By now you probably have seen and heard of infrared (IR) technology being used in advanced cooking girls, and if fortunate enough have experienced the taste to its alternative cooking effects that helps preserving moister when grilling with its heat emitting wavelength. But what is meant by IR technology when indicated on advanced halogen light bulbs, and how does it relate to lighting if it’s not visible to the human eye? Though infrared is not a visible light, it is always produced when a light bulb is burning and can be felt as a radiating heat. In understanding of what is going on with IR technology with light bulbs, let’s look at a standard light bulb and build our way in how this technology is utilized into effect to build more efficient lamp.
The standard incandescent lamps that Edison developed are fairly large with a thin glass envelope. Inside the envelope is a gas such as argon or nitrogen surrounding a tungsten filament. When electricity passes through the filament, the metal heats up to about 4,500 degrees F turning fast into a “white hot” glow emitting a great amount of light and a greater amount heat – including infrared heat. Unfortunately, these lamps don’t last long, about 750 to 1000 hours, as the tungsten in the filament evaporates and deposit on the glass till a thinning spot on the filament causes the connection to break, and the lamp is “burned out”. In order to produce more lumen for every watt, and a longer life from a tungsten filament, a hotter temperature has to be obtained, and the filament has to be preserved. To accomplish this, a halogen gas is added to preserve the filament and a more heat resilient envelope made of quartz replaces the glass. Often referred to as a tungsten halogen or a quartz halogen, when burning this halogen light bulbs, good bad or indifferent, it becomes one of the hottest producers of light on the market.
With a greater amount of heat that would otherwise go for not, IR technology allows a way for the lamp to recycle as best as possible the fast escaping heat of the lamp back to the filament to regenerate its higher glowing temperature. To do this, manufactures will use an elliptical shaped envelope and perfectly place the filament at its center, and with microscopic layers of infrared reflective coating applied to the quartz the infrared that leaves the filament is now being bounced back to the center to help reheat the filament. Allowing for the recycling of this heat to brighten the tungsten filament, the halogen light bulb can now use fewer watts to produce its desired burning glow.
Cornelius Vanderkolk having come to Hawaii over 10 years ago, jumped into the lighting industry for his initial career as a consultant in calculating ROI and providing energy efficient lighting solutions servicing home owners, businesses, and commercial properties. In Hawaii where Kwh rate is some of the highest in the nation, he has been instrumental in introducing leading edge LED light bulbs solutions into the markets as they became available and first viable. With the fast evolving developments in LED lighting, he is never short of sharing the fast changing technologies amongst client, colleagues, friends and family and presenting something new that the industry has developed.
Outside his professional interests, he is active in a variety of civic and cultural organizations including Habitat for Humanity, church affiliate welfare programs, and participating in the Hawaii Film Festival. When it comes to outdoor actives, one can often find him climbing trails, swimming, and posting adventures and scenery photos on Facebook.
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