What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
You Are The Last-Minute Gift Master! (Guaranteed Win.) view!
bestbuy.com - This gift is never obsolete, everyone likes it and it's always in stock at the last minute...
103 Comments
- GreenLantern33, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21No individual raindrop ever considers itself as part of the flood. If everyone would do a little, together we would achieve a lot.
- phoenixsflame, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Uh... 1/10th on a Global Scale is really huge. If it was 1/10th of a city or metropolis... That would be small. But, on a global scale.
Consider this, if we as a global community use 500 Trillion Watt Hour's, and we trim that by 10%. That would mean we would reduce it by 50 Trillion Watt Hours... I mean seriously. If we convert that to a money base (Let's say A US Quarter per Watt Hour, I'm not sure what the cost is so I'm making it up.)
We're talking 1.25 Trillion Dollars.....
Uh... Yes Tiabin, on a Global Scale 1/10th is a HUGE deal, and the smaller percent's on the higher scales are the ones that matter.
Sure, it may cost 500 Billion Dollars to change all the light bulb's in the world. But, it would over the course of ten years save us Trillions upon Trillions of dollars.... - datagod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15What we need are light buckets. Fill them with light all day, use them at night. Or, using fiber optics, pump the light into any dark space as required.
It is ironic that we live in structures that block out the light, then we burn coal a thousand miles away to produce electricity only to convert most of that back into heat and a bit of light so we can see inside our dark structures.
The sun is free, lets use it.
Of course the whole light-bucket thing would require a bit of research... - spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14When I went to Walmart a few weeks ago they had a sign that said they were dimming the lights of every store by 30% which would save huge amounts of money and reduce pollution by a gigantic margin. I commend them for that! I could see just fine!
- SpaceDreamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13bulbs burn out rather qwickly anyway, so they could be all replaced whithin a few years...
if only efficient lights were available in all sizes and all types.
Last time I changed a bulb, I had to buy an inefficient one because others wouldn't fit. - Tiabin, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18Interesting, but is 1/10th really that much of a savings when you're talking about something of such a massive as changing all the lightbulbs in the world?
How much energy was used to create those inefficient lightbulbs, and how much would be used to meet the demands of manufacturing the bulds needed for the switch? I guess though the moral is still the same... Wait until the bulb burns out and move to something more efficient. But like the article said... The LED revolution is right around the corner, baby. :-) - SpaceDreamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12it is amazing how light bulbs are a very old and inefficient technology.
Basically, they are little electic ovens. They just heat up, and the light is only a by-product of the heat. - phoenixsflame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Hey Tweak, the problem isn't with the LED themselves. It's the housing around them. If you have a refractory lighting source, (Flash Light) It will be harsher, however if you have an LED Through a difusing material (Such as tinted glass) the light itself becomes much more relaxing. I have a modded lamp in my living room that uses an LED With a diffusing frosted yellow glass cover to simulate sun light. Work's great, and I've used it for two years and it's still going strong. ( I think I'll have to replace it soon... But... Hey, I like it. I basically combined two flashlights to make it.
- rodan32, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10And that was absolutely the NICEST political exchange I've ever read on Digg. Props to you guys!
- pbuschma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10If the US Government was to spend only $1b (ie 1/300th of the cost of Irag) on sending every home in america about 7 energy efficient light bulbs the gasoline price, carbon emissions and energy shotages (all three very important topics) would be impacted positively. Just think about that for a light-second!
- jinexile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I think proper semantics is "No individual raindrop considers itself cause of the flood." I'm pretty certain it would consider itself part of the flood if it was indeed sentient.
- tedc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7By my count, 5:
1 to post an article on light bulbs.
1 to cry "Dupe! Light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison ages ago, and there have been countless articles on it already."
1 British digger to complain, "Er...don't you mean Joseph Swan?"
1 to insist, "No dupe. Compact fluorescent is a new tech."
1 to end discussion with a pithy comment about finally "seeing the light" and changing the bulb. - krisper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Although the threaded base of the new efficient bulbs fits a standard bulb socket, some of the new bulbs are too long to fit in some conventional appliances, like stove range hoods, and so far as I know, you can't get low wattage versions (for nightlights, fridges etc) Otherwise, we use them everywhere we can. They give off a nice warm light, and they last for years, and make a noticeable dent in our hydro bill. I think the original cost is what throws people off. People are suckers for the false economy of something that's cheap at the point of purchase, like old-fashioned bulbs. But then I guess that's the reason we're in this mess to begin with.
