Compact Fluorescent Vs Incandescent Bulbs

1. Compact Fluorescent Vs Incandescent Bulbs By Duncan Jones and Chad Holst

2. A Brief History • English physicist and chemist Joseph Wilson Swan invented the first electric light bulb in 1860. • Incandescent lamp with a filament made from carbonized paper in a partial vacuum.

3. A Brief History • Swan’s original was quite dim, after substantial testing, in 1875 he then switched the filament to one of compressed and carbonized fibrous cotton thread. • In 1878 he had finished and demonstrated his final design (one year earlier before Edison).

4. Edison Takes Charge • Edison, independently chose the same textile for the filament in his light bulb, after he and his team of scientists had exhaustively tested 6000 alternative plant fibers from all over the world, before coming to the same conclusion as Swan; that indeed compressed carbonized fibrous cotton was the best.

5. Edison Takes Charge • Edison was already an accomplished inventor at this time, he had competent financial resources that allowed him to buy the patent from Swan’s company (not Swan himself). • Edison immensely improved upon the design, going from the first bulb he constructed in 1879 that lasted roughly 15 hours, to a 16 Watt bulb that lasted 1200 - 1500 hours in 1880.

6. Incandescents Today • Incandescent Light Bulbs work today by conducting a tungsten filament and heating it to temperatures of around 2300 degrees Celsius. • Once the filament reaches such temperatures it begins to glow emitting light, however only 5-10% of the electricity is converted into light. The rest is emitted as heat.

7. Incandescents Today • Conventional incandescent light bulbs emit quite a bit of ultraviolet light. Essentially wasting much of the energy used to power these bulbs, this is unusable light.

8. CFLs Today • Compact Fluorescents are made of glass tubes filled with an inert gas, typically argon kept under very low pressure and a small amount of mercury. Inside the glass is coated with phosphor powder. • CFLs have roughly 1% of the mercury that an old mercury thermometer would hold.

9. CFLs Today • The glass tube has two electrodes attached to it, one at each end. When voltage is applied to the electrodes, the gas will behave similar to a conductor, allowing electrons to flow through the gas from one end of the tube to the other. This electron flow will change some of the mercury from a liquid to a gas.

10. CFLs Today • As current flows through the tube, some of the electrons will collide with the gaseous mercury atoms. In a similar fashion to a laser, these collisions energize the electrons bumping them up to higher energy levels. As the electrons return to their original energy level, photons are released, emitting light (spontaneous emission).

11. CFLs Today • When the electrons in a mercury atom are excited they emit light primarily in the ultraviolet region. Our eyes obviously cannot see ultraviolet part of the spectrum, so this light must to be converted into visible light.

12. CFLs Today • Phosphors actually give off light when they are exposed to light. The photons given off from the energized mercury atoms excite the phosphor electrons to higher energy levels as well as heats them up. When the electron falls back to its original energy state another photon is produced. This photon has less energy as some is lost to heat. These photons emit white light in the visible spectrum.

13. CFLs Today • Manufacturers can vary the color of light by using different combinations of phosphors. • “Warm White” and “Cool White” are the two most popular colors. • “Warm White” was made to mimic the traditional incandescent.

14. Why CFLs? • Compact Fluorescents are far more energy efficient than traditional incandescents,a ratio of 50 to 70 lumens per watt compared to 10 to 17 lumens per watt for an incandescent. • CFLs save you money! If you replace 5 bulbs in your home with CFLs you are expected to save around $30 a year (depending on location and use). This means you will save the extra money spent on each bulb in under a year.

15. Why CFLs? • CFLs last at least 5 years, so you will have to replace them less often. • If CFLs burn out prior to 5 years you can get a new bulb from your retailer. • CFLs are the most environmentally friendly lighting option.

16. Why CFLs? • The United States could eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equal to 800,000 cars if each household in the country replaced just one incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb, according to Energy Star.

17. Energy Star • Energy Star is an international program that monitors and tests the safety and efficiency of electrical devices without compromising performance. • The Energy Star symbol is now prominent in Canada, coming on household appliances, consumer electronics and heating systems. • For companies to use the Energy Star their products must meet Energy Star’s strict regulations and guidelines.

18. CFLs in Canada • Canada had intended to ban the sale of all inefficient incandescent bulbs by 2012. • It will soon become illegal to import as well as purchase inefficient incandescent lighting across the country, the federal government approved the delay of new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs until Jan. 1, 2014.

19. CFLs in the Public • Traditional incandescents beginning to be banned in select countries all over the world. • Surprisingly most people are meeting the ban with outrage. • Common concerns with the public are delay time, mercury concerns as well as disposal and cleanup concerns.

