I'm skeptical of the figures in the article and the idea of reflecting the infrared but not the visible light.
One quantity that characterizes a lighting source is the so-called luminous efficiency, which takes into account the response of the human eye. Whereas the luminous efficiency of conventional incandescent lights is between 2 and 3 percent, that of fluorescents (including CFLs) is between 7 and 15 percent, and that of most commercial LEDs between 5 and 20 percent, the new two-stage incandescents could reach efficiencies as high as 40 percent, the team says.
In the RV I experienced 7 times less current draw when I switched to LEDs just as bright as the incandescents.
I just bought our first LED replacements for 4 foot fluorescent tubes for home use. They had a lower lumen rating than the fluorescents but are much brighter because all the light is aimed downward. The claim is half the power consumption. Not as good as I expected. Apparently there are LED tube replacements that require removal of the ballast and a bit of retiring to take the 120 V direct to the tube. That sounds better but I don't know where to get them.
