Energy Conservation Tip

**Proletariat** · 10-02-2005, 21:17

Interesting tip. Will check it out next time I'm replacing bulbs.

**OlafTheBrave** · 10-02-2005, 22:48

I will back this one up as it is something I did a few years back. I didn't do it so much for the energy savings but I simply got tired of buying lightbulbs all the time. For some reason at my previous residence incandescents would just not last long at all. I think so far I have had two bulbs out of six that were about six years old burn out. Which is great considering my normal bulbs were lasting about 2 monts or so.

**Crazed Rabbit** · 10-02-2005, 22:55

Thanks for the recommendations.

Cut back on outdoor lighting. 90% of it is simply a waste. Dusk to dawn lighting is my arch nemesis as an amateur astronomer, as much of it simply projects unwanted light into the night sky.

The man speaks truth! Nothing is more irksome than the huge amount of light pollution ruining our night skies. The moon is bad enough. Vist http://www.darksky.org/ for more info.

Crazed Rabbit

**Xiahou** · 10-03-2005, 02:31

Good ideas, RH. I'd known they saved energy, but never did the math on it. The heat levels in my claustrophobic PC room is something I can definitely relate to.

Do they, by chance, make 2 or 3 stage spirals?

**Red Harvest** · 10-03-2005, 02:49

Originally Posted by Xiahou

Good ideas, RH. I'd known they saved energy, but never did the math on it. The heat levels in my claustrophobic PC room is something I can definitely relate to.

Do they, by chance, make 2 or 3 stage spirals?

I'm pretty sure I've seen some 3 ways. The top setting for 3 ways is like 150 Watts if memory serves (for a standard incandescent.) As you go up in voltage on the spiral compact fluorescents, the length and radius of the spiral tube gets larger. The 60 W equivalents were rather small, the 100's are about the same size as a standard bulb (but with the spiral sticking out maybe 1/4" farther on the ends) but the 150's were fairly large. I suppose they get a given luminescense per inch of spiral length, which requires finding ways to squeeze more tube length in a given geometry (increase radius, and/or numbers of turns.)

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 10-03-2005, 03:26

OUtdoor bulbs do have shorter service lives. They also tend to be left on for longer stretches.

I liked the tip about shadows. I remember playing flashlight tag as a kid and hiding in plain sight a few times that way. You were always a better hunter if you covered the light and used it only for "tagging," otherwise your vision was nerfed.

Seamus

**Red Harvest** · 10-03-2005, 04:51

Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh

I liked the tip about shadows. I remember playing flashlight tag as a kid and hiding in plain sight a few times that way. You were always a better hunter if you covered the light and used it only for "tagging," otherwise your vision was nerfed.

Seamus

If you hunt right, they won't see you either as long as you leave the light off and know how to move silently without russling leaves, etc. It's easier to hunt humans when they can't see you. You don't want to do what my brother did though. He ran up onto some resting cattle that he thought was a person hiding. Talk about a stampede! The rest of us had to tuck behind trees for cover as the herd ran by.

One thing you need to do when you are trying to see something in the dark, breathe! If you hold your breath, your night vision fades until you breath again. This is important for astronomy, as you get to concentrating on an object and hold your breath at times as you adjust focus or move the field, etc. If you take a few full breaths you can see more of dim objects. Also, use averted vision. Your highest visual acuity is not at the center of the field but slightly offset. It takes some practice to find the sweetspot.

**Red Harvest** · 10-03-2005, 02:31

Originally Posted by OlafTheBrave

I will back this one up as it is something I did a few years back. I didn't do it so much for the energy savings but I simply got tired of buying lightbulbs all the time. For some reason at my previous residence incandescents would just not last long at all. I think so far I have had two bulbs out of six that were about six years old burn out. Which is great considering my normal bulbs were lasting about 2 monts or so.

One thing I've seen burn out standard bulbs out really fast is cold temps. It's almost like the filaments go through some sort of transition zone temperature wise that makes them brittle. The heating/cooling cycle must be hard on them. When flipping on lights in sheds, barns, or homes that are at or below freezing, I've found the bulbs tend to have very short lives.

Another thing that can get you is if the voltage to the house is varying a lot. I had some problems with the service wiring in a house once, the voltage would swing around over a range of about 5 volts at times, particularly when the washing machine was running. The lights were dimming and brightening in cycle with it. Couldn't have been good for them, as I changed out quite a few bulbs.