THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS LIGHT BULBS HAVE ON ROOMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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1 THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS LIGHT BULBS HAVE ON ROOMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Cameron Fisher Cary Academy ABSTRACT The purpose of this analysis was to study the effects that light bulbs have on rooms and the environment. Energy flows through the filament in an incandescent light bulb causing it to heat up and to glow while some light bulbs based on newer technology use gas or semiconductor chips to make light. The experiments tested different types of light bulbs by measuring light, energy, heat, and RH using a Venier light sensor, a KILL A WATT, a Fieldpiece infrared gun style thermometer, and an Amprobe relative humidity temperature meter. The results showed that the new CFL and LED technologies gave off the most light, used the least amount of energy and gave off the least amount of heat thus had the least impact on the RH. It was determined that the LED light bulb was the most efficient in all areas tested and were the best light bulbs for homes and the environment. INTRODUCTION In the early 18 s, homes did not have electric lighting. Thomas Alva Edison wanted to invent a light that would replace gas lighting in homes. In October of 1879, Thomas Edison introduced electric lighting for homes. He invented this light bulb in Menlo Park, New Jersey by placing a filament within a glass bulb and removing the air creating a vacuum. This new light bulb was called the incandescent electric light because the lamp would become luminous when heat passed through the filament. The filament was originally made out of charred cotton but when he made the light bulbs commercially he used carbonized bamboo. Today, modern incandescent light bulbs use drawn tungsten wire filaments. Figure 1. Electrical circuit consisting of a source, a KILL A WATT meter, and a light bulb.

2 An incandescent light bulb works when energy flows through the filament which becomes hot and glows giving off light. When a light bulb burns out, the filament breaks and the circuit is broken so that electricity can no longer flow along the circuit and the light goes out. The electricity that flows through a light bulb can be measured in W using a KILL A WATT EZ P3 meter. When the meter is placed in series within the electric circuit, it can measure the amount of energy used by a device. Instantaneous energy or power is measured in W. Typically energy is measured over an hr and is measured in kwh. Electricity is generated using many different sources most of which are not renewable resources. Therefore, it is important to use electricity wisely and to make good decisions when purchasing products and using devices. Scientist now know that some devices use electricity even when the devices are turned off. These devices are called vampires or phantom loads. Phantom loads use electricity, cost the home owner money and impact the environment even when the devices are off. The only way to stop vampire or phantom loads from using electricity is to unplug them. 5 to 1% of energy consumed in the United States each year is due to phantom loads. Phantom loads consume as much electricity as 17 coal fired plants can produce in about a year. The heat that is produced when electricity flows through the filament in a light bulb is a byproduct of generating light. Because the heat is not produced on purpose it is also sometimes considered waste heat. Light bulbs affect a home s environment by producing heat causing more electricity to be used to cool the home. There are many different units for measuring light including lm, lux, ftc, and cd. Lm is the unit of light flow and is usually used to measure artificial light. Ftc is a unit of light intensity that is measured in lm per square ft. This represents the amount of light one ft away from a candle. One lux is equal to one lm per square meter. It is also called metre-candle. 1 lux is the equivalent to.929 ftc. Cd is the unit of measure of a light source in a specific direction. An experiment conducted by a former Cary Academy 6 th grade student, Kayla Haeussler, studied which of the four citrus fruits could produce the most electricity. This experiment was conduct by inserting a penny and a nail into each side of the fruit and then measuring the voltage across the two terminals with a voltage meter. Another experiment was conducted using different light bulbs to find out how much light was given off by each type of light bulb. This study recommended that further studies be conducted to compare LEDs (light emitting diodes) to incandescent light bulbs. Even though the incandescent light bulb has been around for over 1 years, there are some new technologies that are taking its place. These new technologies are the halogen, LED, and CFL.

3 The halogen light bulb is similar to the incandescent light bulb but includes halogen gas inside the lamp. In an incandescent light bulb, tungsten evaporates from the burning filament causing the bulb to become black and depressing light output. The halogen gas reacts with the tungsten that has evaporated and prevents it from blackening the glass and returning some of the tungsten back to the filament. The halogen technology is designed to extend the life of the light bulb. The LED replaces the filament with a semiconductor chip and has a heat sink at the back of the light bulb. Light is produced when electrons flow through the semiconductor material. While a single a LED may be enough to draw attention to things such as computer power buttons, it takes many more to light up a room. A LED light bulb directs the light towards one place unlike the incandescent light bulb were the light illuminates in all directions. The CFL light bulb consists of a ballast, a tube containing argon gas, mercury vapor and phosphor which is a fluorescent coating on the inside of the tube. The ballast is used to kick start the light bulb and controls the current flow. The electric current flows through the gas in the tube which creates ultraviolet light inside the tube. When the ultraviolet light comes in contact with the phosphor, the light bulb emits visible light. Since mercury is a hazardous material, it is important to recycle CFL light bulbs properly. In the future, the OLED, organic light emitting diodes may become available and change the appearance of light fixtures because OLEDs consist of flat sheets that glow when current is applied. RH is a measure of how much water vapor is in the air compared to the maximum amount that it can hold. As the air gets hotter, it can hold more water. Humans are sensitive to humidity. So the higher the humidity, the more uncomfortable the room will feel. The higher the humidity, the hotter air feels to the skin. This is important because if the lights that are selected make the air hotter, the air conditioner will run longer and more electricity will be used. MATERIALS AND METHODS The materials that were used in these experiments were a Fieldpiece infrared gun style thermometer, an Amprobe relative humidity temperature meter, a KILL A WATT EZ P3 meter, a Venier light sensor, a 15 W rated light fixture, a 6mL beaker, water, a GE reveal 4 W, a GE reveal 6 W, a GE reveal 1 W, a GE reveal 6 W with vertical filament, a GE reveal clear 6 W, a burned out GE reveal 6 W, a Sylvania micromini CFL instant-on 4 W replacement, a Sylvania halogen soft white 4 W replacement, and an Utilitech pro LED long lasting 4 W replacement light bulbs. The purpose of the first experiment was to find out which type of light bulb gave off the most light. In a dark room, the Venier light sensor was used to measure the amount of light using the most sensitive setting without

4 going over the sensitivity limit. The experiment was repeated for each light bulb. Three measurements were taken for each light bulb. The purpose of the second experiment was to find out how the size of the incandescent bulb affected the amount of light was given off. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the third experiment was to find out whether the translucency of the light bulb affected the amount of light was given off. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the fourth experiment was to find out whether the direction of the filament affected the amount of light given off. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the fifth experiment was to find out which type of light bulb consumed the least amount of energy. The KILL A WATT was used to measure the energy consumed by light bulb. The experiment was repeated for each light bulb. Three measurements were taken for each light bulb. The purpose of the sixth experiment was to find out how the size of the incandescent light bulb affected the amount of energy consumed. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 5. The purpose of the seventh experiment was to find out whether the translucency of the light bulb affected the amount of energy consumed. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 5. The purpose of the eighth experiment was to find out whether the direction of filament affected the amount of energy consumed. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 5. The purpose of the ninth experiment was to find out whether the condition of the light bulb affected how much light was consumed. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 5. The purpose of the tenth experiment was to find out which type of light bulb got the hottest. A light bulb was turned on 5 min. Then the surface temperature was taken for each light bulb. Three measurements were taken for each of the light bulbs. The purpose of the eleventh experiment was to find out how the size of incandescent light bulbs affected how hot the light bulb got. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the twelfth experiment was to find out whether the translucency of the light bulb affected how hot a light bulb got. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the thirteenth experiment was to find out whether the direction of filament affected how hot a light bulb got. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1.

5 Amount of Light (lux) The purpose of the fourteenth experiment was to find out if the condition of the light bulb affected how hot a light bulb got. This experiment was conducted using the same method as experiment 1. The purpose of the fifteenth experiment was to determine what effect a light bulb has on the humidity. The Amprobe relative humidity temperature probe was used to measure the RH at the beginning of the experiment. 6 ml of water and a GE reveal 6 W light bulbs were placed under a fish tank. The relative humidity was measured after.5 hr,.75 hr, 6 hr, and 24 hr. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Halogen CFL LED Incandescent Type of Light Bulb Figure 2. Average amount of light given off by different types of light bulbs. In the first experiment, the Utilitech pro LED long lasting 4 W replacement light bulb gave off the most light with an average of lux and the Sylvania halogen soft white 4 W replacement light bulb gave off the least amount of light with an average of lux. The LED gave off the most light because it uses newer technology that is designed to be more efficient and to provide more light in one direction.

6 Amount of Light (lux) Amount of Light (lux) Size of Light Bulb (W) Figure 3. Average amount of light given off by different sizes of incandescent light bulbs. In the second experiment, the GE reveal 1 W incandescent light bulb gave off the most light with an average of lux and the GE reveal 4 W incandescent light bulb gave off the least amount of light with an average of 256 lux. These results were expected because the larger size should give off more light. The larger light bulb consumed more energy and produces more light (figure 6) Clear Translucency of Light Bulb Opaque Figure 4. Average amount of light given off by incandescent light bulbs with different translucency. In the third experiment, a GE reveal clear 6 W gave off more light with an average of 3486 lux than the opaque GE reveal 6 W light bulb with an average of 3265 lux. This makes sense because light can penetrate through clear glass better than through opaque glass.

7 Amount of Energy (W) Amount of Liight (lux) Vertical Direction of Filament Horizontal Figure 5. Average amount of light given off by incandescent light bulbs with different directions of filament. In the fourth experiment, the GE reveal 6 W with vertical filament light bulb gave off more light with an average of 7642 lux than the GE reveal 6 W light bulb with horizontal filament with an average of lux. This could be because the vertical filament directed the light towards the light probe while the horizontal filament spreads the light out over a wider space Halogen CFL LED Incandescent Type of Light Blub Figure 6. Average energy consumed by different types of light bulbs. In the fifth experiment, the Utilitech pro LED long lasting 4 W replacement light bulb consumed the least amount of energy with an average of 6.9 W and the GE reveal 4 W incandescent consumed the most with an average of 4.4 W. This is most likely because the LED bulb uses new technology that is designed to be more energy efficient.

8 Amount of Energy (W) Anount of Energy (W) Size of Light Bulb (W) Figure 7. Average amount of energy consumed by different sizes of incandescent light bulbs. In the sixth experiment, the most energy was consumed by the GE reveal 1 W incandescent light bulb with an average of 99.9 W and the least amount of energy was consumed by the GE reveal 4 W incandescent light bulb with an average of 4.4 W. This makes sense because the larger the size of the light bulb the more energy it should consume Clear Translucency of Light Blub Opaque Figure 8. Average amount of energy consumed by incandescent light bulbs with different translucency. In the seventh experiment, both the GE reveal clear 6 W and the GE reveal opaque 6 W light bulbs consumed approximately the same amount of energy at approximately 6 W. This makes sense because the glass is not a part of the electrical circuit so it had no impact on the energy usage.

9 Amount of Energy (W) Amount of Energy (W) Vertical Direction of Filament Horizontal Figure 9. Average energy consumed by incandescent light bulbs with different directions of filament. In the eighth experiment, both the GE reveal 6 W with vertical filament and the GE reveal 6 W with horizontal filament light bulbs consumed approximately the same amount of energy at 6 W. This makes sense because both have the same rating and the direction of the filament had no effect on the circuit New Condition of Light Bulb Burned out Figure 1. Average amount of energy consumed by burned out and new incandescent light bulbs. In the ninth experiment, only the new bulb consumed energy. The burned out light bulb did not consume any energy because the filament is broken and therefore, it could not complete the electrical circuit. The burned out light bulb was not a phantom load.

10 Temperature of Light Bulb (C) Temperature of Light Bulb (C) Halogen CFL LED Incandescent Type of Light Bulb Figure 11. Average temperature reached in 5 min by different types of light bulbs. In the tenth experiment, the Utilitech pro LED long lasting 4 W replacement light bulb was the coolest at an average of temperature of 34 C and the GE reveal 4 W incandescent got the hottest at an average temperature of 117 C. This makes sense because the LED consumed less energy so it did not generate a lot of waste heat (see figure 6) Size of Light Bulb (W) Figure 12. Average temperature reached in 5 min by different sizes of incandescent light bulbs. In the eleventh experiment, the GE reveal 1 W light bulb got the hottest with an average temperature of 154 C and the GE reveal 6 W light bulb was the coolest with an average temperature of 117 C. This makes sense because the largest light bulb used the most energy (see figure 7) so it generated the most waste heat.

11 Temperature of Light Bulb (C) Temperature of Light Bulb (C) Clear Translucency of Light Bulb Opaque Figure 13. Average temperature reached in 5 min by incandescent light bulbs with different translucency. In the twelfth experiment, the GE reveal clear 6 W clear got hotter than the opaque GE reveal 6 W light bulb. This could be because the infrared gun measured the surface temperature of the opaque bulb but measured the temperature of the filament in the clear bulb Vertical Direction of Filament Horizontal Figure 14. Average temperature reached in 5 min by incandescent light bulbs with different direction of filament. In the thirteenth experiment, the GE reveal 6 W with vertical filament got hotter with an average of 123 C than the GE reveal 6 W with horizontal filament with an average of 112 C. This could be because the vertical filament had a shorter filament which concentrated the heat.

12 Humidity (RH) Temperature of Light Bulb (C) Burned out Condition of Light Bulb New Figure 15. Average temperature reached in 5 min by burned out and new light bulbs. In the fourteenth experiment, the new bulb GE reveal 6 W got hotter at an average temperature of 112 C than the burned out bulb at an average temperature of 3 C. This makes sense because the new bulb consumed more energy than a burned out bulb so it produced more waste heat (see figure 1) Time (hr) Figure 16. Average RH over a 24 hr period. In the fifteenth experiment, the relative humidity in the tank rose from 3% to 8% in.5 hr. The light bulb had its full effect on the room s environment in.5 hr. This occurred because the light bulb raised the temperature in the tank which caused the water in beaker to evaporate and increased the relative humidity.

13 CONCLUSION It was determined in these experiments that the LED light bulb is the best choice for homes and the environment because the LED light bulb gave off the most light, used the least amount of energy and gave off the least amount of heat thus had the least impact on the RH. These experiments are important so that home owners can be educated about buying light bulbs that are good for their homes and the environment and so that home owners will know that a dead light bulb is not a phantom load and does not need to be changed immediately. The hypothesis that the newer technologies would perform better than the incandescent technology was proven to be correct except that the halogen bulb produced less light than the incandescent bulb. Interesting follow up experiments might be to test the new OLED technology to see if it performs better than the LED and CFL technologies and to test the new technologies (CFL, LED, OLED) to see if the ballast or electronic components create phantom loads. CITATIONS "Edison, Thomas Alva." Compton's by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 213. Web. 17 Feb < "Edison, Thomas Alva." Compton's by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 213. Web. 17 Feb < Ferris, Julie, Ed. Ask Me Anything. New York: DK Publishing, 29. Ganeri, Anita. Indoor Science. New York: Dillon Press, Haeussler, Kayla. The Study of the Amount of Electricity Contained Inside Different Types of Citrus Fruits. Cary Academy Halogen Bulbs. [Accessed 2/18/13]. I Want to Know: Home Lighting Lucerne Media, 21. Full Video. Discovery Education. Web. 17 January 213. < [Accessed 2/1/13]. Kaska, Kathleen. Weather and Climate. Orlando: Holt science and Technology, 27. Learn About CFLs. [Accessed 2/18/13].

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