20. Cons of CFLs • Mercury - CFLs all contain a small amount of mercury. If one was to break on your floor there are various ways you could go about cleaning it up, depending upon the surface the bulb broke on. • Disposal - It is illegal to throw away CFLs because of the mercury within the bulb. • CFLs do not handle power surges well • Some CFLs can only be used in cold temperatures, although some are still usable up to -30 degrees Celsius.

21. Cons of CFLs • Delay - CFLs that are not Energy Star qualified will have some delay in turning on, some reaching full brightness only after 15 minutes. If you choose an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, you are assured that it will turn on in less than a second, and reach at least 80% of full light output within 3 minutes. Additionally, most bare spiral CFL products will perform like incandescent light bulbs – they will turn on instantly and provide full brightness. Covered CFLs may take slightly longer to reach full brightness.

22. Cons of CFLs • CFLs emit a small amount of UV light as well as radio frequency radiation.

23. CFL Myths • CFLs will contribute to or intensify migraines • Since CFLs contain mercury they are extremely dangerous and as they reduce greenhouse gases will increase the mercury air pollution. • CFLs will increasing your heating bill (we ll discuss this a little later).

24. CFL Facts • CFLs give off the same amount of radio frequency radiation as a cell phone or portable computer. RFR has been known to cause fatigue, dizziness, ringing in the ears, eyestrain, even migraines. • If cell phones nor portable computers to not give you migraines, then there is no other medical evidence to verify that CFLs infact cause or intensify migraines. (quit being a baby)

25. CFL Facts • The amount of mercury you would be exposed to by a CFL bulb breaking is about the same amount as you would eating a tuna sandwich. • The main source of mercury air pollution in the U.S is electricity. CFLs use less electricity than incandescent lights, meaning CFLs reduce the amount of mercury into the environment.

26. CFL Facts • CFL bulbs are designed to be difficult to break. • a 13-watt, 8,000-rated-hour-life CFL (60-watt equivalent; a common light bulb type) will save 376 kWh over its lifetime, thus avoiding 4.3 mg of mercury. If the bulb goes to a landfill, overall emissions savings would drop a little, to 3.9 mg. EPA recommends that CFLs are recycled where possible, to maximize mercury savings.

28. CFL Facts • Because CFLs also help to reduce greenhouse gasses, other pollutants associated with electricity production, and landfill waste (because the bulbs last longer), they are clearly the environmental winner when compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs.

29. Incandescents Heating Up • People are running out of arguments for why incandescents should remain in circulation. • The only seemingly scientific argument is based upon heating. • Since Incandescent bulbs produce a fair amount of heat will it cost you more to heat your house with CFLs? • In a word; No.

30. Future Looks Dim for Incandescents • They are not efficient heaters. Incandescent bulbs are essentially electric resistance heaters. And because of the inefficiencies of producing electricity and transmission losses, even dedicated electric resistance heaters are far less efficient than using natural gas, propane or an air-source heat pump. • It is far more economical and environmental to heat your house via furnace, natural gas etc.

31. Future Looks Dim for Incandescents • They are not positioned where heaters should be. Heat travels upwards. And yet many, if not most, light bulbs are hanging from the ceiling. • Most of the heat would not diffuse very far from the bulb, without sufficient airflow the heat would be virtually unnoticed.

32. Future Looks Dim for Incandescents • You do not always need light when you need heat. • For the majority of the year we do not need light when we need heat, even in cooler climates. During hours when people are asleep, lights are rarely turned on, however keeping warm is obviously a necessity. • In hotter climates, air cooling systems are fairly common. Using incandescent bulbs people end up paying for there inefficient lighting, the heat it produces as well as the electricity to power the cooling system.

33. What’s next? • LEDs are the future or lighting technology. • Phillips LED roughly equivalent light to a 75 Watts bulb and only needs 17 Watts to do it. • Will cost roughly $2.05 a year (if on for 3 hours a day and charged 11 cents per kilowatt hour.) • Costs $40 a bulb upfront. • Suppose to last 22.8 years.

34. Conclusion • We hope we have en-lightened you. • In our opinion CFLs are definitely the clear choice both economically as well environmentally. • Thank you.

35. Any Questions?

36. References • http://www.earthsfriends.com/cfl-vs-incandescent • www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/.../change.../Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf • http://www.thehistoryof.net/the-history-of-the-light-bulb.html • http://home.howstuffworks.com/fluorescent-lamp2.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs • http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/business/manufacturers/11423 • http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20087668-54/side-by-side-led-cfl-and-incandescent-bulbs/ • http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=flickering-fallacy-cfl-bulb-headaches • http://www.treehugger.com/energy-efficiency/incandescent-bulbs-still-suck-why-bulb-heater-argument-falls-short.html