Currently, an important issue is the efficiency of all light sources. Conventional incandescent lamps are gradually being squeezed out of everyday life. And what is the alternative to incandescent lamps, we will consider in this article.

Content

1. General information
2. Cold fluorescent lamps
3. Compact fluorescent tubes  video
4. Why do compact fluorescent lamps quickly burn out?
5. Disposal Considerations  video
6. LED lamp  video
7. Lamp - solar tube
8. The future of green energy

General information

Incandescent lamps, in terms of efficiency, are lagging behind progress.

      1. tungsten filament 2. glass bulb 3. sleeve 4. contact plate

For example, a standard lamp of 60 watts. has a efficiency of only 5%.

All the energy expended is wasted in the form of infrared radiation, the lampshade is very hot and as a result, only 5% of us get energy in the form of light.

Understanding all the shortcomings of incandescent lamps, Russian lawmakers have introduced a complete ban on the sale and production of such lamps in Russia since 2014.

Cold fluorescent lamps

Back in the 20s of the twentieth century, mass production of fluorescent lamps was established.

These lamps were an alternative to incandescent lamps.

A fluorescent lamp produces light due to a discharge in the gas.

Widespread mercury discharge lamps.

But due to the fact that these discharge lamps had a cold glow, they were very little used in household appliances, and they were much more expensive than incandescent lamps.

But in Soviet institutions, fluorescent lamps were widespread and still in institutions these tubular fluorescent lamps are widely used.

Compact fluorescent tubes

Technological progress does not stand still and at the end of the 80s of the XX century, the production of compact fluorescent lamps begins.

Such compact energy-saving lamps, began to produce with the usual socles E14 (minion), or E27 (standard).

These lamps began to emit light in the natural spectrum.

Currently, compact fluorescent lamps are a leader in energy conservation.

Such a lamp consists of an airtight bulb, inside the lamp is coated with a phosphor and filled with mercury and argon vapors.

An energy-saving lamp has a starter when such a lamp turns on - mercury vapor emits ultraviolet light.

Light passes through the phosphor and is converted into the light that we see.

In appearance, such an energy-saving lamp resembles our ordinary lamp.

These lamps have the same base with incandescent lamps, the bulb of the lamp can be in the form of a pear, tube or spiral.

It is this new design that brings the energy-saving lamp to a leading position.

Of course, energy-saving fluorescent lamps have a high price, but because of their effective light output, they consume electricity several times less.

Energy-saving lamp 23 watts. gives as much light as 100 watts. incandescent lamp.

If an energy-saving lamp works continuously for 6 hours a day, then in terms of rubles, you can save 500 rubles a year.

Those. energy-saving lamps, at their high cost, will pay off in the future and bring profit.

But this is the case if the lamps have a long service life.

Why do compact fluorescent lamps quickly burn out?

Ideally, compact fluorescent lamps should last three times longer than a conventional incandescent lamp, but at the same time, an energy-saving lamp should work continuously for at least 6 hours a day.

The fact is that energy-saving lamps are very sensitive to frequent turning on and off.

Power surges and instability of power supply also negatively affect the life of energy-saving lamps.

It is clear that if an energy-saving lamp quickly burns out, then the savings from them are very small, and maybe even losses.

Disposal Considerations

The biggest problem that has been facing the whole country since 2014 is the mass disposal of spent fluorescent lamps.

Spent lamps contain mercury and if broken in a room, it threatens human health.

Those. these lamps can not only be beaten and disposed of in garbage containers, but they also need to be disposed of correctly.

For disposal it is necessary to open special points.

And if in large cities this problem is somehow solved, then for the bulk of the population this is still a big problem.

Even in civilized Germany, only 40% of energy-saving lamps are recycled.

LED lamp

LED lamps or LEDs have recently entered our lives.

As a phenomenon, the glow was discovered back in the 20s of the twentieth century.

But the device itself was first made in 1960 and it was a red LED, thirty years later they created a blue LED.

For home lighting, LED lamps have become widely used only in recent years.

The LED has a small luminous flux, a small scattering angle and a small light spectrum.

To eliminate these shortcomings, in lamps, several LEDs are used at once.

Modern LED lamps use lenses, thereby expanding the angle of dispersion up to 180 *.

Thus, LEDs can already be compared with conventional lamps.

Luminous efficiency of an LED lamp is better than a fluorescent one.

For example, if you take the luminous flux of 680 Lm. then an incandescent lamp needs 60 watts., an energy-saving lamp should be 15 watts., and the LED is only 8 watts.

The life of the LED lamp is 5-6 years (50,000 hours), and the fluorescent energy-saving lamp lasts for 1 year (8000 hours).

At the end of the life of the LED lamp, this lamp does not need to be disposed of.

LED lamps practically do not heat up and practically do not beat.

All is well, but the biggest drawback is the very high cost, 3 to 5 times more expensive than fluorescent lamps.

Another drawback is the rather narrow light spectrum.

Lamp - solar tube

For us earthlings, there is free lighting - sunlight.

If sunlight can be let into the building, an artificial light source is not needed. Scientists have already designed a solar tube, which consists of an acrylic dome, a sunlight collector and has a fiber with an ideal reflective surface, this fiber can deliver light to a separate room.

Of course this is a complex design, but promising.

If you dream, then in the future the architecture of the windows will change dramatically.

Windows will become horizontal rather than vertical.

But all these are single moments, although in the future it may be an ideal source of light in the room.

The future of green energy

All plants are the best users and converters of light.

During photosynthesis, plants absorb light quanta and use their energy to conduct chemical reactions.

Scientists have been able to create biophotoelectric systems based on photosynthesis - these systems generate useful electricity.

So far, there is very little generated electricity - it is only enough to power a digital clock with a liquid crystal display.

But perhaps this is the future for earthlings.

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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