The submarine's body may be constructed from drainage pipes and the hatch from a recycled skylight, but according to its 18-year-old inventor, this single-person U-boat can plunge to a depth of 30 feet and has already completed three successful dives.
The Nautilus took high school inventor Justin Beckerman just six months and $2,000 to put together -- all while keeping on top of his homework.
"He has been building things since he was two years old," says his mother, Jess Beckerman. "If we tried to help him we would just get in the way and mess things up."
The submarine has ballast tanks to maintain its depth and equilibrium; air vents that bring oxygen down from the surface; a functioning PA and a range of emergency systems including back-up batteries, a siren, strobe lights, a breathing apparatus and a pump to fight leaks. The vessel can remain submerged for up to two hours and travels beneath the waves at one and a half miles per hour.
Beckerman says he is going to use it to "explore the lake, see fish and hopefully find a bit of history, like the cannons from my neighbors' historic house" that, he says, were dumped in the lake during renovations in the 1960s.
When he was younger, Beckerman began by making things out of balloons and string, but as the years went by his inventions grew in scale and complexity. At the age of 12, instead of complaining about having to help with the housework, he developed a remote-controlled car that could mop and vacuum.
Beckerman's website is a testament to his enormous productivity. It is a menagerie of home-constructed machines including boats, planes, architectural constructions, and prize-winning robots.
The materials he uses in his creations are often technological cast-offs from family and friends, or garbage scavenged from electronics recycling facilities. The Nautilus has regulators and pressure gauges from an old restaurant soda fountain that Beckerman found behind a shopping center. The two main batteries are from a child's ride-on toy, and its PA speakers are made from an old car stereo.
Beckerman says he decided to build the submarine because "I wanted to see if I could do it. It combined so many different aspects of things that I had worked on in the past." The Nautilus has the most ambitious wiring system Beckerman has installed since he constructed his tree fort -- a veritable forest castle that puts all other tree forts to shame.
Armed with more modern conveniences than many proper homes, the fort has a TV, wall-mounted speakers, desktop computer, air conditioning, shelving, and fluorescent lights. "It has everything a house should have," says Beckerman, "except a refrigerator and a bathroom."
The Nautilus is not Beckerman's first submarine. In fact, it is his fourth. The previous iteration could dive to five feet, but had a less sturdy frame constructed from plastic containers and duct tape. It was propelled by two motor scooter engines, connected to metal blades and two 12v batteries.
"I had an idea of how I wanted to sit. I realized that lying down would make the sub more streamlined -- so the drainage pipes seemed a natural fit," he said. But sacrifices to the original design had to be made along the way.
"The ballast tanks were originally going to be air tanks, but they were just too expensive. If I could have learned how to weld I would have made the whole thing out of metal. But that might be for the next one."
2013年5月29日星期三
2013年5月28日星期二
Where Food Grows on Walls and Windowsills
Some apartment-dwellers are greening up their living space by growing some of their own food indoors. The most determined have found it possible to grow a salad’s worth of kale, microgreens, tomatoes and peppers along windowsills and light-filled walls.
Making it easier are vertical planters, hydroponic systems and dedicated grow lights that run on timers. “Everybody is getting a little bit more ambitious about what it is that they want to grow,” says Britta Riley, founder of Windowfarms, a maker of vertical, self-watering hydroponic garden systems based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Ms. Riley started the company in 2011 after she set out to create an indoor vegetable garden in her own fifth-floor apartment and found she had to build one from scratch. Prices for the system, which can hang from a windowsill or sit on a shelf, start at $199.
Figuring out what grows best takes experimentation. It’s easiest to stick to smaller-size vegetables like cherry tomatoes and jalapenos. Kale, Swiss chard, spinach and some lettuce varietals often do well in apartments. Peas and basil thrive in a warm environment with moderate sun, but strawberries, cherry tomatoes and peppers require full, warm sun. Vine plants also require a structure to grow onto as they climb.
Veggies that don’t require deep soil, such as radishes, can work. Even citrus fruits like lemons can grow inside. Some root vegetables, including beets or potatoes, call for large amounts of soil and are best avoided.
Many indoor gardeners rely on hydroponics, growing plants without soil using nutrient solution and water. Unless they live in a greenhouse, many indoor gardeners decide to adopt some form of artificial lighting.
