After months in development, Philips is finally ready to sell LED light bulbs that last 20 years. Could be quite a game-changer — after all, if you didn’t have to change a light bulb between now and when your unborn child graduates from high school, just think of all the precious minutes you could spend on other tasks. And the environment would surely thank you.

Philips put the $60-bulb on sale yesterday, which was also Earth Day, of course. The bulb uses LED — otherwise known as light-emitting diodes — to light things up, instead of filaments, reports BBC News.

The design won the Bright Tomorrow competition run by the Department of Energy, which was aimed at finding more environmentally-friendly alternatives to the 60-watt and 100-watt incandescent bulb we all used to use. They were the only entrants in the contest, and worked on the bulb for 18 months of testing.

Certain stores have reportedly wrangled deals with Philips to sell the bulbs for only $20. We’ll do the math for you — that’s only $1 a year!

US introduces $60 LEd light bulb [BBC News]

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