of its geometric charm. It’s a looker whether on or off, arriving later this month in celebration of Earth Day.

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The second Nanoleaf bulb is a little funkier than its gemstone counterpart and a 2015 Red Dot award winner. The Nanoleaf Bloom wears a Kickstarter vibe to it, with an interlocking LED dotted facet design which bathed us in an unexpectedly bright glow…really bright! The equivalent of a 75 watt bulb, the Bloom can put out 1,200 lumens of 3000K, 5000K, 6000K color temperature light using just 10 watts of power max, but it seems even brighter than those numbers communicate.

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There’s another impressive trick this model offers at the flick of a switch: without the aid of a dimmer the Bloom can “Bloom Blink” (aka dim) down to 75%, 50%, or 25% brightness by turning off, then quickly back on the light switch. The four output settings serve different needs throughout the evening and circumvent the need to install a dimmer mechanism. And when switched off the bulb slowly dims down with a pleasant effect that eases the room into darkness, a dramatic effect which makes “lights out” something to look forward to.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.