For most vegetables, even a sunny windowsill requires extra light, says Nate Storey, co-founder of Laramie, Wyo.-based Bright Agrotech, which sells hydroponic towers for both indoor and outdoor use. Some lighting systems rotate automatically to provide direct light to more plants. Light-emitting diode lamps are a good bet because they use little electricity and don’t generate heat.
Some companies have started marketing LED and low-heat fluorescent lighting systems that were originally developed for indoor marijuana cultivation. “The larger market opportunity is folks growing lettuce in their kitchen,” Mr. Storey says.
Towers are a space-efficient way for consumers to garden and maximize sunlight. An added benefit is that the vertical orientation lets water drain more easily.
Vertical herb planters now come in appealing finishes with upscale materials like copper and chalkboard. “It’s almost as if you’re hanging a piece of art,” says Allison O’Connor, vice president of merchandising at Williams-Sonoma Inc., which plans to double the amount of indoor gardening merchandise offered in its agrarian section by September. A vertical planter with a copper finish has 10 planting cells to accommodate herbs and costs $189.
At IKEA, the Socker mini-greenhouse, a $19.99 glass box with a vented top useful for sprouting seeds or growing other small container plants, is especially popular with apartment dwellers, says Janice Simonsen, IKEA’s design spokeswoman.
IKEA has expanded its indoor gardening inventory after introducing an indoor seed kit four years ago and is developing a line of pots and plant stands meant for small urban spaces, she says.
Growing her own greens has helped get her 2- and 4-year-olds interested in vegetables. She likes gardening in a design-conscious way. “Using recycled bottles just looks terrible,” she says.
Start by claiming the best-lit windowsill space, or an area in the home with plenty of artificial light. Mint, parsley and sprouts can survive without full sun on a kitchen island. Most vegetables need plenty of light—more than can be provided by a standard-size window.
Making it easier are vertical planters, hydroponic systems and dedicated grow lights that run on timers. “Everybody is getting a little bit more ambitious about what it is that they want to grow,” says Britta Riley, founder of Windowfarms, a maker of vertical, self-watering hydroponic garden systems based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Ms. Riley started the company in 2011 after she set out to create an indoor vegetable garden in her own fifth-floor apartment and found she had to build one from scratch. Prices for the system, which can hang from a windowsill or sit on a shelf, start at $199.
Figuring out what grows best takes experimentation. It’s easiest to stick to smaller-size vegetables like cherry tomatoes and jalapenos. Kale, Swiss chard, spinach and some lettuce varietals often do well in apartments. Peas and basil thrive in a warm environment with moderate sun, but strawberries, cherry tomatoes and peppers require full, warm sun. Vine plants also require a structure to grow onto as they climb.
Veggies that don’t require deep soil, such as radishes, can work. Even citrus fruits like lemons can grow inside. Some root vegetables, including beets or potatoes, call for large amounts of soil and are best avoided.
Many indoor gardeners rely on hydroponics, growing plants without soil using nutrient solution and water. Unless they live in a greenhouse, many indoor gardeners decide to adopt some form of artificial lighting.
For most vegetables, even a sunny windowsill requires extra light, says Nate Storey, co-founder of Laramie, Wyo.-based Bright Agrotech, which sells hydroponic towers for both indoor and outdoor use. Some lighting systems rotate automatically to provide direct light to more plants. Light-emitting diode lamps are a good bet because they use little electricity and don’t generate heat.
Some companies have started marketing LED and low-heat fluorescent lighting systems that were originally developed for indoor marijuana cultivation. “The larger market opportunity is folks growing lettuce in their kitchen,” Mr. Storey says.
Towers are a space-efficient way for consumers to garden and maximize sunlight. An added benefit is that the vertical orientation lets water drain more easily.
Vertical herb planters now come in appealing finishes with upscale materials like copper and chalkboard. “It’s almost as if you’re hanging a piece of art,” says Allison O’Connor, vice president of merchandising at Williams-Sonoma Inc., which plans to double the amount of indoor gardening merchandise offered in its agrarian section by September. A vertical planter with a copper finish has 10 planting cells to accommodate herbs and costs $189.
At IKEA, the Socker mini-greenhouse, a $19.99 glass box with a vented top useful for sprouting seeds or growing other small container plants, is especially popular with apartment dwellers, says Janice Simonsen, IKEA’s design spokeswoman.
