Time - Man of the Year/Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso/moy/061592/06159921.000

Text File | 1992-09-22 | 2KB | 40 lines

                                                                                THE WEEK, Page 27

HEALTH & SCIENCE

Shine On, and On . . .


From California comes the almost eternal light bulb


    Want a light that will outlast the century and illuminate
your children's homework from kindergarten through high school?
Two small Silicon Valley companies unveiled an electronic bulb
that uses radio waves to produce 20,000 hours of light, or about
14 years of average use. Intersource Technologies Inc. and Diablo
Research Corp. said their new E-Lamp, which fits standard
sockets and uses 75% less juice than ordinary bulbs, will cost
from $10 for residential use to $20 for commercial applications
when the bulbs become available next year.

    Intersource estimates that a single E-Lamp could save
homeowners anywhere from $50 to $100 in electric bills over a
15-to-20 year period. A standard 100-watt incandescent bulb
costs 75 cents and burns as long as 250 days. With a standard
bulb, only 5% of the electricity is converted to light -- the
rest is wasted away as heat. "Until now there has been no
substantial improvement in lighting since the time of Thomas
Edison," boasts Intersource president Pierre Villere.

    The big name in bulbs, General Electric, claims to have
developed equivalent technology two decades ago, but chose not
to pursue it. In 1986 GE executives toured Diablo Research and
examined the E-Lamp project before Intersource obtained the
marketing rights. But GE dismissed the idea that there was a
market for a $20 light bulb.