Tiny Pill-Sized Plasma Bulb is Brighter Than Streetlight
by Mike Chino
Luxim labs recently unveiled an incredibly energy efficient light bulb that packs more luminosity than a street lamp into a pill-sized form factor. Each bulb is filled with argon gas, which turns to plasma when electricity is focused through it. The energy is driven to the bulb without electrodes. The resulting light is intensely bright and mirrors the quality of light radiated by the sun, yet is produced by one of the smallest, most energy efficient light sources we’ve seen.
A substantial portion of energy is converted into light instead of heat, which makes the bulbs highly efficient. Each super-bulb produces a stunning 140 lumens per watt, doubling the output of high-end LEDs (70 lumens per watt) and leaving standard light bulbs in the dust (15 lumens per watt). While cost and longevity have yet to be released, these brilliant bulbs represent a bright future for energy efficient lighting.
Via crunchgear.com and switched.com
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LEDs have some ways to go in order to become commonly accepted as a replacement source for CFL technology. Their light is still unrefined, their electronic components often give out quickly, they produce limited light source best suited for task lighting, not general applications not to mention often prohibitive cost.
Currently we use a combination of CFL and LEDs in all the green homes we build. CFLs have become more reliable, their only drawback is rather limited design/architectural application since spiral or traditional incandescent look is bit on an unfashionable side. LEDs have a potential but as mentioned above they can’t really be used to replace CFL lights just yet. Also LED lumen per lumen output is not that much better than CFLs for 10 times the cost.