IKEA has expanded its indoor gardening inventory after introducing an indoor seed kit four years ago and is developing a line of pots and plant stands meant for small urban spaces, she says.
Growing her own greens has helped get her 2- and 4-year-olds interested in vegetables. She likes gardening in a design-conscious way. “Using recycled bottles just looks terrible,” she says.
Start by claiming the best-lit windowsill space, or an area in the home with plenty of artificial light. Mint, parsley and sprouts can survive without full sun on a kitchen island. Most vegetables need plenty of light—more than can be provided by a standard-size window.
2013年5月19日星期日
Thumbs up for sanitisation campaign
ONE year after, the Director General of the Oyo State Signage and
Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), Yinka Adepoju, has scored its agency
performance as near excellent.
In a statement to commemorate the first anniversary of the agency, Adepoju, who praised the Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi for establishing the agency and giving it the necessary support, stated that the agency is not only fulfilling the purpose for which it was set up, but also taking on vision.
“On a personal note, let me commend our God chosen leader, the people’s governor for the tremendous success recorded so far in his administration’s Transformation, Restoration and Repositioning agenda. You are a light to many of us, please keep the light always shining.
“For us at Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), I make bold to say that Oyo State is well on its way to achieving environmental standards and best practices, a novel trend which other states are already emulating.”
He said that in the one year existence of the regulatory outfit, it has successfully cleaned up the major routes in Ibadan ditto Oyo and Ogbomoso by removing sub standard, dilapidated, dangerously and badly positioned billboards.
“These cities are now clean, very calm and wearing new looks. We hope to replicate this in other major towns of the state especially now that the State Government has graciously approved for our Agency new set of operation equipment. This development has positively enhanced our performance level.”
He listed the achievement of the agency to include registration of outdoor practitioners in line with agreed categories; regularization of 1st Party and 3rd Party structures and removal of illegal boards and structures; creation of an outdoor advertisement environment of a world class standard as billboards are now environment friendly in the state; effective sensitization of the industry players and the general public; creation of a well defined Data Base with records of every signage and other advertisement structures in the state; smooth and seamless deployment of modernized structures and landscaping the surrounding areas of such; creation of more environmentally complementing outdoor advertising formats which have assisted greatly in the area of revenue generation.
According to him, in moving forward, the agency hopes to adopt the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative judging from the meagre resources available to the state government and its thirst in providing excellent social service delivery to the people in order to enhance the socio-economic activities of the state.
He mentioned provision of solar powered street light poles; construction of Ultra Modern Bus Shelters (Bus Stops); installation of advert based street directional signs and house numbering exercise; branding of newly acquired government buses; branding of public places like parks and gardens, markets, garages and roundabouts; deployment of LED electronic video display boards in strategic locations of the state capital to which concessional approvals have already been granted to about ten practitioners, as upcoming projects and programmes.
“A practical demonstration of this is what you see on Parliament Road leading to the state secretariat. This is the first of its kind, more of such are under construction and very soon will emerge and add value to the global beautification exercise currently going on around the state.
“This initiative no doubt has the capacity to greatly enhance the environment and increase the State’s revenue generation drive whilst reaping the benefits of business efficiency.”
In a statement to commemorate the first anniversary of the agency, Adepoju, who praised the Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi for establishing the agency and giving it the necessary support, stated that the agency is not only fulfilling the purpose for which it was set up, but also taking on vision.
“On a personal note, let me commend our God chosen leader, the people’s governor for the tremendous success recorded so far in his administration’s Transformation, Restoration and Repositioning agenda. You are a light to many of us, please keep the light always shining.
“For us at Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), I make bold to say that Oyo State is well on its way to achieving environmental standards and best practices, a novel trend which other states are already emulating.”
He said that in the one year existence of the regulatory outfit, it has successfully cleaned up the major routes in Ibadan ditto Oyo and Ogbomoso by removing sub standard, dilapidated, dangerously and badly positioned billboards.
“These cities are now clean, very calm and wearing new looks. We hope to replicate this in other major towns of the state especially now that the State Government has graciously approved for our Agency new set of operation equipment. This development has positively enhanced our performance level.”
He listed the achievement of the agency to include registration of outdoor practitioners in line with agreed categories; regularization of 1st Party and 3rd Party structures and removal of illegal boards and structures; creation of an outdoor advertisement environment of a world class standard as billboards are now environment friendly in the state; effective sensitization of the industry players and the general public; creation of a well defined Data Base with records of every signage and other advertisement structures in the state; smooth and seamless deployment of modernized structures and landscaping the surrounding areas of such; creation of more environmentally complementing outdoor advertising formats which have assisted greatly in the area of revenue generation.
