Slashdot Mirror
Apartment Lit Solely by LEDs
(eternal_software) writes "A company called Vos Solutions created what they call 'a blueprint for future living' named The Vos Pad. The Vos Pad is the world's first apartment solely lit by LEDs. There are some images of the place up on their website."
A link to a page full of images on slashdot... This website will die.
Please use this:
Google cache for the pictures
And this:
Google cache for the website
I doubt there are many slashdotters with apartments that aren't in part lit by either CRTs or halogens (such as LCD backlights).
It's a good concept, but LED's don't output enough light to live comfortably. Maybe it'd be cool to flip a switch and have your apartment be purple...but that as the only option? Doesn't work for me. The main benefit I see is that LEDs use a ton less power than conventional lighting. Unfortunately, they don't offer the brightness or color of good ole' conventional light bulbs.
NYTimes had an article about this company on thursday here is the
Google link.
I was expecting something showcasing technology like the 5 watt Luxeon Star LEDs, instead, it just looks like Lucky the Leprechaun shat all over the place.
Despite the bad example (and color scheme, ugh.) this site shows, LEDs really are coming into their own for uses in lighting and will be a very interesting technology to watch in the coming years. The LED Museum has a great listing and reviews of LED based lighting products, from flashlights to Xmas lights.
I do believe LEDs can be effectively used for lighting. I was given a 1 watt Luxeon Star-based flashlight this Christmas and after using it in instead of an incandescent flashlight, I have to say I am very impressed. The Luxeon puts out a pure white light (very similar to HID headlights) which makes objects being illuminated appear more clearly and it projects an even beam with no dark shadowy spots. If for nothing else, this article should be a reason to check out what's available in LED lighting - you might be pleasantly surprised.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I wonder if my box will survive, but anyway, here's what I captured.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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You want "real" LED lights? Try Luxeon Stars....
I'm just waiting for them to come out with UL-approved, white-light fixtures for the home...
The article noted that the apartment's lighting system cost an estimated $50,000. That probably accounts for the lack of popularity of LEDs for home lighting.
An alternative to LEDs are Organic LEDs, a much cheaper, plastic-based technology. Unfortunately, they are not yet ready for prime time.
the reason they arent prevelant yet is because of price. over the next few years it should come down alot though. the best way to get started with led lights would to buy drop in replacement bulbs (edison type sockets). check out this site
The cost seems too much. Sure that there isnt a 500% designer increase on the price tag?
For usage like room illumination, only the lumiled luxon star leds would be well suited. They are not cheap, but not too expensive compared with halogens either (especially because they can be switched infinitly and not overdriven they should last for many years). You can get 100W equivalent in luxon stars for arond 100-200$. 10 of these should be enough for a normal sized appartment (60-70 m^2). You have to consider that the smaller granularity of the light sources (one luxon star has around 3-10W equivalent) you can have much more effective illumination, reducing waste in "brightspots" near the light sources.
So even with installation (comparable effort to 12V halogen) it shoudnt cost more than 5-10 K$ to fullfill even the most fancy demands in led room illumination. 50K seems WAY too much.
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
Radio Shack gives you the shaft on components. It's really not valid to compare them there.
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
Check the phone number for their PR contact - it's central London number (England, not anywhere else)
First of all, you Nazi pig, it was going into Kramer's apartment, not Jerry's. Second, he didn't even want the sign taken down, because his friend was working there. Flame on, asshole!
blog & fiction: jd87
Those arent the LEDs you should looking at.n III_i ndex.html
i ndex.html
http://www.lumiled.com/luxeon/products/luxeo
This are the babys for serious room illumination. http://www.lumiled.com/luxeon/products/luxeonIII_
3.xV, 1000mA. And around 3-5 times the lumen efficency of your traditional bulb. And its only 30$ or so (if i remember correctly). So this is around 15 times more power/money than your example.
Sure, more expensive in the beginning, but in situations where broken bulb does not only mean 1$ for a new bulb, but working time to replace it, or simply a room being dark that SHOUDNT be dark, the 100.000 hour lifetime should be quite a bonus.
Especially considering that LEDS dont "break", but fade. If not electrocuted, they become slowly dimmer. The 100.000h usually means the time where they are only at 50% or so output. So even a long time after that, it would still produce light, even if its not a lot.
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
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Karma whoring at its finest
hah, you DON'T want to price electronic components at Radio Shack. They're so insanely expensive you might as well burn your money for light instead.
Link describing various methods of backlighting.
HTH.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Kopin Corp
Color Kinetics
Luminus Devices
The biggest issue was the overhead of the LED for the residential aspects, whereas larger corporations may be better equipped financially to handle the current cost.
To quote this article directly
"The problem is cost. Like early computer chips, today's LEDs are still too expensive to spark mass adoption. "You could replace a 100-watt light bulb with a 60-watt LED, and get the same brightness," says John Fan, chairman and founder of Kopin Corp., a Taunton company that makes LEDs. "You'd save 40 percent on power, but it would cost about $100. We need to bring that price down.""
Personally that is far outside of my price range. At that rate I'd be replacing one household bulb each year... hmmm.. I should have my entire house finsihed when I'm about 87 years old. And by that time I'll be blind and won't need lights anyway.
Never try to beat a professional at his own game!
Radio Shack's pricing is outrageously high. Their electronics packaging and pricing is structured to provide electronics hobbiests a common part they need at 11pm.
Because most electronics catalogs have minimum orders, shipping costs, and shipping delays, you'd end up paying probably $15. Therefore, rat shack can rape you with $5 capacitors, or 5 resistors for $2.
Those LED's would be more like $0.70 in high quantities.
The N.Y. Times article that I read said the installation of the system cost $50,000 (according to the designer's approximation). So much for not too expensive. The article is here.
