End of Light Bulbs Ahead?

news.yahoo.com...

That is wicked wild, and besides, I go through freaking light bulbs like crazy!

Also, I once read somewhere that Noah's Ark was supposedly lit inside, even at night, by something that gave it a bright luminescence - maybe this is that long forgotten technology

If every household in America were to switch to LED lighting power consumption would be cut by 10-15 %. If every business and office building did so that would be another 3-5% HUGE energy saving no matter which way you look at it and the light is much migher quality then Compact florescent or incandescent bulbs.

Sounds interesting and I hope they can replace incandescent light bulbs soon.
The LED light bulbs I've been looking at recently were ridiculously expensive, around $40 for a bulb that gave off less than the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent.

What I've seen as a good affordable alternative right now are cold cathode fluorescent bulbs. They use about a third of the electricity of regular fluorescents and about 80 - 90% less than incandescents.

[edit on 22-10-2005 by AceOfBase]

Looking at the Wattage is not a good way to see how bright they are, only experience with the technology will give you a good point of reference. I got a milliwatt LED flashlight that take 1 AAA which I have not replaced since I bought the thing a year ago. It's just as good as a flashlight 3 times the size(it's actually meant as a Bycicle light) and is feather-light. I use it all the time and it hasn't weakened yet(the battery that is)

OLED will most likely break through the cost barrier for many people but that is still a few years away and will most likely be used in Backlighting first.

[edit on 22-10-2005 by sardion2000]

Finds like this make you think that there must be unbelievable technologies waiting to be uncovered in the universe.

Also, with regard to light bulbs, I remember reading in Jim Marrs book 'Alien Agenda' that a Research Institute investigating Zero Point Energy stated that there is enough energy in the vacuum of a light bulb to boil the earth's oceans. Talk about the ultimate energy source!

I was not looking at direct wattage, I was looking at comparitive brightness like a 3 watt, 36 LED bulb that gives off the equivalent of 30 watts. Bulbs like that sell for around $25 - $40.

www.theledlight.com...


Cold cathode fluorescent bulbs can give off about the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent while only consuming around 5 or 8 watts and they're much cheaper than LEDs right now but this new breakthrough may change that.

www.1000bulbs.com...


[edit on 22-10-2005 by AceOfBase]

I have been slowly switching my incandecent bulbs to fluorescent. They may cost more initially but they last so much longer. One prob I have with LEDs tho in my experiance is that they are not that illuminating compared to others.

It would be nice if manufacturers would quickly produce inexpensive long lasting light bulbs using this technology. As long as the light level is as bright as before and I can identify what corresponds to say the brightness of a 60 watt bulb or 75 watt bulb I will be happy with it. I keep replacing one ceiling fan light bulb every few months while almost all the others have lasted for years. I tried a fluorescent bulb but it didn't seem as bright as the incandescent bulb.

I wonder if the LED light bulbs will be able to light up on their own the same as small fluorescent ones do if the room is supercharged with static electricity. (In college a roommate could shake his blanket during the winter months and a small lamp about a foot away from his bed with two fluorescent light bulbs would stay lit for a whole minute or two. It was not plugged in.)

[edit on 22-10-2005 by orionthehunter]

Originally posted by AtlantisAgain
Also, I once read somewhere that Noah's Ark was supposedly lit inside, even at night, by something that gave it a bright luminescence - maybe this is that long forgotten technology

Yeah its called a candle.

Seriously though it seems like light bulbs have been getting crappier and crappier over the years. When I buy 3-way bulbs I have to buy a couple packs just to get a good one. Even then it doesn't last long at all. I've got to find something better than GE bulbs.

Originally posted by AtlantisAgain
Finds like this make you think that there must be unbelievable technologies waiting to be uncovered in the universe.

Also, with regard to light bulbs, I remember reading in Jim Marrs book 'Alien Agenda' that a Research Institute investigating Zero Point Energy stated that there is enough energy in the vacuum of a light bulb to boil the earth's oceans. Talk about the ultimate energy source!

And their not kidding either... The interesting aspect would be the extraction of this energy and for how you would do well to read the briefing paper submitted by Dr Bearden to The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as requested by Senator Smith(R-NH and Chair of the EPW) and Mr. David Conover (Chief of Staff-EPW).

“Outside-the-Box” Technologies, Their Critical Role Concerning Environmental Trends, and the Unnecessary Energy Crisis

The article in question is the last one unless you have the extra hours to work trough all of them ( wich would be best).

Stellar

Myth: LEDs generate no heat.
That is true for smaller ones, but absolutely NOT TRUE for "megabright" power-LEDs such as the Luxeon Star series from Lumileds. I have a green 1-watt Luxeon Star inside my computer case, and it needs to be bolted down to a heatsink. If the LED operates without a heat sink, the bottom can easily get hot enough to almost cause a first-degree burn, but this is nowehere near the heat needed to ignite most materials. (The heatsink is just a slab of aluminium so I can disperse the heat.)

Myth: LEDs last forever
If they are not overdriven, LEDs can last a long time. However, they are much less durable against some other things, including:
1. Running too much current through them - a current spike will burn them out.
2. Reverse-biasing them - current flows in only one direction through a LED, which is a modified diode. If you put too much reverse voltage on them, it will destroy the LED.
Some LEDs also have a much shorter lifespan then others. The brightest LEDs available, such as the five-watt Luxeon Stars, only last a few thousand hours when running at their listed current. Also, I'e heard that Ultraviolet LEDs tend to not last nearly as long as other ones.

However, they still are really neat. If you're interested in experimenting there are good-quality and good-price leds I purchaced from www.superbrightleds.com...

[edit on 23-10-2005 by Toxic Fox]

If you need to temporarily blind someone, consider the DEF3. It's the latest flashlight dreamed up by the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—and designed by optics experts Science Applications International Corporation with flashlight maker SureFire—for use as an Army-issue non-lethal weapon. The device's five-watt white Luxeon V primary LED can generate 120 lumens of light—more than 10 times the brightness of a standard flashlight and enough to dazzle someone for a few seconds while Marines figure out if he's holding an AK-47 or a loaf of bread. Unlike most flashlights, which use parabolic mirrors to concentrate light, the DEF3's beam shines through an aspherical lens that captures and redirects twice as many photons. The DEF3 will be deployed later this month.

I pulled that from a PopSci story at this link.
www.popsci.com...

I had no idea that LEDs could put out that much light.

The Luxeon I is incredibly bright as it is. There are three variants, Luxeon I (1-Watt) Luxeon III (3-Watts) and Luxeon V (5-Watts.) Most LEDs can't handle more then a quarter-watt.