Energy-Hogging Halogen Bulbs Subject of Redesign Effort
October 25, 1996
By Antonio Reaves
Part of the attraction of halogen torchieres are manufacturer's claims
of energy efficiency. Researchers in the Energy & Environment
Division's Lighting Laboratory have discovered, however, that these
claims are often overstated and misleading. In fact, results of tests
performed at the Lighting Laboratory raise questions as to whether
halogen torchieres are even as energy-efficient as table lamps using
incandescents.
A halogen torchiere left on an average of four hours a day probably
costs a PG&E customer as much as $60 a year in electricity. This
cost is about three times as much as table lamps using incandescent
sources. Standard torchieres use high wattage halogen lamps in the
300-600 watt range. Table lamps, on the other hand, typically use
incandescents in the 60-100 watt range, or compact fluorescents in the
18-26 watt range.
Halogen torchieres have other disadvantages. When they are dimmed, for
example, power quality drops significantly, a concern to electric
utilities since drops in power quality have to be made up by costly
adjustments to the power grid. In addition, according to E Source, a
company specializing in energy-efficiency information, both
Underwriters' Laboratory and the Consumer Products Safety Commission
are reviewing halogen torchieres for fire hazard potential. The
torchieres have been banned in several U.S. college dormitories.
The hazards and inefficiencies of halogen torchieres have long been a
concern for Lighting Laboratory researchers Michael Siminovitch and
Erik Page. Recently, E Source estimated that the explosive growth of
halogen torchiere use has essentially wiped out the energy savings of
all compact fluorescent lighting. This spurred Siminovitch and Page to
pursue design and testing of an energy-efficient compact fluorescent
(CFL) version of the torchiere.
First, they redesigned a standard halogen torchiere to accept a 38-watt
CFL and electronic ballast. Next, they tested both a standard halogen
torchiere and their CFL torchiere prototype using the lab's
photogoniometer, a device that measures the intensity and direction of
light exiting from a lamp and fixture. Test results from the
photogoniometer demonstrate that the 38-watt CFL torchiere prototype
nearly produces a light output equivalent to a 300-watt halogen
torchiere.
To hasten production of a marketable CFL torchiere, the Lighting
Laboratory formed a consortium with General Electric and Emess
Lighting, one of the largest portable fixtures manufacturers in the
United States. The consortium hopes to market an energy-efficient CFL
torchiere costing under $50 by next spring. Emess Lighting engineers
are working exclusively on a 55-watt CFL torchiere prototype that will
generate more light output than the 300-watt halogen torchiere.
Instead of dimming, the CFL torchieres will utilize two to three power
levels. Power quality will be better for the CFL torchiere generally,
and will remain steady at different power settings. The cooler
operating temperatures of CFLs greatly reduce fire risk. Because they
last last five times as long and are so much more energy-efficient, the
new CFL torchiere could save PG&E customers more than $350 in
electricity and lamp replacement costs over the life of the CFL (about
seven years).
Page estimates that replacing all halogen torchieres in the United
States with CFL torchieres could save electricity ratepayers more than
$1.5 billion annually and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 11.5
million tons a year.
At 40 million and growing, halogen torchieres
are now the biggest energy user in the lighting industry. A halogen
torchiere is a floor lamp topped with a halogen-gas-filled bulb sitting
in a bowl-shaped reflector that projects light towards the ceiling.
