SCI/TECH: Accidental Invention Points to End of Light Bulbs

LED light technology has taken lighting to a new level in that it will soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison's bright invention obsolete.



I am tired of replacing incandescent light bulbs in hard to reach areas and these new LED bulbs can last 50 times longer. A minor technological revolution in the arena of nanotechnology.

I read about this a couple of days ago on PhysOrg News. A happy invention for a change. I would certainly switch if they were available right now.

Yep, this is very cool technology. My motorcycle has an LED Tail and Break Light. Brighter, uses less energy, and because its actually an array of smaller LED bulbs, patterns can be programmed into it.

Often overlooked in the calculations of how much electrical energy a switch to LED's would save is the decreased burden on air conditioning, which would be substantial. Further, the doping procedure could be tailored to produce a visible light spectrum very similar to the Sun's and that would increase everyones health. While I'm talking about tailored doping, I might as well say that smaller LEDs could be massed together in very useful ways that could be computer controlled to produce a variety of pleasant effects.

[edit on 22-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

Add me to the people who would buy these. And I hope that stores would replace the florescent lights as they have a tendency to give me a migraine if I am in a store too long.

thats awesome, i hate lightbulbs!



--Kit.

im glad that we all agree on something

im all for this find

Has GE got the monopoly on it yet?

Hope these guys have some good patent attorneys lined up. Or lobbyists...

But what will happen to all the "How many x's does it take to screw in a lightbulb jokes?"

[edit on 23-10-2005 by cownosecat]

Look at the ccrane company, they are already marketing a light that is led technology.

From ccrane, an aeonic led lamp.



At $100 a pop, they are still a novelty.

Quantum dots that produce white light could be the light bulb’s successor

The Department of Energy has estimated that LED lighting could reduce U.S. energy consumption for lighting by 29 percent by 2025, saving the nation’s households about $125 million in the process.

exploration.vanderbilt.edu...

GE stock might be a good option to load up on while it's cheap.



[edit on 23-10-2005 by Regenmacher]

they could make edison's bulbs last a lifetime, but that wouldn't be right in the whole grand scheme of consumerism. also if they made a lightbulb that lasted forever people would just leave their lights on all the time, this is why they make bulbs that blow, so people don't leave them on. even though the onli time a bulb blows is when u switch it on/off because of the sudden flow of electricity through there, so actually if you don't want your bulbs to blow leave them on all the time...

Originally posted by shaunybaby
they could make edison's bulbs last a lifetime, but that wouldn't be right in the whole grand scheme of consumerism. also if they made a lightbulb that lasted forever people would just leave their lights on all the time, this is why they make bulbs that blow, so people don't leave them on. even though the onli time a bulb blows is when u switch it on/off because of the sudden flow of electricity through there, so actually if you don't want your bulbs to blow leave them on all the time...

Wrong! By that load of erroneous info, I take you never have seen a lamp that is left on 24/7 burn out or know that turning it off/on cost less than leaving it on.

How light bulbs burn out
Due to the high temperature that a tungsten filament is operated at, some of the tungsten evaporates during use. Furthermore, since no light bulb is perfect, the filament does not evaporate evenly. Some spots will suffer greater evaporation and become thinner than the rest of the filament.

These thin spots cause problems. Their electrical resistance is greater than that of average parts of the filament. Since the current is equal in all parts of the filament, more heat is generated where the filament is thinner. The thin parts also have less surface area to radiate heat away with. This "double whammy" causes the thin spots to have a higher temperature. Now that the thin spots are hotter, they evaporate more quickly.

It becomes apparant that as soon as a part of the filament becomes significantly thinner than the rest of it, this situation compounds itself at increasing speed until a thin part of the filament either melts or becomes weak and breaks.

Why making bulbs last longer often does not pay
You may have heard that the life expectancy of a light bulb is roughly inversely proportional to the 12th or 13th power of the applied voltage. And that power consumption is roughly proportional to voltage to the 1.4 to 1.55 power, and that light output is roughly proportional to the 3.1 to 3.4 power of applied voltage. This would make the luminous efficiency roughly proportional to applied voltage to the 1.55 to 2nd power of applied voltage.

Now, if a slight reduction in applied voltage results in a slight to moderate loss of efficiency and a major increase in lifetime, how could this cost you more?

The answer is in the fact that the electricity consumed by a typical household bulb during its life usually costs many times more than the bulb does. Bulbs are so cheap compared to the electricity consumed by them during their lifetime that it pays to make them more efficient by having the filaments run hot enough to burn out after only several hundred to about a thousand hours or so.

Do the math. LEDs consume far less wattage and last 50x longer.

There's money in making a light bulb last longer

The Great Internet Light Bulb Book, Part I

[edit on 23-10-2005 by Regenmacher]

Originally posted by Astronomer68
I read about this a couple of days ago on PhysOrg News. A happy invention for a change. I would certainly switch if they were available right now.

Well there are LED lightbulbs out now, not this kind but they are still very efficient if expensive.

www.thinkgeek.com...

May want to wait a bit.

You can get them cheaper other places on the net:

store.lsgc.com...

Additionally, you'll save money in the long run considering they use much less electricity and even if you ran them 24 hours a day, they would last close to six years (34+ years based on "average" use)

I bought a LED flashlight 3 years ago for my backpacking trips because it's small and doesn't weigh much. I can leave it on for 5 days before the batteries "AA" will die(thats 5 days w/o turning it off). Those are the way to go. Best thing to have if you spend alot of time outdoors for just in case reasons.

The new quantum dot bulbs are not out yet...give them a year or so.

Them LED flashlights are great and shock resistant...have one that cranks up and thusly no need for batts.

[edit on 23-10-2005 by Regenmacher]

Originally posted by Regenmacher
The new quantum dot bulbs are not out yet...give them a year or so.

[edit on 23-10-2005 by Regenmacher]

i appreciate both the posts you penned.

i'm still scratching my head on this quantum nano-dots LED light source...

Q: will the cost of these lightbulbs include the price of the
Ultraviolet Laser needed to activate these nano-dots?

Q: does the reduced electricity needed to operate generic LEDs
factor in the Ultraviolet Laser needed to excite these "Exotic, LEDs"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to the others' who mentioned CCrane Co.
i have the Freeplay Radio, i have several solar walkway night-lights
BUT...i could not rationalize $40.oo each LED 60W. lightbulbs
i echo jsobecky sentiments....
(its a novelty! for rich-er folks !)

Originally posted by St Udio
BUT...i could not rationalize $40.oo each LED 60W. lightbulbs
i echo jsobecky sentiments....
(its a novelty! for rich-er folks !)

Quick note.
The spotlight puts out 120 lumens at 8 watts.