According to him, in moving forward, the agency hopes to adopt the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative judging from the meagre resources available to the state government and its thirst in providing excellent social service delivery to the people in order to enhance the socio-economic activities of the state.
He mentioned provision of solar powered street light poles; construction of Ultra Modern Bus Shelters (Bus Stops); installation of advert based street directional signs and house numbering exercise; branding of newly acquired government buses; branding of public places like parks and gardens, markets, garages and roundabouts; deployment of LED electronic video display boards in strategic locations of the state capital to which concessional approvals have already been granted to about ten practitioners, as upcoming projects and programmes.
“A practical demonstration of this is what you see on Parliament Road leading to the state secretariat. This is the first of its kind, more of such are under construction and very soon will emerge and add value to the global beautification exercise currently going on around the state.
“This initiative no doubt has the capacity to greatly enhance the environment and increase the State’s revenue generation drive whilst reaping the benefits of business efficiency.”
Robot rave swarming MIT
A “high tech rave”-like performance piece happening tonight at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is actually designed to help
campus roboticists create algorithms based on human behavior that can
better control large swarms of robots, researchers told the Herald.
Doubling as an experiment, “UP: The Umbrella Project” is the second collaboration between MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and acclaimed, Connecticut-based dance company Pilobolus.
At least 200 participants will serve as “human pixels” by holding and using umbrellas outfitted with LED lights at MIT’s Jack Barry Field. Pilobolus members will provide basic instructions and choreography, while campus staff record the resulting human behaviors using an overhead camera mounted on a boom lift, said Kyle Gilpin, a postdoctoral associate at MIT CSAIL.
“Robots are still very simplistic and it will be a long time before the intelligence of robots and the creativity of robots starts to rival that of humans,” Gilpin, 30, said. “But this performance is one step of many that we think will help bring human-like intelligence and abilities closer to being implemented in robotics systems.”
“UP” debuted in October at the PopTech conference in Camden, Maine.
“The interesting nature of the project is we’re not using trained dancers. We’re not rehearsing this,” Gilpin said. “We’re giving the individual performers a large degree of autonomy to decide as a group exactly what they should do.”
While not a “formal” experiment, MIT researchers plan to use a simulator to mimic the human behavioral patterns and put them into individual robots that perform functions in giant groups, such as exploring Mars or searching for survivors in collapsed buildings, Gilpin said.
Huge robot swarms are typically controlled by a centralized computer that aggregates information from all of the robots in the system and then tells each robot what to do next, Gilpin said, adding this system requires large amounts of processing power and memory.
“We are looking for algorithms that scale very nicely as we increase the number of robots from 100 to 1,000 to 10,000 to 1 million,” Gilpin said. “When you work at large scale it becomes very favorable to use distributed algorithms.”
MIT CSAIL and Pilobolus previously collaborated on a piece called “Seraph,” which featured a dancer on stage moving among two flying robots. Pilobolus’ Executive Director Itamar Kubovy said the “UP” project is proof that the worlds of art and science can coexist and influence one another.
“Here you provide a kind of a result in what you’re trying to do, but you’re not giving a specific instruction to any kind of individual. You’re allowing the group to self-organize based on the parameters,” Kubovy said. “That’s a very different way of telling a story or creating a work of art than an author, choreographer, writer saying, ‘Here’s my work, do it as I wrote it.’ ”
Doubling as an experiment, “UP: The Umbrella Project” is the second collaboration between MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and acclaimed, Connecticut-based dance company Pilobolus.
At least 200 participants will serve as “human pixels” by holding and using umbrellas outfitted with LED lights at MIT’s Jack Barry Field. Pilobolus members will provide basic instructions and choreography, while campus staff record the resulting human behaviors using an overhead camera mounted on a boom lift, said Kyle Gilpin, a postdoctoral associate at MIT CSAIL.
“Robots are still very simplistic and it will be a long time before the intelligence of robots and the creativity of robots starts to rival that of humans,” Gilpin, 30, said. “But this performance is one step of many that we think will help bring human-like intelligence and abilities closer to being implemented in robotics systems.”
