Look,
LED light bulbs are fanciful, great for Ma Earth and a fine addition to any home, barber shop or underground fight club. But let's be honest -- even the guy that bikes through blizzards to get to work and wears garb that he grew in his basement isn't apt to shell out
$120 a pop to have what's likely the most efficient light bulb American dollars can buy. Enter Chunlei Guo from the University of Rochester, who has helped discover a process which could morph a traditional incandescent
light bulb into a beacon of burning light without using nearly as much energy as before. In fact, his usage of the femtosecond laser pulse -- which creates a "unique array of nano- and micro-scale structures on the surface of a regular tungsten filament" -- could enable a bulb to increase output efficiency in order to emit 100-watts worth of light while sucking down less than 60-watts of power. Per usual, there's no telling when this new hotness is likely to hit the commercial realm, but one's thing for sure: we bet
GE's paying attention.
[Via
Physorg]
posted May 31st 2009 4:26PM
I didn't say CFL - I said fluorescent. Big difference.
If you look around, the Sylvania Pentron Ecologic Fluorescent T-5 will do between 103 and 108 lumens per watt - 20,000 hour service life.
http://www.servicelighting.com/EiKo-81152-F28T5-841
I don't care much for laboratory results for LED efficiency, show me something I can purchase today with LED area lighting that does anywhere near 100 lumens/watt. The best area lighting LED fixture I've found so far is the Cree LR6, which is 50 lumen per watt - I have a few, and they're 'ok.' Not pleasant in a home theater however, due to their cut off of dimming at 20%. A typical *CFL* on the market today will do 60-75 lumens per watt, which still is well ahead on efficacy for LED area lighting.
I hear a lot of pro LED folks like you, and trust me, I want them to be a high quality product, but for area lighting (not spot lighting), they downright suck.
Just so you know:
Professor Guo is a terrible professor.
Thanks!
- UR Institute of Optics Senior
I love CFL's. I have them in my house and love them. Been using them for about 12 years now. However, in that 12 years they have changed dramatically. The color, size and quality. I can tell you a few things are true -
1 - You buy cheap - you get cheap. Plain and simple. What do you expect when you buy a bulb that costs only $1.50?
2 - There are SEVERAL color choices available (Kelvin). I personally use 5000k. I like the crisp, bright, white light that they emit. It's the same as natural daylight.
3 - Going from incandescent to CFL is a big change. You will notice the difference. However, if you give it a week or two, you will love them. After a month of use, try switching back to incandescents and see just how shitty the light is.
4 - If you want great bulbs - check out Neolites - http://www.1000bulbs.com/Neolite-Compact-Fluorescents-5000-Kelvin/ - all my regular ambient lights use the 13w 5k bulbs. My room filling lamps use the 23w 5k bulbs. The bulbs also have 1mg of mercury, lead free everything.
Anyways - just be a good consumer and do your research. The light of CFL's is perfect. Just find the right color that you like is the trick :)
I was his TA for a year. Don't post slander Maratu :)
*libel
"to emit 100-watts worth of light while sucking down less than 60-watts of power."
How it that possible sucking up only 60 watts while putting out 100 watts. That breaks all know laws of physics.
On the other hand it would solve the energy crisis. =)
I would be curious to see how the improved efficiency of these bulbs hold up over time. For instance, if the improved 60 watt bulb starts out emitting 1740 lumens (typical value of a 100W incandescent), but a 3 months later is down to the same lumen output of an unmodified incandescent, the improvement is of questionable value.
To all you CFL bashers, the n:Vision soft white CFLs at Home Depot (don't work there, don't own their stock) look indistinguishable from an incandescent.
if anyone read the link the femto laser light can be manipulated to create polarized light and also change colors without any special filters. also it can also raise liquid into air against gravity... all funded by USAF
CFLs may be the worst thing ever. Consider the following instructions from the US Enviornmental Protection Agency in the (likely) event you should ever break a CFL bulb:
"Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room
Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug
Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
Disposal of Clean-up Materials
Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed."
Source: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm
Do we really want these things in our homes? I, for one, DON'T THINK SO!
I think most people are competent enough to change a light bulb without dropping it. This is not something worth worrying over.
Dumb, CFL's are more efficient. If you think they suck, you haven't gotten good ones yet. Like more other products, there are ones good enough for closets and hallways and there are ones good enough for rooms/ desks (these are better than incandescents). At some point, incandescents will be illegal, as they should have been a few years ago. Problem solved. LED's are the next step beyond CFL, but they are not ready for prime-time yet, so all responsible and logical people are buying and using CFL's for now (unless they are rich and like toys, then LED's are cool too).
Why would any of the major manufacturers go with this process? Philips already produces a Halogen bulb that puts out 100W worth of light using 70W, why would then they go and spend millions adding a laser to their production facility to save an additional 10W. I doubt this innovation will make any real impact in the market.