Q&A: Why aren’t High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps being considered as an alternative to Incandescent?
Question by trentrockport: Why aren’t High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps being considered as an alternative to Incandescent?
Here’s a link to a page where they are sold:
http://www.4hydroponics.com/lighting/sodiumbulbs.asp
Here’s a competitor’s link so I’m not accused of playing favorites:
http://www.htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=4&subcategoryID=123&typeID=75
I use them in my greenhouse to artificially lengthen daytime when needed.
They’re twice as efficient as CFL’s, clocking in at upwards of 120 lumens/watt. Compare to 70 lumens/watt for a CFL. Their spectrum is pleasant, they can theoretically be used on an ordinary household dimmer.
Of course, they’re expensive. The smallest of ’em, at 20,000 lumens is comparable to a 2,000 watt (!!!) incandescent.
Produced in quantity, the price would go down I’d think. They actually *do* last 8000-12000 hours rather than my CFL’s which seem to burn out after 500 hours on average.
So… why aren’t they a contender?
Best answer:
Answer by DME B
Because the whole “green” thing is just a scam perpetrated against the American People so that we feel better when everything costs sooooo much more.
If our government really wanted us to be green, there are much simpler ways to make a start. Those light bulbs are one way.
Earth friendly cars have been being made for decades. Why don’t we have them. Solar has been around forever. Etc, etc, etc.
We don’t get the products until the government and/or big business has brainwashed us to how much we need them and found a way to make money from them.
Give your answer to this question below!
3 reasons:
1. They are impractical to make small enough for home lighting applications.
2. They remain more expensive due to materials and parts count than CFL.
3. High Pressure=kerblammo! if they break. (Not suited to home use.)
October 8th, 2012 at 2:13 pmYou answered your own question.
They’re too expensive and the smallest of them is way too bright.
How many people want an expensive 2,000 watt light? They are good for street lights and things like that, which is why that is where you usually see them.
I predict that home lighting will end up being LED in the future. It is efficient, can be dimmed, and can produce small amounts of light. LEDs are already the preferred flashlight bulb, and they are now turning up more often in car tail lights and traffic signal lights.
October 8th, 2012 at 2:20 pmI had HPS lamps in the warehouse section of the factory I used to work in. They do not produce good light. It is yellowish but it is cheap for the output. It is also good for parking lots. Metal Halide produces much better light, more like natural sunlight.
October 8th, 2012 at 3:00 pmHPS lamps are very efficient as Watts/lumen, but only produce a single wavelength.
Therefore for most tasks requiring colour recognition it doesn’t help humen eye to see.
I don’t know if it is a suitable frequency for photosynthesis, but it may be that fewer lumens in the green spectrum (eg mercury vapour) could produce better results
October 8th, 2012 at 3:10 pm