Luxim’s plasma lightbulb, tiny and ultra-efficient
A new technology that promises to deliver ultra-efficient plasma light-bulbs, better than LEDs was developed by Luxim of Sunnyvale, California. At the size of a Tic-Tac this tiny lightbulb can provide as much light as a street lamp.
The technology seems to be simple, at least for them. It’s partially packed in a dielectric material, has argon gas inside and a component called “puck”. The process goes like this: electric energy is being sent inside, the puck acts as a lens and heats up the argon gas up to 6,000 degrees Kelvin which in return gives off ultra-efficient bright light similar to the spectrum of sunlight.
Using 250 watts, it achieves 140 lumens per watt which is way above the standard lightbulbs and even high-end LEDs that will get 15 to 70 lumens per watt.
“A key advantage is that the energy is driven into the bulb without any electrodes, so you don’t need any electrical connections to get the energy into the bulb,” Luxim CEO Tony McGettigan explained to ZDNet.
As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I find this advancement to be exciting. Currently, we sell quite a few compact fluorescent bulbs, but many of our customers have concerns about their mercury content. If this technology were to become scaled down to a size that could be utilized by the average consumer, it would be far more efficient (in terms of lumens per watt) than compact fluorescents, and presumably less toxic.
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