Light bulb of the future.

[Jeff]

I wish I would have known about this sooner. I would have tried to find the money to throw at it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limemouse/lifx-the-light-bulb-reinvented

[fishpharmer]

You can still donate with no reward.  It is a neat idea. 

The whole kckstarter idea is pretty cool itself.

[Jeff]

Doesn't every option say sold out?

[Ianab]

Yeah, but you can still send them money, just you don't get a light bulb.

May as well wait until the 2nd batch is built, using the profit from the first run, and actually buy one then.

The technology looks good. LEDs are a good source of light and they probably use a little ARM processor in each lamp to do the communication and dimming. Changing the colour is just matter of adjusting the individual Red/Green/Blue LEDs that are making up the while light. Think they need to work on a web interface for it, and maybe a standalone control panel. Bit of pain to have to find you phone to adjust the lights....

But the technology is all pretty normal stuff, just they have tied it all together.

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

Pretty dang cool stuff. I don't think CFL's are much good. They say 5 years on the boxes and you do well to get 3, even when hardly used. We have some here and they sure aren't being used to burn the # of hours they claim. Also, gotta watch what your buying, the type of light, the output and hours. But still the hours from what I'm seeing ain't even close.

[mad murdock]

Now that is just too cool!! Thanks for posting that up Jeff! Now I want to re-tool the lighting in the house S D, the only way I was ever able to get any serious life out of a CFL, has been to leave the light on all the time, then I would have it last more that 4 years, believe it or not! Kind of defeats the purpose of goIng wih an energy saving bulb tough. These LifX bulbs look about as revolutionary as Mr. Edison's original idea!

[sprucebunny]

I like the LED light bulb idea but I won't be buying a $400 phone and the WiFi stuff and paying $80 a month to control it !!

Call me cheap and hand me a flashlight  :D

[doctorb]

Slow down a little guys.  Sure it's cool.  Does all kinds of things you don't need and a few that you might.  But what is going to be the cost of these bulbs?????  Saving on energy costs has to take into account the cost of this new technology.  Heck, I own an iPhone and I am not sure the cost of these bulbs will make me want to turn a light from white to blue when I am at work.  If it were such a great idea and investment, do you think that they would be asking for tiny donations online???  And the technology may not be proprietary, meaning that other people can make this same type of bulb without infringing on your product.  So.....slow down a litlle.

[Jeff]

I'm not interested in investing in it to make money, or to save money. Sometimes cool just overrides common sense.  The same guy that bought a video disc player in about 1981.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chgt9y0Insw

[doctorb]

I hope you still have that! :D  Might be worth something????

[SwampDonkey]

No worries here Doc, no money for such toys.  :D

[Paul_H]

Call me cheap and hand me a flashlight 

Me too  ;)

[Al_Smith]

  S D, the only way I was ever able to get any serious life out of a CFL, has been to leave the light on all the time, then I would have it last more that 4 years, believe it or not!  !

Too much ado about the almighty CFL's .All they really are is a redesigned self ballasted flourescent bulb which has been around for decades .The way the envelope is designed on CFL's produces more surface area there fore they illuminate better .

With any flourscent tube ,bulb,lamp or whatever you want to call them you wear the light out by starting them .

Truth be known LED's are probabely a better choice for higher illumination on less power consumption than CFLs' .You know the good old gov though money can buy just about anything .

They whined and cried until they took freon off the market now incandescent light bulbs knowing full well any flourescent tube contains mercury .What next ,ten dollar bulb that has a toxic waste label on it and costs 30 bucks to dispose of ? Good grief !

[OneWithWood]

For Joan and Paul



keep it in a safe place, like under a bushel basket  :D ;)

Jeff, we actually have one of those at Elm House with about 200 titles. 

[Paul_H]

keep it in a safe place, like under a bushel basket  :D ;)

Hide it under a bushel,no I'm gonna let it shine.

[Cypressstump]

regarding CFL's,,, they are not quite the cats meow either. Thye have a reputation of burning out the ballast on the base, it happend to me twice now. The burnouts have casued house fires to others, I caught mine as it was arcing out.. :-\

[Al_Smith]

Like I say too much ado about CFL's .The idea is old as the hills just the design is relatively new .

Now you just watch before too long the danged things will get the greenies up in arms when they end up in a land fill .Oh the legislation that will come of that will be far reaching .They'll make as big of a deal out of that as they did freon 12 before it's all over .

[Jeff]

Here is another amazing lighting invention. I'd get a bunch of them and turn off the regular lights.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/282006

[Ianab]

I saw that gravity light online the other day. Sure looked like an interesting idea. Basically the same principle as the old clocks with the weights that you had to lift up again each week. Just running an efficient little generator and an LED instead.

No rules of physics are broken, you supply the energy by lifting up a bag of rocks. In return you get 30 mins of light. No battery needed so that keeps down the cost. Gravity is the battery.

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

Hey, I still have to wind my "old" clocks every 7 days. :D

On another note, I had to replace a 26 watt cfl after a year and it hasn't been used 500 hrs.  So when it says I save $220 over 5 years on electricity, where did the $220 and 5 years go? :

[Larry]

I'm not ready for a light bulb of the future.  Still enjoying my lava lamp along with the Moody Blues and Led Zeppelin. ;D

I'm not sure I could take much more high tech. :D

[Jeff]

Not a lightbulb, but a receptacle. A little pricy, but i wish I had a few. 
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e81a/?srp=13

[Raider Bill]

I'm not ready for a light bulb of the future.  Still enjoying my lava lamp along with the Moody Blues and Led Zeppelin. ;D

I'm not sure I could take much more high tech. :D

What no black light and posters ;D?

[Al_Smith]

There was some phenominum about black lights and ladies under garments or lack there of which was obvious if I recall right .Perhaps that was the intent of the light show .I didn't mind at the time . ;D

[mad murdock]

Hey, I still have to wind my "old" clocks every 7 days. :D

On another note, I had to replace a 26 watt cfl after a year and it hasn't been used 500 hrs.  So when it says I save $220 over 5 years on electricity, where did the $220 and 5 years go? :

SD didn't you know that when you burn CFL's you jump through the space-time continuum? I find time really speeds up with them DanG things!

[OneWithWood]

Good post, Jeff.  I think I will install one or two in the addition to the barn I am building.