A llittle late for this year's burn, but green nonetheless

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:05 am

http://englishrussia.com/?p=1398#more-1398
Using plastic bottles as chandeliers. I can't tell what the light source is, but I'd think incandescent lights would provide more general lighting than LEDs, unless you used frosted plastic (odwalla containers, for example).

http://www.missmoun.com/proposals/conflux/
An artist's proposal for a power cart. Solar panel, hand-cranked generator, batteries. One person's implementation:

shown on Kevin Kelly's blog which scrolls off into the aether after awhile so will not be here forever:
http://www.kk.org/streetuse/

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:54 pm

One can lightly "frost" clear plastic with bead/sand blasting. Using masking tape you can get the engraved look.

Smudge · Post by **Smudge** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:19 am

LED's take about 1/20th or 5% of the electricity that incandescent bulbs do to produce the same lumens. Old statistics but I believe them.
Flourescents take about 1/5 or 20% of the electricity that incandescents do but require a transformer.
LED's should be the best even if they're way more expensive.
The price on LED's has dropped a lot in the past few years and likely could become more affordable with more people buying them.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:33 pm

There's a PANDA bear in the tree in that last shot!

I think I would rather use LEDs or fluorescents, since they grow less hot and are, therefore, less likely to melt and/or set the plastic on fire. Those are an interesting use of old bottles, though.

B.

phil · Post by **phil** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:47 pm

LED's take about 1/20th or 5% of the electricity that incandescent bulbs do to produce the same lumens. Old statistics but I believe them.

I'm not sure that's true of general lighting. If you measure at the light, I'm sure LEDs make more light for less energy, and this would be true for a task light. But if the lighting is for general use, where you need for example to light a room or a patio, I don't think LEDs work as well as incandescent because LEDs point in a direction. If you measure general lighting around the room or patio, I think incandescent (or fluorescent) may do better at equal energy levels.

NOTE that this is not a statement of fact but of some hazy recollection about how light is measured.

Valkyrie · Post by **Valkyrie** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:50 pm

IIRC, fluorescents are more efficient than LEDs, which are all one heck of a lot cheaper than incandescents. The investment in an LED is much lower, though, and they're less prone to breakages. (mutters over the thrice-broken fluorescent in her closet) I can't rightly think of any good reason you'd want incandescents now that they've come out with the "warm white" LEDs that are kinda yellowish like incandescents.