“UP” debuted in October at the PopTech conference in Camden, Maine.
“The interesting nature of the project is we’re not using trained dancers. We’re not rehearsing this,” Gilpin said. “We’re giving the individual performers a large degree of autonomy to decide as a group exactly what they should do.”
While not a “formal” experiment, MIT researchers plan to use a simulator to mimic the human behavioral patterns and put them into individual robots that perform functions in giant groups, such as exploring Mars or searching for survivors in collapsed buildings, Gilpin said.
Huge robot swarms are typically controlled by a centralized computer that aggregates information from all of the robots in the system and then tells each robot what to do next, Gilpin said, adding this system requires large amounts of processing power and memory.
“We are looking for algorithms that scale very nicely as we increase the number of robots from 100 to 1,000 to 10,000 to 1 million,” Gilpin said. “When you work at large scale it becomes very favorable to use distributed algorithms.”
MIT CSAIL and Pilobolus previously collaborated on a piece called “Seraph,” which featured a dancer on stage moving among two flying robots. Pilobolus’ Executive Director Itamar Kubovy said the “UP” project is proof that the worlds of art and science can coexist and influence one another.
“Here you provide a kind of a result in what you’re trying to do, but you’re not giving a specific instruction to any kind of individual. You’re allowing the group to self-organize based on the parameters,” Kubovy said. “That’s a very different way of telling a story or creating a work of art than an author, choreographer, writer saying, ‘Here’s my work, do it as I wrote it.’ ”
2013年5月16日星期四
DTM introduces lighting system to avoid tyre usage confusion
The DTM will use an onboard lighting system to show when cars are racing on option tyres at Brands Hatch this weekend in response to the confusion generated by the new rubber at Hockenheim.
The Formula 1-style option tyres were introduced at Hockenheim two weeks ago as part of a raft of technical changes aimed at spicing up the on-track action.
The option Hankooks were marked with a yellow stripe in order to allow spectators to see when a driver was using his one permitted set of the soft rubber during the race.
However, the stripe proved difficult to spot. With timing screens and television graphics also failing to display sufficient information, fans, commentators and even teams were unable to spot what many cars were using at any given time.
Series promoter the ITR has responded by using the orange lights mounted on the sides of each car - and previously used to show how many pitstops a driver had made - to display tyre usage.
The orange lights will come on when a car is on option tyres and will be turned off when it is using the harder, standard rubber.
ITR chairman Hans Werner Aufrecht said: "We have to involve and inform both the fans on-site and watching on TV much better. To them the races must be more clear.
"The race at Hockenheim made clear that identifying the yellow marks on the option tyres was virtually impossible. Consequently even our TV commentators had the problem of identifying what was going on.
"We are working in cooperation with [German motorsport federation] the DMSB and Hankook on ways to improve this, such as using the LED dimmable. We hope that this will be a significant step forward at Brands Hatch."
AUTOSPORT understands that the possibility of widening the yellow stripe on the options, so as to make it more visible, is also being evaluated.
And it wasn't just me either. Several TV commentators and numerous team managers were equally baffled. None of us were able to read the race properly, and were therefore in the dark as to whether driver X's pace at any particular stage of the race was option-influenced or not.
That's just us lot, who had the benefit of timing screens and the odd publicly-broadcast pit-to-car radio transmission. The fans sitting in the grandstand had none of that, and must have been even more confused.
Key to the cause of the problem was that the yellow stripes painted on the sidewalls of the options were simply not wide enough, and were impossible to see at speed; the tyres being of a far lower profile than those used in Formula 1, for example.
The use of side and front-mounted LED bulb e27 is, for now, a trial. If it doesn't work, you can bet a different solution will be employed at Spielberg. They do have a habit of getting things right in the DTM, remember...
The Formula 1-style option tyres were introduced at Hockenheim two weeks ago as part of a raft of technical changes aimed at spicing up the on-track action.
The option Hankooks were marked with a yellow stripe in order to allow spectators to see when a driver was using his one permitted set of the soft rubber during the race.
However, the stripe proved difficult to spot. With timing screens and television graphics also failing to display sufficient information, fans, commentators and even teams were unable to spot what many cars were using at any given time.
Series promoter the ITR has responded by using the orange lights mounted on the sides of each car - and previously used to show how many pitstops a driver had made - to display tyre usage.
The orange lights will come on when a car is on option tyres and will be turned off when it is using the harder, standard rubber.
