@ Tony (Youve made me rummage my stack of documents for my electric bill today ! - unsuccessfully) Here is my arguement on the "energy" saving bulbs vs cost. I guess your other arguments (medium to high technology & non reclaimable parts dont matter that highly to me because i dont consider the same for the other bulbs -> cause i simply love smashing bulbs! ) Now, cause i did not get my bill, ill use an empirical formula to prove my argument. Current Electricity cost: X Ksh per KWH. Cost of "old" filament bulb (100W) -> Ksh 40 Cost of equivalent (18W) filament bulb -> Ksh 250. But just for the heck of it, lets get a super bright 200KW equivalent (36W) at Ksh 900. My house has a total of 19 bulbs. (including 2 at the gate and 4 external lighting). Peak power demand Case 1 ("old bulbs"): -> 19 X 100W -> 1900W. Peak Power demand Case 2 ("new bulbs") -> 19 X 36W->684W. In one hour, ill pay Ksh 1.9x for case 1 and 0.684x for case 2. which means the cost per unit of electricity is 64% cheaper for the more expensive bulbs. Conclusion: it has to be more than 64% more expensive within the shorter lifespan of the two to qualify as more expensive. Ideas and opinion invited. . On 7/17/09, Tony White <tony.mzungu@gmail.com> wrote:
"Energy Saving" bulbs are *not* great! - if by 'energy saving' we mean the 'compact fluorescent' bulbs - for the following reasons:
Compact Fluorescent Lamp Characteristics:
Benefits ... Low energy usage Relatively efficient Long life (typically 8,000 - 15,000 hours claimed)
Deficiencies ... Comparatively expensive Medium to high technology Wide variety of non-reclaimable materials used in manufacture Poor Colour Rendering Index (CRI) - typically 60 - 70 Commonly fail prematurely if subjected to repeated switching cycles * Cannot be used at very low temperatures (< -20°C, but often higher) Cannot be used at high temperatures (> 60°C, but often lower) Relatively poor power factor (around 0.52 seems typical for better versions) Cannot be dimmed with common light dimmer circuits May suffer instantaneous failure with moisture ingress (condensation, etc.) Disliked by many people (not always for valid reasons) Will not fit (and cannot be made to fit) many fittings designed for miniature lamps Unsuitable for totally sealed light fittings (they will get too hot, and the electronics will fail) Moderately high initial (inrush) current when switched on (20-100 times operating current !) Must be recycled, or no tangible environmental benefit can be claimed May (will?) cause local interference on AM radio and possibly TV picture (analogue TV only) because of EMI
For a *very* detailed analysis of CFL bulbs, please have a look at:
http://sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm
Have an 'energy conservative' weekend, guys
Tony
2009/7/17 aki <aki275@googlemail.com>:
@Areba, energy saving bulbs are great, esp the new generation ones. I stick to philips. I'll give an example. In the last power rationing, my 2kva ( 24 volts ) design invertor would run ES 10pcs 10 watt and 3 pcs 22watt bulbs at 4 hour tests, all at one go. the small apt looked lit like a stadium and the neighbors would " borrow " a connection for one ES bulb. When testing completed, I'd run my 21inc Sony TV and DSTV decoder for 4 hrs with 3 bulbs. The system was risky as I did not have time to design an overload trip. Times have changed, even a basic ups has builtin checks. Here's the interesting part that got me started then : light and DC oscillation. my first test was using a 6volt bike battery powering 2 mosfets and a 21watt ES bulb. Blindingly bright.... Now it is so much easier. ( "electricity is dangeriuos disclaimer" ) On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Areba Collins <arebacollins@gmail.com> wrote:
Ill give a more wholistic approach. First, do an audit of energy consumption. Discard those 40bob bulbs for their 18w equivalents. (for a modest 2br house, thats a saving of about 1000w, and more battery life. )
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