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).
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.
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#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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The article noted that the apartment's lighting system cost an estimated $50,000. That probably accounts for the lack of popularity of LEDs for home lighting.
An alternative to LEDs are Organic LEDs, a much cheaper, plastic-based technology. Unfortunately, they are not yet ready for prime time.
Radio Shack gives you the shaft on components. It's really not valid to compare them there.
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
Check the phone number for their PR contact - it's central London number (England, not anywhere else)
Those arent the LEDs you should looking at.n III_i ndex.html
i ndex.html
http://www.lumiled.com/luxeon/products/luxeo
This are the babys for serious room illumination. http://www.lumiled.com/luxeon/products/luxeonIII_
3.xV, 1000mA. And around 3-5 times the lumen efficency of your traditional bulb. And its only 30$ 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!
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."
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.
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
>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