ITR chairman Hans Werner Aufrecht said: "We have to involve and inform both the fans on-site and watching on TV much better. To them the races must be more clear.
"The race at Hockenheim made clear that identifying the yellow marks on the option tyres was virtually impossible. Consequently even our TV commentators had the problem of identifying what was going on.
"We are working in cooperation with [German motorsport federation] the DMSB and Hankook on ways to improve this, such as using the LED dimmable. We hope that this will be a significant step forward at Brands Hatch."
AUTOSPORT understands that the possibility of widening the yellow stripe on the options, so as to make it more visible, is also being evaluated.
And it wasn't just me either. Several TV commentators and numerous team managers were equally baffled. None of us were able to read the race properly, and were therefore in the dark as to whether driver X's pace at any particular stage of the race was option-influenced or not.
That's just us lot, who had the benefit of timing screens and the odd publicly-broadcast pit-to-car radio transmission. The fans sitting in the grandstand had none of that, and must have been even more confused.
Key to the cause of the problem was that the yellow stripes painted on the sidewalls of the options were simply not wide enough, and were impossible to see at speed; the tyres being of a far lower profile than those used in Formula 1, for example.
The use of side and front-mounted LED bulb e27 is, for now, a trial. If it doesn't work, you can bet a different solution will be employed at Spielberg. They do have a habit of getting things right in the DTM, remember...
2013年5月6日星期一
What you need to know about LED bulbs
In my constant effort to help save energy and lower my hydro bill, I
bought my first LED bulb last week. That was no easy task as most major
retailers in Ontario don’t have displays or information readily
available and their staff are not fully versed on the benefits of LED
lighting. It was hard to justify paying almost 15 dollars for one LED
light compared to a typical 60W incandescent bulb that you can get at
the grocery store for a dollar. Determined, I researched for days and
came up with this handy list of what you should know before you upgrade
to LED bulbs.
As noted above, trying to find LED bulbs or even info on LED lighting at a major store is next to impossible. At the Rona, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, and Lowes I visited in the Toronto area I could not find a prominent display for LED bulbs and the selection, usually mixed in with the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), was poor. My goal was to replace the 60W incandescent bulb in my kitchen vent hood (the light used for the most hours per day in my home) with an equivalent LED bulb. I finally found what I was looking for at my local Home Depot.
Finding LEDs at your local retailer is only half the battle. Discovering which LED bulb is right for your needs is the most important requirement. Do you need one that’s dimmable? Are you planning to put it outside? How bright do you want it to be? What kind of socket base do you need?
The most common bulb type is the A19 “classic” screw bulb. These are sometimes referred to as a medium base or E26 bulb (for the Edison style 26 millimetre screw base). Most chandeliers use a smaller, E12 or candelabra base, while track and recessed lighting commonly use a GU10 post style halogen bulb.
Once you know what type of bulb you require you’ll need to determine what brightness and colour temperature you want.
Brightness is measured in lumens. A 60W incandescent bulb runs between 300 – 900 lumens while a 100W incandescent bulb falls between 1600 – 1800 lumens. The more lumens, the brighter the bulb.
Colour temperature, measured in Kelvins (K), is also important. A soft white bulb falls somewhere around 2,500 – 3,000K, while a bright white bulb ranges from 4,500 – 5,000K. I originally purchased a 5,000K bulb and found it to be so cold and clinical I had to return it for the warmer 2,700K option. Both bulbs were bright at 800 lumens, but the difference between the colour temperature was huge.
After you find the right LED bulb, the sticker shock of how much these cost is enough to make even the most energy conscious shoppers keep walking to the cheaper CFL bulb section.
Prices have come down drastically over the last year though, and the Cree 60W equivalent I bought can be found at Home Depot for $15.97CDN each. They also sell a Philips 60W equivalent soft white bulb for $14.88CDN, but it’s not dimmable. If you only need a 40W equivalent, you can opt for a Cree one for $12.97CDN.
I was able to find a dimmable 50W equivalent GU10 bulb in bulk on Amazon.ca for roughly $5CDN each. Much cheaper considering they last up to 30,000 hours (compared to 2,000 hours for the halogen ones) and the Philips GU10 LED bulb goes for $26.98 at Home Depot.
As with any new technology the price will continue to drop as more people adopt LED bulbs in their homes. Most hydro companies offer coupons or incentives to upgrade to LED bulbs and you should check with your provider before heading to the store.
