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The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

creebulb.com

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Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#111

Post by rachelbythebay »

jwr wrote: post #77

We are still in the dark ages, though. Just consider: this "bulb" has to plug into the standard 110/230V AC electrical sockets. Powering an LED is nothing like powering an incandescent bulb: you need a constant current driver delivering a precisely measured DC current that, depending on the LED, is between 300mA and (say) 1.5A. The voltage you need depends on the number of LEDs in series, but assume 3.2V per LED. If…

How about power over Ethernet? I'm only half-joking here.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, you can get 14 watts from some implementations, 25 from others, and supposedly up to 51 from still others. That seems like more than enough for these new bulbs. I think the last CFL I bought from Ikea was in the neighborhood of 15 watts.

The control interface would hopefully evolve naturally from this. :-)

(Also, bonus points for figuring out how to make all of your light bulbs into boosters for your wireless network. They're already in all the places where people go in a house.)

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#112

Post by zokier »

ck2 wrote: post #88
zokier wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's also dimmer compatible which is a big plus for me with X10 control If you have already X10 system in place, wouldn't X10 compatibility be more ideal than dimmer compatibility?

X10 has dimmer modules. It's basically a dimmer with remote control.

Yes, but the point was that it would be far more optimal to have the control signals go directly to the LED driver circuitry instead of chopping up the mains voltage and hoping that the LED driver will handle it.

Computer analogy: Imagine you would like to adjust the performance/power of your computer. You could plug the computer to a dimmer and then engineer the computer to adjust itself according to the dimmed mains voltage. Or you could route the X10 signal to the computer and use it to adjust the power profile. Which solution seems more reasonable to you?

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#113

Post by hmsimha »

jwr wrote: post #77

We are still in the dark ages, though. Just consider: this "bulb" has to plug into the standard 110/230V AC electrical sockets. Powering an LED is nothing like powering an incandescent bulb: you need a constant current driver delivering a precisely measured DC current that, depending on the LED, is between 300mA and (say) 1.5A. The voltage you need depends on the number of LEDs in series, but assume 3.2V per LED. If…

can the switching power supply and other electronics not be combined into a part the screws into the light bulb socket, into which the 'bulb' part attaches? That way in 10 years when your light burns out you wouldn't replace the base part anyway, just the LED lights.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#114

Post by hmsimha »

-How many HN readers does it take to change the light bulb?-

6 to discuss the efficiency of the new light bulb, 10 to propose alternative designs to the light bulb components, 15 to point out various health and environmental concerns of old and proposed new light bulb components, and 25 to criticize the design of the webpage promoting the new light bulb.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#115

Post by nitrogen »

zokier wrote: post #112
ck2 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

X10 has dimmer modules. It's basically a dimmer with remote control.

Yes, but the point was that it would be far more optimal to have the control signals go directly to the LED driver circuitry instead of chopping up the mains voltage and hoping that the LED driver will handle it. Computer analogy: Imagine you would like to adjust the performance/power of your computer. You could plug the computer to a dimmer and then engineer the computer to adjust itself according to the dimmed main…

X10 is way too slow and really needs to go away. Instead, bulbs should include a more modern standard, which Hue does (at 6x the price).

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#116

Post by Gotttzsche »

riffraff wrote: post #43
ars wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nonsense. You can trade long life for energy efficiency. That's all. After some tweaking and market testing people settled on the current balance. The old stuff is just not very efficient, that's why it lasts so long - nothing stops you from doing that today, just derate the bulb, use a bulb intended for a higher voltage (or put a dimmer on it).

> After some tweaking and market testing people settled on the current balance. FWIW, old style incandescent lightbulbs have effectively been banned in europe, australia, brazil and other places for years, and will be such in the US next year, IIRC. While I think that is overall a good thing it's not exactly an invisible hand thingy.

i think the balancing he talked about happened far earlier than the bans. or what bans on what kinda incandescent lightbulbs are you talking about?

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#117

Post by exodust »

iSnow wrote: post #99
ars wrote: post #9

This page has GOT to stop moving!! GRRRR. Who decided this was a good idea?

Thanks to noscript, I never even noticed.

You also wouldn't have noticed much of the content and interactivity you missed out on. Pages such as Comparison, and History are blank without javascript. Noscript is like leaving your TV on VHF even when digital works fine.

Ok, so anyway, people complaining about bad design should blame the bad design rather than the platform it uses. Happened with Flash when people said "let's say no to annoying ads on websites, and poorly made multimedia sites with intro screens, by hating on the technology they're made with!"

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#118

Post by oblio »

gt565k wrote: post #17
vailripper wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even still, that doesn't do anything about the energy savings you get with LED...

I'm just saying. Plus, I still don't understand why people care about light bulbs saving energy. The majority of electricity consumed in a houses and apartments comes from the AC unit, refrigerators, heaters, TVs, and computers. Implying that this light bulb will save you money would imply that you're terrible at keeping your lights off, and thus you should save money by continuing to exercise bad habits that cost yo…

It's because in this day and age, I shouldn't be turning the lights off, ever. They should be turning themselves off.

We humans are quite bad at rote work...

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#119

Post by zokier »

hmsimha wrote: post #113
jwr wrote: post #77

We are still in the dark ages, though. Just consider: this "bulb" has to plug into the standard 110/230V AC electrical sockets. Powering an LED is nothing like powering an incandescent bulb: you need a constant current driver delivering a precisely measured DC current that, depending on the LED, is between 300mA and (say) 1.5A. The voltage you need depends on the number of LEDs in series, but assume 3.2V per LED. If…

can the switching power supply and other electronics not be combined into a part the screws into the light bulb socket, into which the 'bulb' part attaches? That way in 10 years when your light burns out you wouldn't replace the base part anyway, just the LED lights.

Problem is that the driver electronics need to be tuned to the LEDs being used. So you can't mix and match the LEDs and drivers without some adjustment.

Another problem is the lifetime of the driver electronics is limited too. So the benefits of having separately replaceable driver would be fairly limited.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#120

Post by zokier »

iSnow wrote: post #102
com2kid wrote: post #31

Am I the only one not impressed by these 60 watt bulb replacements? 60 watt bulbs leave my entire place looking dim and depressing, sure good colors are nice, but if I can't see anything, what does it matter? My light fixtures were designed for a few 100 watts, replacing them with these 60 watt LEDs may save me power, but at the cost of my eyesight! I am more interested in true 100, or even better, 150 watt, replacem…

You are not the only one. I actually threw out all my flourescent bulbs and bought a truckload of incandescents while they were still available because the flourescent light was too dim and "hollow" to feel comfortable. I am not sure LEDs are any better, I believe the cheaper ones have huge spectrum gaps.

Some LED "bulbs" are effectively florescent too, they just use LEDs to excite the florescent material.
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