Slashdot Mirror
New Crop of LED Filament Bulbs Look Almost Exactly Like Incandescents
An anonymous reader writes A recent article posted on a green building site gives a detailed analysis of a creative new kind of LED bulb that has been popping up Europe and Asia over the last year. They look almost exactly like Tungsten filament bulbs, require no heat sink, and offer extremely high efficiencies in the 100-120 lm/W range. The article describes their construction, compares them to conventional LED bulbs, and describes the result of a report by the Swedish Energey Agency that analyzed the performance of several brands of these these bulbs on the European market. Particularly interesting are links to teardown videos.
We have a bunch of these--had to mail order them, since they aren't available at retail yet. They look very realistic, and produce a nice warm light. I wouldn't want them for my only lighting, but compared to the old fake edison bulbs, they are fantastic--no stupid excess of heat, and much more efficient.
I'm gearing up for phase 2, which involves replacing 4 or 5 of the big CFL tube bulbs with LED replacements. The current tube bulbs are at least that old, too. I'm going to have to rewire a bunch of ballasts to put the new LED lights in. The LED tubes in the store put out easily as much light as the CFLs they're replacing. So, um, maybe you just have shitty power or something.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Seriously just because they burn a few extra watts doesn't mean they need to be fucking illegal.
A few extra watts? That is understating it dramatically.
I know you are joking but there are more efficient methods of heating than resistive heating. Namely heat pumps.
waiting for a good price point
I don't know how much these cost where you live, but where I live I can get LED bulbs at Home Depot from $6 to $20 depending on quality and brightness. They have an expected lifetime of 20+ years, and I don't have to change the light in that time. To me, this is a no-brainer and I've been buying LEDs for my whole house.
In fairness, I know that the power company where I live is subsidizing the bulbs, and absent the subsidy they would cost more. But it seems likely that you might be able to buy subsidized bulbs where you live too.
Also, I just checked the EarthLED web site, and without asking me where I live, the site showed me a deal: $100 for a 20-pack of LED bulbs. I've never heard of the brand ("Euri") but surely you could pay $5 per bulb for something that will last so long?
I like the Cree TrueWhite bulbs and I pay extra for them. LED bulbs tend to be a bit too yellow, so Cree developed a "notch filter" that takes out some of the yellow from the light, correcting the color. But now the light is a bit dimmer since some was taken out; so Cree puts a few extra LED modules into the bulb. Result: same amount of light, better color, consumes a little more power but not too much more.
I have also replaced all the 48-inch fluorescent fixtures in my home with Cree Linear LS4 fixtures at 3500K color temperature. Wow, it's so much nicer light and completely silent. Totally worth it.
If you are using incandescent bulbs, and you replace your most-commonly-used ones with LED bulbs, you will save enough money on electricity to pay for the new bulbs within a reasonable time. If you already have compact fluorescent bulbs, and you don't mind their light, then LEDs aren't guaranteed to pay for themselves right away and it might make sense to keep waiting. Otherwise, go for it.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
The conclusion that your childens' stated preference is based on color alone is non-sequitur, at best. At worst, it's a blatant red herring.
Except for the minor fact that they said so themselves. Here's the quote again for your benefit "they describe it as artificially yellow".
I also gave evidence that this has happened before, when we transitioned from gas light to incandescent light. Lastly even today people prefer the somewhat whiter hue of halogen over regular incandescent yellow, indicating that the present yellow isn't really all that is made to be.
Now, and here's something you don't seem to be aware of, constructing an argument is different than a logical proof. E.g. "he had a gun, motive and opportunity. He was at the scene of the crime and was seen running away after shoots were fired". It does not logically follow that the person did the crime and it would be a logical fallacy to state as much, yet it is the reasonable and logical conclusion nonetheless.
Same here. I don't have a single CFL or incandescent left in the house except for the light that is in my oven and the lights in my bathroom heatlamps. The one in our stairwell is on 24/7. I have not had a single one flicker or dim let alone blow.
I replaced all our light fittings with sealed unit flush mounts. They cost me $25 AU from a retail store. I went for day light white though rather than the yellow, takes a little getting used to but now I would struggle to go back to warm white.
TFA talks about the filament temperature: 60C. This is no problem. It does use a special gas to keep the temp that low but TFA does not explain what gas because the writers do not know. Presumably helium.
Holding helium for years is easy. Sealed glass is traditional in bulb manufacturing and is sufficiently helium tight. Incandescent bulbs have that, because the filament would not survive oxygen.
Typical He leak rates for stainless steel tubing with good welds and good flange connections is 10^-8 mbar*l/sec (my job).
I assume serial produced sealed glass bulbs can achieve the same with ease.
I'll assume the envelope is 0.125 l and the over pressure is 1 bar. That leak rate then means that the pressure will drop to 0 bar over in 1.25*10^10 seconds. That is almost 400 years.
Don't worry about leaking the helium from a well sealed glass bulb. By that time we'll have full RGB spectrum luminescent plants that detect your mood and adjust their spectrum accordingly.
Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.