I’m a man of the fence when it comes to incandescent lights. I’m also probably one of the most dynamic users of illumination technology in all of it’s forms. I regularly use lasers, xenon, metal-halide, mercury-gas, incandescent, LED, fluorescent and plasma light sources. My applications are a weird as photo bleaching a fluorescent molecule, to illuminating a runway on landing at night. In most applications, I’d opt for a diode-based source if at all possible. In many cases LED’s can improve safety, lifetime, energy use and overall use experience. Until now, the one place I’ve hated using them is at home. Whether it’s working under a car or illuminating a room at home, I hate the high frequency pattern and weird light of a fluorescent light bulb. Add to this the oft-avoided fact that these bulbs a)last about as long as an incandescent bulb (ask me how I know…) and b) contain mercury, which isn’t exactly great for the landfill. On top of this, the US has mandated a ban incandescent bulbs, and GE has recently closed it’s last and oldest incandescent manufacturing plant in the USA. It seems like now would be a great time for a new approach to this question of lighting.
What I like about this is that the problems of the lamp temperature will be solved, as well as the problem of the mercury, and the high frequency pulse produced by CFL’s. I also like the fact that this is locally manufactured (yes, I am proud when America can manufacture a high quality product!) and that theoretically this would end up saving money in the long run. I guess time will tell!
– Austin
Comments
7 responses to “Finally – An answer to the Incadescent Bulb?”
Looked at the site…
They are LED lighting
Unfortunately LEDs have problems too
LEDs: The Lead and Arsenic Issue
http://ceolas.net/#li20ledx
Lead, arsenic and other toxic content, home breakage and disposal concerns
Of course, all lighting have their advantages
– including simple incandescent types,
which is why they are so popular
(and so need to be banned for the “great savings”- no big savings from banning unpopular products!)
Light bulb manufacturers surprisingly welcome the regulations on safe-to-use products
– for profit reasons, as documented and linked on the mentioned ceolas.net site
Hmmm. It looks really neat, but also pretty complicated. Do you have one? How well does it work?
Personally, I actually like CLFs. Not the cheap blue ones that burn out quickly. But a high-quality CLF produces nice warm light without flicker and lasts a reasonable amount of time. The Hg issue is a problem, but some analyses have shown that CLFs produce less Hg waste than the coal plants that need to pump out more power to light incandescent bulbs!
Diodes seem to be the future, but the ones I’ve used so far give dim, weird light and they burn out faster than incandescents. I hope SWITCH and other companies can make some high-quality diode bulbs!
Hi Sam! Thanks for the comment. I’ll be buying one of these as soon as they become available. My house actually incorprates recessed lighting that runs via CLF bulbs. Of the 20+ lamps used in the house, 8 have burned out in the 4 years I’ve lived there. On the other hand I have incandescent bulbs in my lamps etc that have lasted longer and survived a cross country move.
Re the coal fired plants, this is a good point. I support clean, reliable nuclear energy!
Oh and I’m still waiting for Stanford to come up with a matter antimatter reactor from Star Trek. C’mon it can’t be THAT hard 🙂
I wrote about this topic myself recently, and it was great to see your take on it Austin.
1. Re the light you suggest
That is LED lighting,
unfortunately with problems too,
Lead, arsenic and other toxic content, home breakage and disposal concerns: http://ceolas.net/#li20ledx
.
2. Re the Sam comment om Mercury:
Light bulbs don’t burn coal,
and they don’t release CO2 gas.
Power plants might:
If there is a problem – deal with the problem.
CFL mercury is a bigger problem than coal power release for several reasons, as described on http://ceolas.net/#li19x
not least because of the mercury emission reduction mandates with new technology in the US, EU and Canada
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