CFLs are fragile, loaded with mercury and need to be disposed as hazardous waste. When one stops working it needs to go to a special drop-off centre the way paint cans and motor oil does. LEDs are solid, contained units that don’t have any mercury and aren’t easily breakable.
LEDs also turn on to full brightness automatically, give off better light, use less energy, don’t get as hot and, according to the New York Times, can last up to three times longer than a CFL bulb.
As noted above, trying to find LED bulbs or even info on LED lighting at a major store is next to impossible. At the Rona, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, and Lowes I visited in the Toronto area I could not find a prominent display for LED bulbs and the selection, usually mixed in with the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), was poor. My goal was to replace the 60W incandescent bulb in my kitchen vent hood (the light used for the most hours per day in my home) with an equivalent LED bulb. I finally found what I was looking for at my local Home Depot.
Finding LEDs at your local retailer is only half the battle. Discovering which LED bulb is right for your needs is the most important requirement. Do you need one that’s dimmable? Are you planning to put it outside? How bright do you want it to be? What kind of socket base do you need?
The most common bulb type is the A19 “classic” screw bulb. These are sometimes referred to as a medium base or E26 bulb (for the Edison style 26 millimetre screw base). Most chandeliers use a smaller, E12 or candelabra base, while track and recessed lighting commonly use a GU10 post style halogen bulb.
Once you know what type of bulb you require you’ll need to determine what brightness and colour temperature you want.
Brightness is measured in lumens. A 60W incandescent bulb runs between 300 – 900 lumens while a 100W incandescent bulb falls between 1600 – 1800 lumens. The more lumens, the brighter the bulb.
Colour temperature, measured in Kelvins (K), is also important. A soft white bulb falls somewhere around 2,500 – 3,000K, while a bright white bulb ranges from 4,500 – 5,000K. I originally purchased a 5,000K bulb and found it to be so cold and clinical I had to return it for the warmer 2,700K option. Both bulbs were bright at 800 lumens, but the difference between the colour temperature was huge.
After you find the right LED bulb, the sticker shock of how much these cost is enough to make even the most energy conscious shoppers keep walking to the cheaper CFL bulb section.
Prices have come down drastically over the last year though, and the Cree 60W equivalent I bought can be found at Home Depot for $15.97CDN each. They also sell a Philips 60W equivalent soft white bulb for $14.88CDN, but it’s not dimmable. If you only need a 40W equivalent, you can opt for a Cree one for $12.97CDN.
I was able to find a dimmable 50W equivalent GU10 bulb in bulk on Amazon.ca for roughly $5CDN each. Much cheaper considering they last up to 30,000 hours (compared to 2,000 hours for the halogen ones) and the Philips GU10 LED bulb goes for $26.98 at Home Depot.
As with any new technology the price will continue to drop as more people adopt LED bulbs in their homes. Most hydro companies offer coupons or incentives to upgrade to LED bulbs and you should check with your provider before heading to the store.
CFLs are fragile, loaded with mercury and need to be disposed as hazardous waste. When one stops working it needs to go to a special drop-off centre the way paint cans and motor oil does. LEDs are solid, contained units that don’t have any mercury and aren’t easily breakable.
LEDs also turn on to full brightness automatically, give off better light, use less energy, don’t get as hot and, according to the New York Times, can last up to three times longer than a CFL bulb.
2013年5月1日星期三
Arkema commercialises new acrylic for LED lighting
Arkema Group has commercialised a new grade of acrylic resin that is better suited to handle modern LED lighting.
Arkema — based in Colombes, France — began making Plexiglas Diffuse-brand resins in March at its plant in Pennsylvania, the US. Production of the materials at an Arkema plant in Rho, Italy, will begin in May.
The material can diffuse light in LED applications without compromising overall light transmission, officials said. Typical applications for Diffuse-brand resins include architectural and indoor commercial lighting.
"The standard product had been a frosted-type product," LED lighting business development director Michael Lamarra said in a recent phone interview. "But it just didn't have enough diffusing power for LED emitters, which are very bright and produce an intense amount of light."
In order to get more diffusing power, lighting makers had been adding white colour concentrates to acrylic resins, but doing so was hurting the products' light transmission rates by 15-30%, he added.
Diffuse-brand resins now can provide better performance in what Lamarra described as "places where glare will hurt your eyes".
