# The Future of Light Bulbs.....?



## JohnC (3 Dec 2012)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20553143



> The inventor of the device is Dr David Carroll, professor of physics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He says the new plastic lighting source can be made into any shape, and it produces a better quality of light than compact fluorescent bulbs which have become very popular in recent years.
> 
> 
> The new light source is said to be twice as efficient as fluorescent bulbs
> "They have a bluish, harsh tint to them, " he told BBC News, "it is not really accommodating to the human eye; people complain of headaches and the reason is the spectral content of that light doesn't match the Sun - our device can match the solar spectrum perfectly.





> "What we've found is a way of creating light rather than heat. Our devices contain no mercury, they contain no caustic chemicals and they don't break as they are not made of glass."
> 
> Prof Carroll says his new bulb is cheap to make and he has a "corporate partner" interested in manufacturing the device. He believes the first production runs will take place in 2013.
> 
> He also has great faith in the ability of the new bulbs to last. He says he has one in his lab that has been working for about a decade.


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## JohnC (3 Dec 2012)

after my disaster of buying rubbish cheap plant T5 bulbs of late I welcome news like this.....


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## ceg4048 (3 Dec 2012)

I buy rubbish cheap T5 bulbs and never have a problem.

Cheers,


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## JohnC (3 Dec 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> I buy rubbish cheap T5 bulbs and never have a problem.
> 
> Cheers,



disaster might be a bit strong 

see my pur vs par discussion thread for details. i was just disappointed by the drop in performance from my year old ones to the new special plant bulbs (but cheap).


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## foxfish (3 Dec 2012)

If you really want to talk about light in the planted tank, try one of the American forums .. I tell you they are mad for it!!
I recently suggest on a particular forum that 2xT5 would be fine for a particular chap looking for help, the thread went on to 6 pages of discussion & argument about the pros & cons of different colour bulbs & how one T5 will outperform another!
I was then accused of making an out of order statement by stating what I did & the thread was closed!
All this happened in about 4 hours & I only made the one comment LOL


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## JohnC (3 Dec 2012)

foxfish said:
			
		

> If you really want to talk about light in the planted tank, try one of the American forums .. I tell you they are mad for it!!
> I recently suggest on a particular forum that 2xT5 would be fine for a particular chap looking for help, the thread went on to 6 pages of discussion & argument about the pros & cons of different colour bulbs & how one T5 will outperform another!
> I was then accused of making an out of order statement by stating what I did & the thread was closed!
> All this happened in about 4 hours & I only made the one comment LOL




Bloody hell. I actually started my fishkeeping forum life on a US general forum and I do remember the obsession with bucket loads of light very well.

i'm a two times t5 man but I also love LED's, this new report sounds exceedingly interesting thou....


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## Garuf (3 Dec 2012)

I hope so, they did say plasma was going to be the future but it's never happened. This seems likely though. 

Yeah, they're still light obsessed but a lot of it is because a lot of us scapers buy really cheap poor quality equipment that doesn't produce anything like the amount of par you'd expect for the wattage in my experience. 

Even then though, they're still mad for 100par at the substrate. It's insane what some have quoted over on ASW as being good lights for beginners.


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## roadmaster (4 Dec 2012)

I too sometimes marvel at the discussion's on light's,too much,,not enough,PUR,PAR,lumen's,kelvin, LED,T5, T8,etc.
My own expieriment's thus far,,seem to coincide with Clives suggestion, (can't remember thread),that plant's will grow under nearly any lighting.  
Perhap's a thread is in order discussing types of lighting that plant's won't grow under?


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## JohnC (4 Dec 2012)

roadmaster said:
			
		

> I too sometimes marvel at the discussion's on light's,too much,,not enough,PUR,PAR,lumen's,kelvin, LED,T5, T8,etc.
> My own expieriment's thus far,,seem to coincide with Clives suggestion, (can't remember thread),that plant's will grow under nearly any lighting.
> Perhap's a thread is in order discussing types of lighting that plant's won't grow under?





looking back at the original post thou, this looks like something which will be able to be retrofitted into existing ballasts and be brighter then T5s and LED's, and more importantly be cheaper to run and replace. Winning on all fronts.


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## Aquadream (4 Dec 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> I buy rubbish cheap T5 bulbs and never have a problem.
> 
> Cheers,


So do I. And not just that, but i also use only cheap starters for them to. Never had any problems at all.


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## Aquadream (4 Dec 2012)

roadmaster said:
			
		

> I too sometimes marvel at the discussion's on light's,too much,,not enough,PUR,PAR,lumen's,kelvin, LED,T5, T8,etc.
> My own expieriment's thus far,,seem to coincide with Clives suggestion, (can't remember thread),that plant's will grow under nearly any lighting.
> Perhap's a thread is in order discussing types of lighting that plant's won't grow under?


Try black light...


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## sanj (5 Dec 2012)

Well... Im growing plants in my breeding tanks now, some only have 8 PAR at the substrate.

Regarding plasma and other technologies, they take time, they will be talked about then fade away, leds for example are not the product of just the last few years, they were first developed many decades ago.


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## jan.m (24 Jan 2013)

I think this can be the reason for the decrease in price of LED. Heat is one of the reasons why price of electricity can be so high. LED doesn't produce as much heat as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs that's why it can help save energy. With this plastic bulb being developed having low heat emission, we can denote a cheaper bill in electricity. On the other hand, same as where LED used to be, it is the initial cost (the price of the product) That hinders people from buying it. I hope they can make it a bit cheaper. - jan


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## gary smith (10 Feb 2013)

i have been reading about ceramic metal halide of late they come in 20,35,70 and 150 watt plus a few others lol supposed to be very efficient and have a very high cri have you any input on this cheers Gary


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