Slashdot Mirror
Making Strides Toward Low-Cost LED Lighting
Roland Piquepaille writes "You all know that incandescent bulbs are pretty inefficient, converting only 10% of electricity into light — and 90% into heat. Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, could soon replace incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs in our homes. They are more efficient and environmentally friendly. But LED lights are currently too expensive because they are using a sapphire-based technology. Now, Purdue University researchers have found a way to build low-cost and bright LEDs for home lighting. According to the researchers, the LED lights now on the market cost about $100 while LED lights based on their new technology could be commercially available within a couple of years for a cost of about $5. It would also help to cut our electricity bill by about 10%."
Uh...the linked article is on a purdue.edu page and has zero adds. Am I missing something?
>CFLs don't flicker...
CFLs cause me migraines and other visual problems. I recently changed all my home lighting, where possible, to CFLs.
After a week, I began suffering from an extreme migraine. As the CFL's made it difficult for me to read or focus on small objects - I instantly held them suspect. To test my theory, I changed all the lighting back, and by the next day my life had certainly improved.
I gave it a month and tried the CFL's again, and again after a week a migraine set in. I intend to remove them tomorrow. My girlfriend (as in a living 3D female human-being) who doesn't normally suffer from migraines has been complaining of symptoms while I had the CFLs in.
I think CFLs definitely have a use but not as a be all and end all of general home lighting. The most pleasant affordable technology for me is halogen lighting. I am looking forward to what LED and OLED technology has to offer in the near future.
--
Deceive the rich and powerful if you will, but don't insult them.
[Rent This Space]