I
Know someone who has an LED basement.
She has an extreme case of porphyria and she can only tolerate light in the 585+ NM wavelengths.
BTW, 585 is exactly the wavelength of those ugly yellow street lamps you occasionally see. I think those lamps are some type of sodium vapor lamp and they are ultra efficient also.
Since incandescants, etc. were literally cooking her from the inside out I built her an LED lamp.
Her lamp has 50 LEDS connnected in 10 parallel circuits. I also slapped on ten switches with one master on/off switch.
Thus, she could turn on as little as 5 or as many as 50 bulbs simultaneously.
It works great for her. She's still very sick, but at least she has some light she can tolerate.
LED's emit a very narrow wavelength of light. You can get them in small bulk packages at the following address:
www.TheLEDLight.com
That store also has a whole bunch of Super Cool LED flashlights etc.
Also, my friend's porphyria is a really rare and strange disease which means she is akin to a vampire. She has the EP variety. Only approximately 300 more like her in the US.
She has been stuck in her mom's basement now for two years, at the age of 34. Such a tragedy!
Caution: Contents under pressure
here
That's not quite true. Some fluorescent bulbs do indeed flicker at 60 or 120Hz--these use the old magnetic ballasts. However, most newer fluorescent (and also HID) lamps use electronic ballasts that are very similar to switching power supplies--they "flicker" at 20,000Hz.
Q: "Why do sound techs say 'check 1, 2'?"
A: "Cause if they could count any higher they'd be lighting techs."
But an electronic ballasted compact flourescent that screws into a standard lamp base flickers at 25-40kHz. The compact flourescent technology causes no visible flicker, is smaller than the old magnetic ballast (which operated at the frequency of house wiring, 60Hz), and improved efficiency overall, losing less energy to heat in the ballast.
One reference
Another reference.
Oops, the first sentence was copied from a previous poster, but I did the blockquote tag wrong and didn't notice it on preview. Sorry.
Also, when purchasing a compact flourescent bulb, be sure it is electronically ballasted. It'll last longer, turn on quicker, provide no noticable flicker, and work in colder temperatures.
RE: Your Engineered House by Rex Roberts
8 71 311542/qid=1073878285//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002 -7800853-4029646?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
"It's out of print. You'll pay at least triple it's original cover price to acquire it used (I'm not the only one who reveres this book. Last time I looked there were copies available on Amazon), maybe double that if you want a really clean copy with dustjacket. Pay whatever you have to. Diamonds aren't cheap"
$3 on paperback.. I'll take some of those 3 dollar diamonds plz
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0
A while ago I stumbled across LEDtronics...they have a wide variety of LED products, but what makes them really interesting is that they have retrofits for just about every kind of incandescent bulb out there, with ordinary threaded bases that operate on anything from 12VDC to 240VAC, and bulbs for automotive applications. They also have a cross reference that converts incandescent bulb number, bulb type, or bulb base to an LED product.
The reason that the light does not flicker is that there is a phosphorescent coating on the inside of the glass, which gives the light a die down time. Sorta like glow in the dark objects, but a much shorter time frame. So in essence, there is a flicker, just less noticeable to the eye (assuming the bulb is in good repair.)
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
Actually you were incorrect.
It should be "parents' basement(s)."
Go about your business.
The only place flourescents are all right are some industrial / woodshop-ish applications, where you're not reading stuff off a monitor, or looking at fine detail all day
(incidental fact)
In many woodshops, you are definately looking at fine detail, frequently measuring to 1/64 of an inch or so. The reason why woodshops like flourescent lights is because with wide area lights like that, the shadows are reduced. It's much easier to work in three dimensions without strong shadows that might confuse perception.
Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
I dunno about the large scale bit, it depends on the deal you can get. As for "long haul": If I left every light in my 2 bedroom apartment on 24/7, the portion of my electricity bill corresponding to the cost of the lights would only reach $50,000 by 2138. So if I make it to 150, I could rest easy knowing that I saved myself some money...except that utilities are included in my rent. I imagine if one lived in California, they payoff time would be shorter.
On the other hand, compact fluorescent bulbs are 35 times cheaper, and 50%+ more efficient than LED bulbs (Even using coloured LEDs. Using white LEDs, fluorescents are 3 times more efficient) Some company has said that by 2005 it will be producing white LEDs that are as efficient as compact fluorescents...
Until then, however, compact flurescents are the way to go for saving power OR money.
ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
Contrary to popular understanding, LED's aren't particularly efficient when compaired to incandecent lights.
A high-efficiency white LED puts out something like 15-20 lumens/watt. A good halogen bulb puts out ~15 lumens/watt.
LED's seem impressively bright because they throw all their light in a fairly narrow beam.
I believe that florescent lights are more efficient that LEDs, though that will likely change. Appearantly their will be white LEDs in production with effiencies reaching 60 lumens/watt by 2005.
argh i forgot the link... http://www.tefal.co.uk/tefal/products/product/inde x.asp?category%5Fid=200&dept%5Fid=220&sku=U00024&m scssid=C7QHD2W4BPNV9NCS1WRLUPE9G4386TT1
Gosh I hope you don't mean "in parallel" -- you'd want that resistor in series, or all it's doing is wasting power!
- Peter
INsigNIFICANT
>Good point, but then why do the LEDs in TFT notebook displays have such horrible lag?
;-)
Because they're not LEDs, they're LCDs.
LCDs are a totally different technology. They lag because, well, jeez, I explained this once before but it slips my mind (It's early here! Give me credit! Please!). Basically, it has to do with the fact you're asking a material (crystals) to twist and bend when power is applied; then you take the power off them (or reverse it) to try to force them back to their original position. This takes time.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
The VOS pad was kitted out using the Aurora and Genius fittings from ACDC Lighting.