- ScottMitchell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@ Radiant:
I agree wholeheartedly with you. However, I also question whether it's the government's role to be meddling in Iraq. A government's duty is to protect the state, sure, but how, exactly, were we threatened by Iraq? (Remember, it was bin Laden who master minded 9/11, not Iraq. Moreover, had we kept our noses out of that place in the world, 9/11 would never had happened in the first place.) - neko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6If water is sentient then we are horrible, horrible people.
- valkraider, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Easybake.
- jccalhoun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The best thing to do it TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS. I'm amazed when I go to some people's houses and they seem to have every light in the house on. Of course offices are the worst offenders here. I can't tell you how many times I've came into the office on a Saturday morning to see the lights in the hall on, turned them off only to have someone come in turn them on, grad something from their office and leave without turning the lights back off.
- jccalhoun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5for nightlights you can use electroluminescent lighting (like the kind here http://www.nolico.com/saveenergy/led_night_light.htm ) The common name for them is Indiglo which is Timex's brand name for the tech. They claim they only take pennies a year to run.
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4what do you do about all the mercury when people's CFL are being thrown in the garbage?
there are no easy answers to big problems like energy and the environment. - Halodude1489, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yep ive seen this for years.. Something as simple as using florecent light bulbs will make your power bill go down a lot or alittle depending on how many lights you have in your house or how long you leave them on. But I can only amagine how much wattage those street lamps use and im guessing the tens of thousands of them alone add up..
- ccrook, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7@Scott
The US's role as a world power is not what is typical of any other government. Protecting US interests is important as protecting the physical state itself. Acting otherwise isn't rational.
The US stepped beyond protecting its own citizens long before Iraq (removing a dictator). See: Kuwait, Kosovo, etc.
It's been a long time since the US's position has been to simply protect its citizens. - kaygee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5People change their light bulbs all the time...This would actually result in less bulb-changing, in the long run.
- dwoloz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yep thats my problem
My apartment runs all CCFL bulbs except a lamp that uses 4 G type bulbs which ive never found an energy efficient version of - XenonofArcticus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm about as tree-hugger as you can get, and still I can't bring myself to switch to CFL bulbs. I hate them. The spectrum is bad, the illumination as a whole feels nasty, and they do make a bit of a noise sometimes (not too many people hear it). I'd love to switch to something better, but not at the cost of feeling miserable in my home. Sorry. I'll find other ways to conserve. Maybe LEDs will save us.
- RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6It isn't the government's job to provide everyone with free lightbulbs. CFLs are a market-based solution and eventually everyone will be using them, without the need for government to get involved.
- lokoluis15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3How many Diggers does it take to change a light bulb?
- jinexile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it's ok because water isn't cute
- greves, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A light-second is a distance. The distance light travels in one second. Just thought you might wanna know ;)
- cubey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Anybody else think incandescent lighting just looks better? I bought a CFL and screwed it in and immediately hated the harshness. Couldn't deal.
- dotorg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3enigmatics: dimmers haven't worked that way in a LONG time.
For what its worth. - CMfly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why do they even sell inefficient bulbs anymore?
- blackb0x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's not -15 in most of the country
especially this time of year. - trigger0219, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.llnl.gov/str/Lee.html
explains some of the many uses of QDs... enjoy! - DiamondIce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Six years ago I changed all the bulbs in my house to CFL bulbs (Compact Fluorescent), even if we ignore the fact that I haven't had to change a light bulb since, the energy savings alone were enough to make it worth while. I wound up saving something like $10 CDN a month on my electric bill. Now that may not sound like much but with the cost of gas the way it is I'm glad I have it.
- valkraider, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No kidding!
We have a copy room here. It is maybe 10 feet by 10 feet. It has two light fixtures with 4 flourescent bulbs each in the room, each wired to it's own switch. People always turn on BOTH lights, and they leave it on weekends and nights. I *always* turn off one of the lights - and you can't even tell the difference in light volume in the small room... If I stay later than others in the office I make sure lights are all turned off when I leave...
In my office I only use 1 of the three lights (again they each have their own switch). More than enough light - but some people insist on using all three all the time! - thegline, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All my household bulbs are now green bulbs and have been for some time. GreenDigg++
Now I just need to replace my desktop display with something a little less energy-guzzling... - scottkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have replaced my outside lights with CFLs (8 total), so my energy usage went from 8 x 60w = 480w to 8 x 15w = 120w. I leave my lights on from about 7p to 11p, so every month (30 day month), saves me 43,200w per month. At an average rate of .08/Kwh, CFLs save me about $3.47/month = $41.47/yr. I am in the process of replacing all my interior lights as the incandescents burn out. So far, I have replaced 13 60w bulbs with 10 15w CFLs which has saved me another $72/year (assume 4 hours on for each light). so..for an additional $113/yr, I am glad I am going green!
