31 May
2008
31 May
'08
5:43 p.m.
On Saturday 31 May 2008 11:30, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
On Friday 30 May 2008, Tony Duell wrote:
Indeed...
I don't see what the problem is. There are much more efficient methods
of lighting, than the one that Edison worked a lot on over 100 years
ago.
The problem is that there are applications for these bulbs that aren't
primarily lighting, and we're not going to be able to get a hold of them.
After working on a SMPSU (or any power supply for that
matter,
but especially a switcher), I usually power it up to test
throught a light-bulb. [...] Has saved me from "secondary
catastrophic failures" on more than one occation.
And I've heard people talk about banning incandescent bulbs
entirely. In addition to compact fluorescent lamps, you can get
LED-based bulbs,
halogen lamps (which still are effectively incandescent, but a bit
better), and various gas-discharge lamps.
"Better" being a relative term. Those halogen bulbs have advantages and
disadvantages both. And while CF bulbs are becoming somewhat common, LED,
and gas-discharge lamps are both uncommon and expensive, and not similar in
their characteristics (either electrical _or_ lighting) to incandescent
bulbs. This is gonna cost, a bunch, and it won't work as well (in some
cases) as what's in place now.
Yes, we have CF bulbs around here. The one lamp that gets used most is one
that took a lot of getting used to, because it's a different spectrum. In
another case there's a fixture here that they don't work reliably in, and
since we're renting it's not an option to change the fixture. In another
case, it's *way* brighter than the incandescent bulb it replaced. And
they're not dimmable.
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin