Aim:
In most energy products there is electricity wasted through light, heat and design elements. My experiment aimed to see if the newer, energy efficient lightbulbs waste more or less electricity through heat. Energy efficient lightbulbs are now available so I compared them with the older halogen bulbs.
Hypothesis :
The older light bulbs will create more heat therefore more wasted electricity. The new twisty design will be the most efficient design.
Variables:
There is only one variable in this experiment, and it is the light bulbs. The light bulbs I have chosen are Woolworth's Essentials Halogen (Regular) then I tried a Phillips eco-classic (still halogen design but different internal design) then the Mirabella Energy Saving Slim Line (New Twisty design and with reported ridiculously long lifespan).
Materials:
• Three Lightbulbs, Reqular Halogen, Efficient Halogen and new Energy Saving Design.
• Lamp, for the lightbulbs
• Thermometer for measuring heat
• Timer for length of time (all 15mins, then 15min cool down).
• Camera for recording temperature increases (Not required but really useful)
• Lamp, for the lightbulbs
• Thermometer for measuring heat
• Timer for length of time (all 15mins, then 15min cool down).
• Camera for recording temperature increases (Not required but really useful)
Method:
0.Place Lamp on table, avoid anything that could increase the temperature such as black surface etc
1. Insert Reqular Halogen
2. Place Thermonitor and Tilt Lamp for best position
3. Turn on Lamp
4. Turn on camera and record (not required but quite helpful for incremental increases)
5. Wait for 15mins and record data
6. Remove Light from lamp and turn off lamp
7. Leave for 15mins to cool down
8. Insert Efficient Halogen
9. Record results for 15mins
10.Remove bulb and cool down for 15mins
11.Insert Energy Efficient Bulbs (New Twisty Design)
12.Record for 15mins
13.Cool Down for 15mins
1. Insert Reqular Halogen
2. Place Thermonitor and Tilt Lamp for best position
3. Turn on Lamp
4. Turn on camera and record (not required but quite helpful for incremental increases)
5. Wait for 15mins and record data
6. Remove Light from lamp and turn off lamp
7. Leave for 15mins to cool down
8. Insert Efficient Halogen
9. Record results for 15mins
10.Remove bulb and cool down for 15mins
11.Insert Energy Efficient Bulbs (New Twisty Design)
12.Record for 15mins
13.Cool Down for 15mins
Results:
Video Below
Discussion of Results
As you can see in the video, the newer design seems to be more effective at not generating heat. Heat is wasted energy from the light bulb and the newer design uses completely different technology which appears to be much more effective. The more surprising results were the efficient halogen, internally it is a new design, but it still seems to waste energy and output the same heat as the regular halogen.
Conclusion
In Conclusion, my hypothesis was right and it technically makes sense. Older designs, even though they are internally changed appear still not to be effective. Trying to fix or upgrade older ideas and technology is fundamentally flawed and starting fresh is the only way to improve on original technology. We are still seeing innovation though new techology such as LED lightbulbs which use a lot less power and can last for 20+ years but they are still more expensive and it isn't clear in the consumer's head whether they are effective. Overall my results do make sense, newer technology designs are more effective in generating less heat and using all electricity as light, which is more efficient.
