energy saver light bulb schematic

[bdcroucher]

Does anyone have a schematic for a ge energy saver bulb?

 

[jrz126]

I think the energy saving part is in the construction of the bulb?

 

[audioguru]

Incandescent bulb? Florescent tube? Compact florescent bulb?
They are all very different.

They make an incandescent bulb and florescent tube "energy-saving" by simply making use less power. A 100W incandescent becomes 85W. A 40W florescent tube becomes 34W.
Your vision responds logarithmically to brightness so you don't notice that "energy-saving" lights are dimmer.

A compact florescent bulb is much more efficient than an incandescent and uses about 25% of the power for the same brightness. Manufacturers say they outlast an incandescent bulb about 10 times.

Here's the schematic of a 240VAC compact florescent bulb that probably isn't made by GE:

 

[zachtheterrible]

Audio, I still do not understand exactly what logarithmic is. Is there an article on the net or a simple explanation? I've always been curioius.

 

[audioguru]

Hi Zach,
I learned logarithms in school but maybe there is info on the web.
A logarithmic scale can cover a huge range because if you multiply a power value 10 times. then on a logarithmic scale its length only doubles.

So you can hear a pin drop but can also hear an explosion.
So you can see in partial moonlight but can also see in full sunshine.
Your hearing and vision also have forms of "automatic gain control" like the iris in your eye. I think the AGC for your hearing is done in your brain.

Also, study decibels which are logarithmic:
+3dB is an increase of 2 times the power.
+10dB is an increase of 10 times the power.
+20db is an increase of 100 times the power.
+60dB is an increase of 1 million times the power.
Figure out how much the power is increased with an increase of only (!) 120dB. :lol:

 

[zachtheterrible]

Audio, I think Ive got it :lol:

If our hearing was not logarithmic, small sounds would sound the same but louder sounds would blow us away right?

So howcome the decibel scale is used in measuring RF strength? We do not percieve RF.

 

[audioguru]

Audio, I think Ive got it :lol:

If our hearing was not logarithmic, small sounds would sound the same but louder sounds would blow us away right?

Yeah, or if you could hear loud sounds clearly then you wouldn't be able to hear "normal" volume sounds or less.

So howcome the decibel scale is used in measuring RF strength? We do not percieve RF.

I am an old geezer who still measures RF signal strength in uV/m to volts/m. It is a pretty wide range so new engineers measure RF level differences in dB's. :lol:

 

[Dr.EM]

There are different kinds of dB though. There are dBv, dBu and things like that. Ive seen them in the context of signal levels in mixers and telephone systems. Mabye thats what RF power is measured with :?: . I sure can't remember what they mean right now, but I have it in a book somewhere.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

It's important to remember that dB's are not a 'measure' of ANYTHING!, they are simply a ratio - unless you specify what it's in relation to it's completely meaningless. It's also vital to remember that dB can be used for both voltage and power, but they are NOT the same, so you need to be extra careful of that.