Light bulbs

pjordan4477

So with the traditional light bulb being phazed out in 2 years, do you see electrical codes changing, since the newer light bulbs use less energy?

nap

can you point to where the "traditional" lamp is being phased out?

The US is not requiring a cessation in production of incandescent lamps. It is enforcing an energy efficiency requirement which, as I understand it, at least one manufacture already has the ability to produce incandescents that exceed the requirements.

as to changing codes;

there are already changes in building codes in place that require things like lights automatically dimming or turning off after a prescribed period of time with no human presence. They are also doing things like outlawing magnetic ballasts in some cases and requiring the use of electronic ballasts due to improved efficiency. Those rules have been in place for several years already.

pjordan4477

the federal government enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which requires all general-purpose light bulbs that produce 310–2600 lumens of light[8] be 30% more energy efficient (similar to current halogen lamps) than current incandescent bulbs by 2012 to 2014. The efficiency standards will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014.

Light bulbs outside of this range are exempt from the restrictions (historically, less than 40 Watts or more than 150 Watts). Also exempt are several classes of specialty lights, including appliance lamps, rough service bulbs, 3-way, colored lamps, and plant lights.

By 2020, a second tier of restrictions would become effective, which requires all general-purpose bulbs to produce at least 45 lumens per watt (similar to current CFLs). Exemptions from the Act include reflector flood, 3-way, candelabra, colored, and other specialty bulbs.

pjordan4477

Marketing Campaigns on TV have already started in. Stating the current incandescent bulbs will no longer be for sale.

Doesn't matter to me either way as I have changed every last light to CFL, been that way for 2 years now. 59 lights in all.

I'll be switching soon to LED for the fixtures that we use the most.

My question is the amount of sockets on a breaker. Do you think the code will change to allow for more since the 100 CFL only uses 25watts.

pjordan4477

Due to the measures noted above, there have been recent efforts to improve the efficiency of incandescents. In 2007, the consumer lighting division of General Electric announced a "high efficiency incandescent" (HEI) lamp project, which they claimed would ultimately be as much as four times more efficient than current incandescents, although their initial production goal was to be approximately two times more efficient. The HEI program was quietly terminated in 2008 due to slow progress.

U.S. Department of Energy research at Sandia National Laboratories initially indicated the potential for dramatically improved efficiency from a photonic lattice filament. However, later work indicated that initially promising results were in error.

Prompted by U.S. legislation mandating increased bulb efficiency by 2012, new "hybrid" incandescent bulbs have been introduced by Philips. The "Halogena Energy Saver" incandescent is 30 percent more efficient than traditional designs, using a special chamber to reflect formerly wasted heat back to the filament to provide additional lighting power.

pjordan4477

http://www.lighting.philips.com/us_e...ghting&lang=en

See the diagram


CFL is cheaper and lasts longer then the incandescent replacement. The traditional lamp, will and is dying.

nap

in the US, there is nothing that addresses the issue in the code. I am not limited by the number of sockets on a circuit, only the load. As such, I see no code changes due to the new standards.

HVAC_NW

These things primarily affects commercial buildings, which do not really use much incandescent lamps. I'm not sure how restaurants and apparel retailers. The latter shouldn't be affected too much as it doesn't affect MR16 and other smaller lamps.

it only affects larger reflector lamps and 40-100W standard "regular light bulbs" with the legislation affecting 100W next year, 75W the following and eventually down to 40W lamps.

http://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Do...5952be2148.pdf

They're not banning it, but effectively, traditionally built lamps are banned. They could use technology like halogen lamp within bulb infrared reflective capsule, which raises efficacy, but the price as well. So, it would not be a total surprise when compliant incandescent lamps cost $5-6 ea while having a life of only 1000 to 2000 hours.

Dimming is going to be difficult with anything other than filament lamps. We have the technology to effectively dim the output of fluorescent lamps. Lutron already sells one that dims down to 1/2% of full output, at astronomical cost.

Aside from higher cost, fluorescent lamps can be dimmed to modulate output, but the visual and aesthetic effect is not the same as incandescent lamps which change in color from bright yellow to reddish orange with dimming. The color remains relatively constant.