CFL and Halogen Bulbs

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Jennifer of AvocaLite featured on Pat Kenny
Show

I was delighted to hear that the Pat Kenny radio show featured a 20 minute piece on CFL lamps with Jennifer of AvocaLite.

During the piece Pat introduced halogen bulbs. It is my belief that halogen replacement bulbs, as distinct from 12 volt halogen spots etc., should also be banned as the efficiency of many is only marginally 10% above the bog ordinary bulb.

Halogen Bulbs

Most household incandescent bulbs have efficiencies of between 8 and 21 lumens per watt. Higher efficiencies can be achieved with “hotter” filaments and something near 35 lumens per watt can be achieved with photographic and projection lamps with very high filament temperatures but with much shorter lifetimes of around 40 hours.

In between, you have the range of halogen lights from car headlights to halogen down lighters. In the last 10 years or so a range of halogen bulbs to replace the common light bulb. Halogen bulbs are ordinary bulbs with some modifications.

Older type of Halogen Bulb
Newer type look exactly like standard bulb

These bulbs all still have tungsten filaments but operated at a much higher temperature so they have a quartz envelope that takes higher temperatures than glass and are filled with halogen gas instead of a vacuum. The purpose of the halogen gas is to prevent the tungsten filament depositing atoms on the glass envelope. The light efficiency of halogen bulbs comes from the higher operating temperature of the filament. Efficiency differs widely but halogen can be between 10 and 30% more efficient and still have reasonably long lives.

Halogen replacement bulbs have been around a long time. A newer breed of replacement bulb is being developed. Much of the design is being lead by the motor industry and development of brighter headlights. However the new breed of super efficient nano-technology LED lights will soon displace these.

Low voltage 12 volt halogen lights give a superior quality of light to mains voltage.

CFL Bulbs

The modern CFL bulb is a highly sophisticated piece of engineering. The starter technology is state of the art and the colour rendition and general quality of light from the better brands, exceeds the quality of incandescent bulbs, according to Popular Mechanics tests.

Led Bulbs.

There are very recent developments in the LED type bulb using nano-technology which has greatly increased the efficiency and power of these fantastic lights. We will see these new light in the next year or so. They will be twice or more as efficient as CFL bulbs and they will last for 20 to 30 years. This is where all lighting, domestic, commercial, and automotive, is heading.



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Update on Vanadium Redox Batteries

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An Update from Kevin Cullen

Hi,

You may be interest in the update report from Research Capital analyst Jon Hykawy. He was also on BNN last Thursday. Jan 3rd (18:00 hours) where he had VRB as one of his "stars" for 2008. (Vanadium Redox Batteries)

His take on why the Irish government has not finalized its contract with the company was a bit surprising, but encouraging long term for VRB.

You can see it here: http://www.bnn.ca/shows/past_archive.tv?day=thur. Mind you, BNN only keep these segments up a week.

Best,

Kevin

Thank you again Kevin for this update information.



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Airoption and SEI CORRECTION

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Correction

I need to correct some facts in my Blog of Jan 3 in which I stated that Airoption had an entry in the SEI (Sustainable Energy Ireland) directory. This is not the case. I recently contacted SEI and was told that Airoption was not listed as per my Blog of Jan 3rd.

The listing is with Sustainable Ireland and NOT with SEI (Sustainable Energy Ireland) the Government run agency. A listing with Sustainable Ireland means nothing as such and holds no value. It is merely a free listing to which anyone can register, there are no criteria or standards implied for this listing, and no guarantee is given regarding the listings or their validity by Sustainable Ireland.





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Plurion Redox Battery Comment

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An interesting comment has come in about the Plurion Ultra High Capacity Redox Battery. I have decided to publish this as a full article. (Ed.)




Blogger: Dr Know has left a new comment on "Questions about Plurion the Technology and the Company":

I helped assemble the first 1m^2 Plurion battery in California, and it is what it says on the package. I can confirm that the late great Peter Millington formerly of UMIST was a close collaborator on it. Its not unusual for a company in this type of market to submarine and beaver away quietly till the time is right, otherwise, EVERYONE will want to do it, patents be damned. and if you know about flow batteries - you know that its going to take about 3 more years or more to get over the regenisis bomb which, of you want to talk about cash burn rates, makes Plurion look like a drop in the ocean.

I think I know who wrote the last comment, I have seen his language style in the electrochemistry journal of the RSC, especially the "long and checkered past" part.

TUT TUT, I think this guy has some sort of personal agenda and will take ANY forum. Please don't take him too seriously, if you want to know how it works, call them (Plurion), they are in Glenrothes in Scotland, or check the patent office for reviewable docs (hint:there are lots of patent offices internationally, and the company did start in California.)

As for myself I have no axe to grind, I don't work there anymore, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there but had to move on to bigger things.


My thanks to Dr Know for the interesting input. I am sure that we have not heard the end of the story on this interesting technology.




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Airoption GeoThermal Alternative

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Geothermal Heating Alternative

I have been asked about the validity of AirOption's heating claim: to be able to heat a room with the equivalent of a 100w bulb. I have no inside information of any substance but on the SEI web site Airoption make the following statement copied directly. I have just emphasised the section dealing with the underfloor heating:

airoption.com manufacturer and distributor of small wind turbines, battery storage, inverters, solar panels, biofuel generators, hydro generators. new electric a/energy underfloor heating concept developed over the past 5 years and now ready for market. offering a viable answer to geothermal. offering new approaches to heat from wind CHP systems.
Address: 28a ballingarrane, Cahir Road, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
Contact: Mr John McCollum
Phone: 00353 52 70792
Fax: 00353 52 70793
Email: info@airoption.com
Website: airoption.com

HERE is the link to SEI



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CFL v/s Filament Bulbs

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Here is one of a series
of comparison articles
on CFL Bulbs

I thought that photographing two bulbs lit up side by side might be a simple and graphical way of demonstrating the differences between types.

