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HID and MH lamps are absent from interior lighting!

Hi:

Every once in a while I get interested in HID and metal-halide (MH) lighting systems. My recent spurt of interest was triggered by the possiblity that I might get to acquire a xenon short-arc lamp for my job. Oh will that be fun! But I have learned that there is almost no way that xenon short arcs to be attractive for consumer lighting. They aren't even particularly efficient. Just have the closest approximation to a white light point source.

But I have often wanted to get my paws on a miniature HID (automobile or smaller size) for portable or task/desk lighting use.

Yesterday I discovered this:

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The I found a portable dive light employing the 10W Solarc device very reasonably priced compared to the component prices from WelchAllen:

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This is truly the coolest flashlight I have ever seen. A must have!

But I am surprized at the lack of small HID or MH lamp fixtures for interior lighting.

I will continue looking for a small HID/MH desk lamp or table lamp, or other interior fixture.

Heh, heh, when I was a kid I came across both a 50W HP sodium and a 175W mercury vapor lamp fixture. I took them apart and then used to run them completely open. That is, no enclosure around the ballast transformers; the Hg lamp would stand up on its own on a table on the ballast core, and the Na lamp I put into a ceramic wall mount socket a few inches from the ballast that I could station somewhere on top of a bookcase.

Man did those things light up the room! And the combined Na+Hg made for a decent color balance.

Good day!

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Christopher R. Carlen
crobc@bogus-remove-me.sbcglobal.net
SuSE 9.1 Linux 2.6.5
Reply to
Chris Carlen
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IIRR Bosch is selling arc lamp based car headlights. A quick google produced this

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They are strictly for top of the range cars, because they aren't cheap. One of my old friends apparently developed the system at EMI Central Research (after it became a contact research organisation) and he was rather proud of the electronics.

---------- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

Reply to
bill.sloman

What is it you are trying to ask?

They do have an outer glass envelope of course.

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Christopher R. Carlen
crobc@bogus-remove-me.sbcglobal.net
SuSE 9.1 Linux 2.6.5
Reply to
Chris Carlen

1550lm,

running

There's glass, and there's glass. Fused quartz glass is almost transparent deep into UV wavelengths.

Reply to
Richard Henry

Lets compare: a halogen front light in cars uses 55W and produces 1550lm, which is 28 lm/W a HID mercury lamp for the same application has 43W(with ballast) and is good for 3000lm, which is almost 70lm/W. Why do you think this isn't particulary efficient? (Source Osram)

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Hopefully the UV radiation at 234nm has not damaged your eyes when running the lamp without glass filter.

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ciao Ban
Bordighera, Italy
Reply to
Ban

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Ask this question of the folks over on sci.engr.lighting

Its possible that such discharge lamps become less efficient and/or more expensive per lumen as their outputs are reduced to sizes appropriate for interior lighting (typical residential or office).

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Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
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I used to get high on life but lately I\'ve built up a resistance.
Reply to
Paul Hovnanian P.E.

Almost all commercial arc lighting bulbs with screw-in bases have glass outer envelopes. It's the inner arc-tube which is fused-silica. The outer envelope makes it safe. Running it without the outer envelope would expose one to dangerous UV.

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_____________________
Christopher R. Carlen
crobc@bogus-remove-me.sbcglobal.net
SuSE 9.1 Linux 2.6.5
Reply to
Chris Carlen

Yes, the Philips line I have found as well. That 20W CDM-T is really neat. Now I just need to find some decent priced fixtures in USA.

Good day!

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_____________________
Christopher R. Carlen
crobc@bogus-remove-me.sbcglobal.net
SuSE 9.1 Linux 2.6.5
Reply to
Chris Carlen

Yes, actually that is true, with the 10W HID lamps at about 45 lumens/watt which is where LEDs are these days, and quite below larger MH/HID lighting in the 35W and up sizes. The 35W seems to be the breakpoint below which efficiency drops. 10W is about the practical lower limit of usefulness.

Thanks for the tip. I forgot about that group.

Good day!

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_____________________
Christopher R. Carlen
crobc@bogus-remove-me.sbcglobal.net
SuSE 9.1 Linux 2.6.5
Reply to
Chris Carlen

They are available. For example, look on

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Often used for store lighting. Available colors seem to be 830 and 942, bulbs cost around 25 euro and the luminaires from 100.

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Philips cdm-t seems the used bulb here. Mind the warmup and re-strike timings though.

If you have a big room - but garden lighting seems a natural to me.

Thomas

Reply to
Zak

Not to mention more fragile. The temperatures need to be quite high, so to avoid excessive losses through the electrode wires, you need them to be very thin - which means there is a compromise between robustness and efficiency.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

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Experimenter reproduces GW Lucalux lamps spectrum.

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JosephKK
Reply to
JosephKK

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