On Saturday 31 May 2008, der Mouse wrote:
And I've
heard people talk about banning incandescent bulbs
entirely.
Indeed...
I don't see what the problem is. There are much more efficient
methods of lighting,
True-- but irrelevant to the discussion.
If you're worried about a ban on incandescent bulbs for the purpose of
current-limiting device, then stockpile a bunch of them for your own
use. It's not like you're going to go through them quickly in this
application.
I think that the power savings is worth the annoyances of a ban.
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.
...none of which function, electrically, like incandescent bulbs.
Halogen bulbs do.
4) In my SMPUS current limiter, for obvious electrical
reasons.
Halogen?
Halogens are still incandescent and presumably would be covered by a
ban on incandescent bulbs.
Not from what I've seen. ISTR that halogen bulbs are actually more
efficient in lumens/watt than a "standard" incandescent bulb.
Maybe a
properly engineered RL circuit instead of some
cobbled-together light-bulb current limiter. :)
An incandescent bulb is cheap, easy, simple, damn near foolproof, and
provides immediate visual feedback on how much current it's carrying.
It is probably possible to build a current limiter that provides
immediate visual feedback. I challenge you, or anyone for that
matter, to come up with such a design that is as cheap, easy, simple,
and foolproof as an incandescent bulb. (Well, not cheap once the ban
hits, which is the problem.)
A "ban" such as those proposed is only a ban on sales of new bulbs, not
on *using* them...
Pat
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