- Inigo_Montoya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1phoenixsflame: "Consider this, if we as a global community use 500 Trillion Watt Hour's, and we trim that by 10%. That would mean we would reduce it by 50 Trillion Watt Hours... I mean seriously. If we convert that to a money base (Let's say A US Quarter per Watt Hour, I'm not sure what the cost is so I'm making it up.)
We're talking 1.25 Trillion Dollars....."
Your math is off by an order of magnitude. Power is billed in kilowatt-hours, and the average price in the US is about $.10/kWh. A 50 trillion-watt-hour savings would reduced the world's electric bill by about $5 billion - still a lot, but no where near the total you came up with. - trigger0219, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What I'd really like to see come to fruition is the use of Quantum Dots in the appliaction of lighting. They've succesfully made highly effiecent dots that when a laser is attached can produce white light (for awhile it was only a short spectrum of colors, and not pure white). The production of these dots is cheap and quick (i remember the research lab made them in under 2 hours, most likely lower, i don't know where the article is, but it came from sciencedaily.com). The energy effiecency is also spectacular, almost 100% energy->light, thus barely any heat.
About LED lighting, RPI (NY), had a research paper a few years back about using them in the home, they've successfully made LEDS bright enough for this application, though i haven't heard anything since. - Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Saving electricity is probably just going to mean that one can leave more stuff on, because it uses less. A real electricity saver would be that someone just calculates how much a single person requires, how much a household of 4 requires, etc. and taxes everything 10% above this very heavy.
Then people will change. - Nelm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It doesn't give any numbers other than the 30% but apparently shows LCD being cooler and more efficient.
Nelm
http://www.plasmageeks.com/plasmatvvslcdtv/
Power consumption
Again LCD
TV have this advantage over plasma TV. Power consumption for LCD TV is 30%
less than plasma TV. With rising oil prices, maybe it is better to get an LCD
TV. Further more, plasma TV generate more heat and if you live in an
airconditioned home, the air con usage will definitely rise too. - lroche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This technology has been around for years now and the bulbs really do save you money. And they last around 10 years.
- tablatronix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What ever happened to sulfur lighting ?
- jonesin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have over 18 compact flouros that I bought bulk at cosco, they're spread all through the house. I love it, my electric bill is noticeably cheaper and you never have to change them.
- vikingcoder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Full Spectrum CFL bulbs
CRI or Color Rendering Index is 93, comparable to mid-day sun
http://store.sundancesolar.com/sufuspcoflbu.html - tedc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have replaced most of the bulbs around the house where it is practical to do so. There are certain fixtures (e.g. in the chandelier) that are incompatible, and I find CFLs don't work great on a dimmer (even the so-called "dimmable" ones). Newer CFLs cost less and the light quality has improved over the first generation, which is what prompted me to switch. In addition to the direct 75% power savings, I wonder if the fact that they run nowhere near as hot as incandescents will have a measureable effect on central A/C costs?
What I'd love to see next on digg would be an article comparing different TV technologies in terms of power consumption. I imagine CRTs and plasmas are power hogs compared to say LCDs, but what about DLP and so on? - trigger0219, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here is the ScienceDaily article i mention...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051021123902.htm - h4lofourt33n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've actually intsalled a couple of these in my house. Truth be told, they're sort of creepy. What used to be generous lighting was dimmed out by the fluorescent bulb. It may have been because they weren't the most expensive brand, however, if I were to do an experiment to see which bulb was the brightest, I might be able to give more information. The upside however is that this style of lightbulb lasts FOREVER. I think the age until deceased was approximately two years after the install date. Pretty good compared to a few weeks with a standard bulb.
- adnk283, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Energy efficient bulbs are a great idea, and should be used wherever possible.
People thinking of switching to compact fluorescent lights, or just wanting more information on them, should check out this post on the Guide to Green Living.
http://guidetogreenliving.blogspot.com/2006/06/feature-compact-fluorescent-lights.html - blackb0x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lowes/HomeDepot usually has them 5 for $8 for the 60watt equivilent.
SamsClub has a thing of 8 of them for like $7 or so. -
Show 51 - 100 of 103 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is