Enlux LED Floodlight with standard fittings
by TreeHugger on 11.11.04
The standard bulb is 95% heat and only 5% light. This is one of the little know facts about Mr Edison's incandescent bulb. (Another is, that out of some 6,000 attempts, one his best successes in finding a long-life filament happened to be bamboo.) Modern geniuses following Thomas' lead have continued to push that proverbial design envelope. Popular Science have recently bestowed their 'What's New in 2004' Grand Award in Hometech to another light, which breaks the mould. Enlux have developed what they call the world's first LED replacement for screw-in incandescent and halogen bulbs.
At $80 they are not cheap but you won't need to buy another one for about 35 years! And while Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are up to 10 times more efficient that standard globes they can still run hot, to achieve a similar light output. Enlux solved this by mounting the LEDs onto a heat dissipating aluminium sheet. And quite obviously they've added those wonderful external fins, that would bring joy to the heart of the Jetsons. Increasing the surface area spreads the warmth rapidly so it cools quicker. Enough so that they can be grasped without burning your hand. The floodlights come in various colours of fin. But what is more remarkable is that 3 hues of light are on offer. These match, to some degree, incandescent (warm), halogen (soft white) and fluorescents (cool white). A trick that those other eco lights - compact fluoros - have not been able to pull off. Bravo Enlux, we reckon Edison would be proud, even if he might wonder why it has taken 125 years! Thanks to ::Futurismic for the heads up. ::Enlux [by WM]
Nice, all white with fins!
Come in black too!
And...in case you were wondering about the bamboo comment, here's more:
Edison tried over 6000 different materials to create a filament that would burn bright enough to give light, without breaking. They needed to be a material that would carbonise. (charcoal, a form of carbon glows when an electrical current is applied to it) He originally settled on burnt cotton but this only gave about a 15 hours of light before burning out. Bamboo gave him 1200 hours and he had a commercial light. I think they have an original bamboo one at the Smithsonian (or somewhere like that) that still works. Today, we use metals like tungsten. Memory checked with help from::History of...
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Weird Looking LED Bulbs Hitting US Market
- CFLs Could Curb Global Lighting Demand by 40% - and At What Cost?
- Obama: It's Not About the "F---ing" Light Bulbs
- Incandescent Light Bulb Banned by European Union
I saw these the other day and the biggest let down is that you can't use them in recessed canisters.
Very cool, BUT- colored fins such as blue, red, green and black are currently available only on colored LIGHTS, not white. This may change as sales increase, however. The other thing that should be pointed out is that the three hues of white are all different series of bulbs- not some high-tech electronic control of the LED that enables one bulb to produce 3 hues. Still, I want about $400 worth.
Compact flouros are available in a whole
bunch of whitish color temperatures; I'm not
sure what the author means by "have not been able to pull off".
CF's are more efficient than LED's, not
requiring cooling fins to help them dump energy they are wasting as heat. The LED units in this article use half or one-third the power of the bulb they replace, the CF torchiere I have in my bedroom uses only one sixth the juice, and cost one tenth the price of one of these bulbs. (Yep, $8 for a 300 watt equiv dimmable cf torchiere thanks to a local power company subsidy).
There are CF floods that can fit in recessed ceiling cans. They don't cost $80 a shot, and do last quite a while, if not 35 years.
LEDs are great if you want efficient lights that are colored (red, blue, green, amber, etc), bright (like traffic lights), or small (like flashlights), but I think that for a floodlight they are pretty pointless unless your sense of aesthetics demands cooling fins.
another issue.
the key to sustainability, and something simple I see this site serious lacks is the concept of Reduce.
Im not suggesting you 'go without' a lightbulb. Im sure you can 'go without' 99% of the consumer crap this site is pushing as 'green' (they are green-er options, sure, but rampant consumerism is the problem, not JUST buying the 'proper' products (hey, it doesnt hurt)) but anyway.
in order to reduce, you have to consider Embedded Energy. Embedded Energy is all the energy, resources, transportation ect. in required in a Thing to get it to you.
Aluminum is INCREADIBLY energy intensive material to work with. DO NOT BUY aluminum products. If you can avoid them. Sure, they *look* cool, but consider this when shopping.
Aluminum is light (less EE for tranpsortation is good) but is a hog to produce.
So, in short, if you add the energy required to MAKE this bulb -- its crazy LEDs and Coloured Aluminum fins, is it TRUELY a better option than a CF?
Im not sure... maybe, maybe not. Im just trying to get the EE idea "out there".
Thanks.
Aassdf, Thanks for your thoughts. I would beg to differ however, on your notion that TH "lacks the concept of Reduce." We have been heavily pushing, not only the concept, but the practical application of Product Service Systems, where people purchase the service, not the product. Already we have (at time of writing) examples of how this is being applied in seven different industries. We recently ran a piece on gleaning/dumpster diving, about not buying goods in the first place. We've also heavily promote the use human powered transport as a means to reducing dependence on motor vehicles. We have discussed Embodied Energy in the past - see our eco-tip on Glass. We even gave the megakilojoules of embodied energy in aluminium. And we agree with you that embodied energy is a notion that more people should understand. TH is nor really endorsing products, rather we bring them to people's attention, so they can be aware of the growing choice in goods with an improved environmental performance. Interestingly, the authors of Cradle to Cradle believe that proper eco-design of products and services can lead to an abundance not a reduction because materials go on to make new goods rather then be landfilled.
Me fascina la idfea de poder usar los leds ya que estos permiten cumplir con los requisitos de calidad de servicio electrico (lo que las lamparas ahorradoras no lo han conseguido), me sospecho que el precio es muy alto por el momento. Me podrían enviar catalogos o revistas a mi ZIP CODE del Ecuador, ya que estoy intereado en promover estos productos en mi pais pues no se conoce casi nada de ellos, tiene mi dirección de email, no escribo mis demas datos por temor a que algun desafortunado navegador pueda usarlo para otros fines yn acarrearme problemas. Att. Armando Herrera
Now People, Let's give these a chance!
You may have noticed that LED has revolutionized Automotive lighting applications. From Cadillacs to Semi-Rigs and trailers; LED lights have made a bright impact on our future. They are small, compact and can be styled to almost any shape without the need of a reflective backing.
The Technology is old but the applications are new. Styles and energy/heat dissipation will evolve thru trial and error. Prices will come down as production costs decline and you may someday wonder why you ever bought regular bulbs.
Dennis
Detroit MI.
I bought a 35 led light bulb that does a 120 degree angle and at 2-3 watts for only $10 on ebay. Works well - I put 5 of them in my chandler. So instead of using 120 watts, I use just 10-15 watts - just awesome. I now have one room totally lit by leds alone! LEDs are not just for christmas lights anymore.