new light for the bandsaw

[Ken S]

Twenty years ago I bought a garden variety magnetic light for my bandsaw. (60 watt incandescent). It works well, but heats up quickly. I changed a worn blade today. In the past year I have learned how cool LED bulbs are to the touch. Next trip to the hardware store I will pick up an LED bulb for the bandsaw. No more burned fingers!

Ken

[Hatchcanyon]

Our whole workshop - hobby only - is now lighted by LED, mostly LED-tubes as replacements for fluorescent lamps.

The change let to a large improvement and a lot of saved energy too. My absolute recommendation!

Rolf

[Ken S]

Thanks, Rolf.

Ken

[Hatchcanyon]

One of the great advantages of LED tubes against fluorescent ones ist that the LEDs have an angle of radiation of about 150° not as the fluorescent types of 360°. That means that less than 1/2 of the lumen produces the same brightness below the lamp as the old types do.

2 years ago I replaced two 36 Watt fluorescent tubes with two 22 Watt high efficiency LEDs. The result on my workbench was nearly a doubling of brightness.

One also has to consider that the fluorescent tubes need more energy than printed on them. The starter circuit consumes additional 4 - 7 Watts per tube. If one replaces the old tubes consider to remove the starter circuit too but this might need help of a person with electrical knowledge. (I'm an electronics engineer)

I work our house for years to reduce electrical power consumption. In 2005 we consumed about 6.300 Watts, this year will we come out at 3.600.

Rolf

[Jan]

I work our house for years to reduce electrical power consumption. In 2005 we consumed about 6.300 Watts, this year will we come out at 3.600.

The terms power and energy are frequently confused. In my understanding you have reduced your yearly energy consumption from 6 300 kWh (kilowatt-hours) in 2005 to 3 600 kWh now. 

Jan

[Ken S]

Early in my work life, I spent two years reading electric meters. jan, you are correct about the designation. Rolf, you run a very power efficient house!

Ken

[Hatchcanyon]

The terms power and energy are frequently confused. In my understanding you have reduced your yearly energy consumption from 6 300 kWh (kilowatt-hours) in 2005 to 3 600 kWh now. 

I feel power is more correct even if one can say "energy" too. Depends how long the power is used.

We reduced power to save energy.  In Germany such an amount of electrical energy for a house with 2 people is not considered very efficient. To earn this award an additional reduction of maybe 1000 kWh per year might be necessary. (ok, not all people have to power a woodworking shop) The new tumble dryer may contribute additional 350 kWh bringing us nearer to 3.250 KWh. (Old technique = condensation dryer, new one = heat pump exchanger) And maybe we could replace a freezer 13 years old.

Only as an example: 13 years ago we used a lamp over our dining table with 120 Watt bulbs, today we have 10 Watt LED providing the same brightness on the table top.

Rolf

[Ken S]

Rolf,

As a telephone man, I have had a related hobby interest in electrical wiring. Years ago, the trend seemed to be toward larger gage wire for higher amperage appliances. This seemed illogical to me. I saw the future as higher efficiency, lower amperage.

I think conservation is both necessary and smart.  Keep up the good work.

Ken

[Jan]

Our house with 2 people consumes 2200 kWh of electrical energy per year, but we do not use electricity for cooking. We cook with gas because it is cheaper. On the other hand our house is still illuminated mainly with conventional bulbs.

The reason is simple, before EU banned the sale of classical bulbs, everyone made a proper reserve which we now have to consume. So I am slowly getting ready for transition to LED illumination more or less skipping over the stage of fluorescent bulbs and tubes.

Jan

[Hatchcanyon]

Situations are different from place to place.

Cooking with gas wouldn't be an option for us, we have no gas supply. We use electricity and I don't know how much this needs.

One of the consuming things we have is the need for some outdoor lighting, especially in the dark half of the year but this has switched to LED too. We also have a freezer and a second fridge, both are more that 13 years old.

Nevertheless 2200 kWh is a good level!  Maybe our three cats waste electricity clandestinely?

Rolf

[Jan]

Years ago, the trend seemed to be toward larger gage wire for higher amperage appliances. This seemed illogical to me. I saw the future as higher efficiency, lower amperage.

Ken

Ken, the path to lower amperage is higher voltage. The choice of voltage has mainly historical reasons and its change would be extremely expensive. Even more since Thomas Edison time the 120 V is considered to be a "safe" voltage for customers. 

Jan

[Hatchcanyon]

Ken, the path to lower amperage is higher voltage. The choice of voltage has mainly historical reasons and its change would be extremely expensive. Even more since Thomas Edison time the 120 V is considered to be a "safe" voltage for customers. 

Jan

I could not have said this better myself! Edison was the "Bad Guy", also with its DC systems. He was totally outperformed by Tesla and Westinghouse.

Today the United States may be considered as one of the largest copper depots worldwide. Changing voltage to standard 220/230 Volt would eliminate need for 75% of the copper now used for wiring reducing cost enormously. But at least they drive on the "right" side! 

Rolf

[Ken S]

Jan and Rolf,

As much as I admire Thomas Edison, I totally agree with you about the benefits of alternating cyrrent and higher voltage. It is too bad that when North America essentially standardized on 60Hz early on that we did not standardize on 220 volts. Every time I dry my hands with an electric hot air dryer, I look at the "20 amp 110 volts" label and think "How stupid is this?"

Ken

[Jan]

You are correct Ken, the 120 V voltage is today too low and it has serious consequences.   

The European standard 220 V (now 230 V) was introduced in 1899 by a Berlin electrical utility and the 50 Hz frequency was a decision of AEG company (60 Hz in US is a Westinghouse decision).

Evenmore in northern and central Europe, residential electrical supply is commonly 400 V three-phase electric power (this is rare in UK).  The 230 V are between any phase and neutral. 

The installed power for my house is 3 x 400 V / 25 A = 30 000 W = 30 kW. I of course do not use this capacity, because we are heating with gas.

Some 30 year ago I bought in France an ancient AC electro-mechanical voltmeter, which is still fully functional.

Jan

[Ken S]

Jan

Your post is most interesting. In the US three phase power is generally reserved for industrial areas. However, this is not always the case. The small school my grandchildren attend has three phase power.

Residential power is almost exclusively 220 volts, with most of the circuits using one side (110 volts). This seems antique, but it is traditional and even more difficult to change to than going metric.

I used a volt ohm meter similar to yours for many years at work. ((It still works, although I now have more sophisticated test meters.) We used a 100 "point" system rather than Ohms. Surprisingly, the system worked reasonably well. I was an early convert to Ohms at work.
I don't know why we did not all use Ohms all along.

Ken

Ken