In the above photograph you see, on the left, a 9 watt CFL bulb from AvocaLite, and on the right is a regular filament bulb rated at 25 watts.

The CFL bulb is using approximately one third of the power of the filament lamp but it is obvious, at a glance, that it is giving out 2 to 3 times more light.

After a few minutes running, the cfl bulb was warm but not hot to the touch, while the filament bulb was a bit too hot to handle with ease.


Concludion:

• CFL brighter by far for much less power.

• CFL bulb much cooler and therefore safer.

• Colour of light very yellow in filament bulb while the CFL had a pleasing soft white colour of light.

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AirOption CoreTech Comment on Comment

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Comment on AirOption / CoreTech Claim

Commenting on the phenomenal heating efficiency claim made by AirOption / CoreTech outlined in "Heating a Room with a 100 watt Bulb"

"brian t" said...

Sure, you can heat a room with low amounts of power... with certain assumptions. They haven't said anything about the room itself: well-insulated? The amount of heat lost through the walls and ceiling are central to this question. I think they're also assuming that no-one ever enters or leaves the room...

Editorial Comment on comment!!

I would agree with you Brian completly on a basic science level. However, I have found that science has a weird way of contradicting itself with new discoveries from time to time. These guys might just have stumbled on something right on the edge. Then again, they might not.

One thing for sure, they are VERY sensitive to publicity, other than their own version. In fact, they have WARNED me off asking them any further questions. Sounds like their letter was written by a solicitot does it not??

Here is their contribution to the art of communication, and to the understanding of science, as experienced by this blogger:

... it appears that we are attracting the type of notice we don’t want. In view of this we will be making no further statements whatsoever in relation to our product or technology until such time as we see fit.

All information or other matters given are strictly proprietary and their publication or misrepresentation are forbidden.

We would thank you therefore to be careful in how you may represent or misrepresent all matters relating to Airoption Ltd.

Thank you,
Airoption Ltd



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CFL Bulbs - comments

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A Comment
on
CFL Bulbs

Blogger "cflblues" in a comment on "Lady of the CFL Lamps" which was posted by me on December 10th last. Link below: http://wood-pellet-ireland.blogspot.com/2007/12/lady-of-cfl-lamps.html

said...

It is inaccurate to say that 95%of the energy generated by a traditional light bulb is wasted, this is heat that is dispersed around your home the same as any other heat source, so if you remove this you have to replace it using more of your oil, gas, etc. in winter.

Also cfl bulbs in my experience do not last nearly as long as the manufacturers claim even under normal working conditions, this should be the focus for debate, the quality of the product and the price not just sweeping statements about energy saving light bulbs, I have a house full of these bulbs but I think we are being conned by the manufacturers.

Editorial Comment:

"cflblues" is assuming you already have calculated in the need for several hundred watts of extra heat from light bulbs into your heat loss calculations. He/She has also conveniently forgotten that in summertime you could do without those extra heat sources. In fact you might be using extra power, by way of air conditioning, to get rid of the surplus heat.

My calculated experience with CFL bulbs is that they last well up to the manufacturers specifications. I date a cfl bulb with a pencil mark on the white plastic base, so when it fails, I have an exact days in use, plus a reasonably accurate calculation of hours in usetime.

I fear that "sweeping statements" without much scientific basis, is exactly what "cflblues" is indulging in him/herself while appearing to blame others for it.

Finally, I have NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that CFL Bulbs save money, time, and carbon emissions. They also give a superior quality of light, and are safer in use, they will not cause a fire if a curtain should blow over a lighted lamp. I say go for them and save yourself a packet and the environment at the same time.



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Electric Cars with a 2000Km Range?

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This damn Ugly Subaru could run for 2000Km on a Charge

Stanford University New Centre have announced a new type of Lithium Ion Battery with 10 times the storage capacity of current types. It uses Nano Technology to achieve these impressive capacity figures. Nano Technology is starting to change a lot of things. it could well be this age will be called the nano technology Age!!

The implication of these new batteries are that your laptop that now runs for 2 hours on a charge, would last for 20 hours instead.

The biggest breakthrough however might be in electric cars. The main problem has long been one of a good enough battery that would take sufficient charge for long journeys. Most electric cars are fast and fairly powerful but can make only 150 to 200Km journeys at most before needing to be re-charged.

With one of these new batteries fitted, a similar car could run for up to 2000Km before re-charging. This would put the electric car into a completely new category, making it attractive to a much wider customer base.

Exciting stuff this Nano technology. Nano Nano!!!!

Here is a link to the Stanford site: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html


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New Study on Wind Power Stability

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Wind Energy more Reliable that First Thought

A new study published by Stanford University Press has shown that large-scale wind-farm grid interlinking helps to balance out local power fluctuations and gives a stability of power nearly as good as that provided by other generation methods.

The finding would suggest that there would be no great need for battery or other storage methods, as the varying winds conditions over larger areas would balance out the power generated to the grid.

The power fluctuation of wind has long been an argument against its wider use in national grids. This study however would suggest the opposite and may hopefully open some doors to wider use of this excellent clean power source in the halls of power throughout the world.

Here is a link to the original article: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/december5/windfarm-120507.html



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