Technology Special We Have Truly Seen the Light… or Have We?

摘要

I am sure that some of you are aware that on January 1, 2012 the incandescent lamp is slated to become illegal to both manufacture and sell in the United States (although most of Europe is pretty much going along the same path). Here Congress has passed laws (part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) that will limit the sale of such lamps with ratings above 40 watts and below 150 watts, which includes the most popular 100-watt variety. Some of the more unique lamps, such as appliance types, three-way bulbs, and flame-shaped chandelier lamps will still be okay, but in time these will be phased out as well. All of this is due to the tremendous amounts of energy our society requires, and this move is supposed to alleviate the need to some degree. There are issues both for and against this move, and this is the subject of this month's column. The incandescent lamp, invented both by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan (in England) in the 1870s certainly has been around for a long time. It is a simple-to-understand, elegant, and inexpensive solution to electric lighting. However, the lamp is extremely inefficient and typically only about 10 to15% of the power consumed actually results in visible light. The rest is lost in heat, as anyone who has tried to change a light bulb that as burned out quickly learns. Since roughly 10% of our homes' electric bill is due to lighting, using more efficient means will not only reduce the amount of power needed from the local power com pany, but will lower our costs (to some degree) as well. The kicker here, however, is that today's replacements, namely the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and the LED-based lamp, are many times more expensive than the lowly incandescentThey are supposed to last much longer, but people who have been using them in large quantities say that this remains to be seen.