The materials also offer outstanding UV resistance and weatherability and excellent surface gloss and scratch resistance, officials said. The resins also can easily be extruded, injection-moulded, thermoformed or cut. They're recyclable and are available in smooth or textured surfaces on extruded lenses.
LED lighting applications are expected to average 12% annual growth between 2011 and 2017, Arkema officials said, with commercial applications making up the largest single LED end market.
The city is testing three types of LED (light-emitting diode) streetlights in three areas of the city.
The lights, while as much as six times more expensive, have a payback period of less than four years in terms of energy savings, said Jack Suggs, the city's electric department director.
The lights also last as long as 25 years, while the city's 5,800 current high-pressure sodium lights usually have life spans of around three years.
"It leads me to believe that LEDs are the wave of the future," Suggs said. Crews have installed eight streetlights each in three areas; Montana Avenue, Woodland community and Emory Valley Road.
The types of LEDs being tested vary to suit different environments: more direct lighting for wooded, hilly Montana Avenue, lights that aren't as focused for irregular-shaped streets and lots in the Woodland community, and high-powered, whiter lights to illuminate broader swaths on Emory Valley Road.
"We want to see what kind of comments we get and if we have any problems," Suggs said of the trial runs. In the past, the city has experimented with earlier generation LED streetlights.
"We have had mixed results in these early test(s), including unacceptable light output and a couple of premature failures," Suggs wrote in an email.
He said if feedback on the newest generation of LED streetlights is mainly positive, "City Council will see a long-term program proposed."
Currently planned is the installation next fiscal year of 300 LED streetlights. Suggs said $100,000 is now budgeted for that program.
It's anticipated it would mark the start of a gradual systemwide conversion to LED lighting that would span several years and adapt to evolving technology.
Arkema — based in Colombes, France — began making Plexiglas Diffuse-brand resins in March at its plant in Pennsylvania, the US. Production of the materials at an Arkema plant in Rho, Italy, will begin in May.
The material can diffuse light in LED applications without compromising overall light transmission, officials said. Typical applications for Diffuse-brand resins include architectural and indoor commercial lighting.
"The standard product had been a frosted-type product," LED lighting business development director Michael Lamarra said in a recent phone interview. "But it just didn't have enough diffusing power for LED emitters, which are very bright and produce an intense amount of light."
In order to get more diffusing power, lighting makers had been adding white colour concentrates to acrylic resins, but doing so was hurting the products' light transmission rates by 15-30%, he added.
Diffuse-brand resins now can provide better performance in what Lamarra described as "places where glare will hurt your eyes".
The materials also offer outstanding UV resistance and weatherability and excellent surface gloss and scratch resistance, officials said. The resins also can easily be extruded, injection-moulded, thermoformed or cut. They're recyclable and are available in smooth or textured surfaces on extruded lenses.
LED lighting applications are expected to average 12% annual growth between 2011 and 2017, Arkema officials said, with commercial applications making up the largest single LED end market.
The city is testing three types of LED (light-emitting diode) streetlights in three areas of the city.
The lights, while as much as six times more expensive, have a payback period of less than four years in terms of energy savings, said Jack Suggs, the city's electric department director.
The lights also last as long as 25 years, while the city's 5,800 current high-pressure sodium lights usually have life spans of around three years.
"It leads me to believe that LEDs are the wave of the future," Suggs said. Crews have installed eight streetlights each in three areas; Montana Avenue, Woodland community and Emory Valley Road.
The types of LEDs being tested vary to suit different environments: more direct lighting for wooded, hilly Montana Avenue, lights that aren't as focused for irregular-shaped streets and lots in the Woodland community, and high-powered, whiter lights to illuminate broader swaths on Emory Valley Road.
"We want to see what kind of comments we get and if we have any problems," Suggs said of the trial runs. In the past, the city has experimented with earlier generation LED streetlights.
"We have had mixed results in these early test(s), including unacceptable light output and a couple of premature failures," Suggs wrote in an email.
He said if feedback on the newest generation of LED streetlights is mainly positive, "City Council will see a long-term program proposed."
Currently planned is the installation next fiscal year of 300 LED streetlights. Suggs said $100,000 is now budgeted for that program.
It's anticipated it would mark the start of a gradual systemwide conversion to LED lighting that would span several years and adapt to evolving technology.
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