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Little OT...

ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Little OT...
on: February 21, 2007, 08:13:40 PM
I heard an interesting statistic on the radio today.  Apparently a standard incandescent household light bulb uses about 5% of the energy poured into it for light, and the remaining energy is wasted as heat.  They also stated that 20% of the world's energy resources are dedicated to light.  It's become so serious that Australia has banned incandescent bulbs but 2010, and several states (I think NJ was one) has similar legislation on the table as well. 

Of course my mind went off on a tangent trying to think of how many bulbs I have in the house and how much it would cost me to replace them all with fancy (expensive) flourescent lights, and it occurred to me that LED's are supposed to be much more efficient than flourescents, and they last longer, plus don't take a second to flip on like flourescants.  This led me to wonder (and bear in mind I don't know a darned thing about LED's or electricity) why there aren't any LED lightbulbs available?  Or are there?  And, given the cost of the average LED, wouldn't an LED lightbulb be a heck of alot cheaper (not to mention sturdier) than either incandescants or flourescants?

If there aren't any commercially available, has any of our in house Mad Scientists tried anything like this?

Def
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us Offline hawkchucker

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #1 on: February 21, 2007, 10:27:45 PM
S


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #2 on: February 21, 2007, 10:44:56 PM
Pricey lil buggers huh?

Kinda neat- I may have to check some of those out.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline NutSAK

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #3 on: February 21, 2007, 10:45:27 PM
Recently Walmart made a corporate decision to replace all their freezer/refrigerator lighting with LEDs.  I don't remember the amount of money it was supposed to save them yearly in utilities, but it was phenomenal.  I'll try to dig up the article and post it.
- Terry


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #4 on: February 21, 2007, 11:36:11 PM
Well, judging by the info I got off the radio, if everyone stopped using incandescent lights, we'd cut the world energy consumption by about 19.5 percent.  I am not a tree hugger, but that seems pretty darned significant.

What I am wondering about though is the effectiveness of the LED bulb.  LED lights don't seem to "throw" as far as incandescents, plus the light seems more diffused.  This might be a good thing as a room light, but it also seems like while the room might be more evenly lit, it would also be darker overall.

Of course, looking at the basic LED bulb listed on that site at about $15...  assuming they are standard LED's, rated at about 10,000 hours, that would mean that if you turned on a light and left it on continuously, it would need to be replaced in about 14 months.  I seriously doubt that incandescents would last a fraction of that length, and that you'd probably wear out more than $15 worth of store brand 60W bulbs runnign 24/7 like that, so in the long run I'll bet it makes more economical sense.

Of course, add to that the fact that there are 18 LED's in that bulb, and the odds of them all going at once seems pretty far fetched, so I imagine it would likely last a hell of alot longer than that.  Then, when you consider (again, quoting the radio information) a 95% savings in energy consumption, I can imagine the bulb would pay for itself several times over in those 14 month of continuous use.

I think I may have to look seriously into that- I don;t pay utilities as it's included in my rent, but the landlord is a nice guy and I wouldn't be upset at saving him a buck or two!  Especially the way my wife likes to leave lights on!

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline NutSAK

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #5 on: February 22, 2007, 04:09:26 AM
There's a pretty good cost analysis on the bottom of the page that hawkchucker posted.  It's a bit biased, but it gives a good idea of the savings....
- Terry


us Offline J-sews

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #6 on: February 22, 2007, 04:38:15 AM
On a similar note, I've heard several automobile makers have models with LED headlights in the works.
In order to be certain of having the right tool for every job.........one must first acquire a lot of tools


Offline Sharpdogs

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #7 on: February 22, 2007, 02:40:32 PM
I have been gradually replacing the incandescent bulbs with the flourescent bulbs for the past 3 years in my hours.  The flourescent are much more expensive but if you gradually replace them the expense is barely noticeable.  My meager contribution to saving the planet.
w


ar Offline mcniac

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Re: Little OT...
Reply #8 on: February 28, 2007, 07:44:42 PM
you also should expend much less in electricity which i supouse help to make te change. also fluorescent don't break that easy

Esteban


 

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