Anybody stocking up on light bulbs?

[Pogo]

Where approximately 40w are needed I use a 60w bulb and dim it down, which extends the life of the bulb about tenfold.

That works, but it cuts efficiency. More power sucked up as heat, more power required for the same amount of light. It costs more in electricity than it saves in bulbs.

[...]

I won't say you're wrong because I don't know for sure. But a dimmer is essentially an adjustable rheostat which serves to reduce current flow to the load. So how does that work out as using more energy rather than less?

Again, I don't know. So I'm asking, not telling.

A dimmer is basically a variable resistor, so while it may reduce the output, the remainder of the energy that went in there will be expended in the form of heat. They're usually constructed in a way that will conduct that heat out of harm's way so the switch itself won't get too hot, but you may feel it after a while in a "low" setting (low light = high resistance).

They give off EMR too (electromagnetic radiation). Tune in an AM radio nearby off a channel and listen to the noise as you raise and lower the pot. The more the resistor/dimmer damps the juice, the louder the RF will be on the radio.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Part of the reason why our electrical bill went down so much is that the CFL bulbs not only reducing our lighting costs, but they also reduced or air conditioning costs, because the bulbs didn't give off as much heat.

--LOL

CFLs give off a lot of heat

--LOL

 

[mamooth]

I won't say you're wrong because I don't know for sure. But a dimmer is essentially an adjustable rheostat which serves to reduce current flow to the load. So how does that work out as using more energy rather than less?

Again, I don't know. So I'm asking, not telling.

A dimmer is basically a variable resistor, so while it may reduce the output, the remainder of the energy that went in there will be expended in the form of heat. They're usually constructed in a way that will conduct that heat out of harm's way so the switch itself won't get too hot, but you may feel it after a while in a "low" setting (low light = high resistance).

They give off EMR too (electromagnetic radiation). Tune in an AM radio nearby off a channel and listen to the noise as you raise and lower the pot. The more the resistor/dimmer damps the juice, the louder the RF will be on the radio.

There's also the shape of the light emission curve to consider.

Using the dimmer causes the filament to run cooler, which is what extends bulb life. That lower temp means a flatter emission curve. Getting the same output in the visible light range will require cranking up the whole curve. That raises the tail end of the curve above what it was before, and that tail end is the wasted heat.

 

[flacaltenn]

That works, but it cuts efficiency. More power sucked up as heat, more power required for the same amount of light. It costs more in electricity than it saves in bulbs.

[...]

I won't say you're wrong because I don't know for sure. But a dimmer is essentially an adjustable rheostat which serves to reduce current flow to the load. So how does that work out as using more energy rather than less?

Again, I don't know. So I'm asking, not telling.

A dimmer is basically a variable resistor, so while it may reduce the output, the remainder of the energy that went in there will be expended in the form of heat. They're usually constructed in a way that will conduct that heat out of harm's way so the switch itself won't get too hot, but you may feel it after a while in a "low" setting (low light = high resistance).

They give off EMR too (electromagnetic radiation). Tune in an AM radio nearby off a channel and listen to the noise as you raise and lower the pot. The more the resistor/dimmer damps the juice, the louder the RF will be on the radio.

The radio interference is due to the fact that almost all lighting dimmers are rapidly SWITCHING the duty cycle on the Mains AC line. NOT a resistive divider.. A rheostat wastes all the excess power in the resistive divider. That's why they went to active switching and hence the noise..

LED bulbs with "edison screw" bases NEED to be compatible with all the OLD dimmers, so the power supply inside the bulb needs to do extra work to get around the chopped up AC line power.. That's why you need "SPECIAL" LED bulbs if you use old dimmers.. The LEDs are the same -- just a different power supply.

NOW --- with LEDs it's theoretically possible to do the dimming with a single wire voltage control line.. (no rheostat, no switching).. But there is no way to bring this control into an Edison screw base (other than an RF link !!)

IDEALLY -- homes should have CENTRALIZED DC Power Supplies and bus wiring. That way, every freaking bulb doesn't need a full UL recognized switching power supply in its base to get from 120V mains to 24V or 36V DC power for the LEDs. This would also allow for better dimming, color control, and auto-timing..

It's a real pain to design an AC/DC power supply that sits in that space inside the bulb and will survive the heat and lightning strikes for an 8 or 10 yr life guarantee..

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Part of the reason why our electrical bill went down so much is that the CFL bulbs not only reducing our lighting costs, but they also reduced or air conditioning costs, because the bulbs didn't give off as much heat.

--LOL

CFLs give off a lot of heat

--LOL

I just reached up and touched the one that's been on over my head all day long.

No burn.

LOL is right.

 

[Pogo]

Part of the reason why our electrical bill went down so much is that the CFL bulbs not only reducing our lighting costs, but they also reduced or air conditioning costs, because the bulbs didn't give off as much heat.

--LOL

CFLs give off a lot of heat

--LOL

No, actually they don't. You wouldn't have found anyone putting a CFL bulb by their water pipes over the last few days to stop them freezing. Everyone who did that would have used an incandescent. It's a common cheap remedy that takes advantage of an inefficiency.

Incandescents do indeed burn off a lot of their energy as heat, which is obviously not what their purpose is, which is one of the big reasons they're less efficient.

Know what else burns off a significant portion of its total energy as heat? An internal combustion engine. I recall when I was a kid the figure was 60% (heat). Efficiency is never a bad thing. It should be the objective.

 

[rdean]

Americans are buying less electricity.

Republicans want to reverse that trend.

 

[Dragonlady]

In Canada, where utilities are still publicly owned, reducing power consumption is considered a GOOD thing.

No wonder Republicans are fighting the ban on incandescent bulbs.