Does anyone recall those power saving "discs" for light bulbs they were selling back during the oil embargo days of the 70's. The disc was placed in a standard light bulb fixture and the light bulb was screwed in next. The disc was nothing more than a diode that "saved energy" by blocking power to the bulb for half of each cycle.
Is anyone still making these things? If so, where can I buy them?
Why would you want one? They save very little energy and greatly reduce the efficiency of the bulb. If you want to save power, get a compact fluorescent or use a lower wattage bulb. You'll obtain superior results with either.
Oh, yeah, those things!
I think they've gone seriously out of favor for several reasons. Somebody probably makes them but I don't think I've seen one in a store in over a decade.
Disadvantages;
- They make the filament run significantly cooler, which both reduces the absolute light output and shifts the peak of the bulb's spectrum further towards the infra-red. I suspect that they actually *decrease* energy efficiency, in that you get less useful lumens-per-watt, because less of the filament's output is in the portions of the spectrum to which the human eye is sensitive. You're better off just buying a lower-wattage light bulb, or (better yet) a compact fluorescent.
- They'll probably kill off halogen bulbs fairly quickly - dimming halogen bulbs and reducing the filament temperature interferes with the tungsten/halogen sequestration/redeposition cycle, and the filaments burn out more quickly than they need to.
- By half-wave-rectifying the current on the line, they'll be creating some fairly severe harmonic currents on the mains. This results in additional losses in the power distribution system. The utility providers *hate* harmonic currents.
- Similarly, by placing a half-wave-rectifying load on the circuit, they'll have the effect of creating some amount of DC offset of the voltage on the circuit. This is likely to cause buzzing of any consumer-electronics device containing a toroidal power transformer (e.g. some audio amps).
- I have a vague recollection that these discs were reported to have caused overheating or fires... I'm not sure under what conditions.
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I think I once read somewhere many years ago some of those gadgets shorted out and caused some fires.I use G.E.Reveal incandescent light bulbs, except in my kitchen and my bathroom where I use one flourescent light in each of those two rooms.I never turn those two lights off. cuhulin
A complete waste of time for all the reasons given by other posters.
Use CFLs or a lower wattage incandescent bulb.
Graham
HeHeHe.... Well, in a fixture with two sockets, put bulb saver thingies in with opposite polarity. :)
So, your two 100 W bulbs will use only perhaps 150 W of electrical power and produce a total light output equivalent to a single 100 W bulb. :)
(All calculations very approximate!)
The entire idea of extending bulb life is ridiculous for incandescents unless they are hard to reach for replacement.
The cost of the bulbs is minimal. It's the power to run them over their life that dominates. So, efficiency ends up becomming much more important than life in most cases.
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Aren't Reveal just hugely overpriced incandescnets??? :) Maybe they last a bit longer but so what?
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Some people like the light they put out. Here's GE's own claim:
"What Makes GE Reveal Bulbs Different
GE Reveal bulbs make colors "pop" in a way they don't with standard incandescent bulbs.
Why? The rare earth element neodymium that's in the glass. (It's what gives these bulbs their distinctive blue color when unlit.) When these bulbs are lit, the neodymium provides a pure, clean light by filtering out much of the dulling yellow cast common from ordinary light bulbs."
Oops. I should have revealed my ulterior motive. My daughter's mother-in-law has an outside light fixture that eats incandescent bulbs for some reason. I measured the voltage and found that it was 123 volts. No other fixtures in the house eat bulbs like this one does. My wild guess is that the house wiring (relatively new abode) may be miswired or defective in some strange way. Would rather not spend a lot of time tracing it out while possibly damaging the wallboard and such.
She uses a low wattage bulb in the fixture. My thinking was to use one of the disc thingies in the fixture with a higher wattage bulb. Perhaps the diode would save the bulb from a peculiar voltage surge if that indeed is what is happening. Just trying to find an quick, easy, and lazy way out.
Thanks for your valuable comments.
I use CFL's. My outside lamp is on continious for at least 1.5 years. I don't turn it off. I have 4 inside I never turn off. I just bought a 75 ot 100 watt CFL equiv. at The Home Depot and its burned out allready in less than 1 week, but thats not normal for me. These high color temp bulbs are amazing but may run hotter.
I think lamp dimmers help extend incandescents life.
The blued incadescents lamps have less Lumens output.
greg
I have/had some halogen 120 VAC bulbs that had a built in diode - in the base of the lamp.
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Nothing in the house wiring could cause that issue, though 123V is a tad on the high side. Thermal issues in the fixture, vibration, or usage patterns affect lamp life. You can also get long life bulbs rated 130V which will probably solve your problem. Why not use a compact fluorescent though? I use them in all my exterior lights, most are on dusk till dawn and I get about 2 years out of the bulbs.
You could always wire a diode into the switch and make it a three position - did that for the reading light over my bed.
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You may have a significant-to-serious safety issue there... either a misconfigured transformer at the street (sending too high a voltage to the house) or an "open neutral" somewhere. I'd recommend checking other outlets for voltage... if the voltages are high, or (especially) if they go *up* if you turn on heavy loads elsewhere in the hours, get a competent electrician and/or the power company on the issue, stat.
An open/loose neutral can lead to serious voltage fluctuations which can burn out or damage appliance motors, or even raise the risk of an electrical fire. My utility (PG&E) apparently considers any report of high/low voltage in the house to be a situation requiring an urgent response.
If you really do want to just deal with the light-bulb-burnout issue, go to a well-stocked bulb supplier (rather than a local hardware store) and ask for a "130-volt bulb". These are specifically designed to run on a slightly-higher-than-usual voltage, and on normal line voltage they run a bit dim and cool and with a greatly extended lifetime. They're often used in outdoor and remotely-located fixtures, where bulb replacement is difficult or expensive to perform.
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He didn't say anything about fluctuations. 123V is a little high, but not unusual. One place I lived the voltage was regularly around 124V. I wouldn't worry about it unless it was changing significantly, not balanced between phases, or going outside the 115-125V range.
If it's the same as my house, it's probably the vibration from people slamming the door. Mine is mounted on the outside house wall right next to the front door and regular incandescents wouldn't last very long. The CFL I have out there now is past the normal life span already.
WT
If some outlets read higher than others you probably have a problem with the neutral connection. Either in the breaker box, or out by the transformer. Either way, it needs fixed before it opens completely. Even worse, you could have an electrical fire.
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I've seen a lot of 130 Volt bulbs at some of the dollar stores, too.
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Sam, I dont think G.E.Reveal light bulbs last any longer than any other regular incandesecent light bulbs.But, in my opinion the light G.E.Reveal light bulbs put out a more natural light.I buy them at the Wal Mart store. cuhulin
You could just increase the filament temperature a little and get the same effect. But then, they couldn't advertise a high priced lamp.
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