Compact Fluorescent Vs

Incandescent Bulbs

By Duncan Jones and Chad Holst

 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.
 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).
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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).
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 Cons of CFLs
• CFLs emit a small amount of UV light as well as
radio frequency radiation.
 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).
 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)
 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.
 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.
 QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 Conclusion
• We hope we have en-lightened you.
• In our opinion CFLs are definitely the clear
choice both economically as well
environmentally.
• Thank you.
Any Questions?
 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