LBNL Researchers Develop a Safe, Efficient Fluorescent Torchiere Lamp
License for Aerosol-based Duct Sealing Technology

LBNL Researchers Develop a Safe, Efficient Fluorescent Torchiere Lamp

Scientists in Berkeley Lab’s Lighting Research Group have developed a safe, energy-efficient compact fluorescent torchiere. The lamp will provide an alternative to imported halogen torchieres, which have caused at least 100 fires and 10 deaths in the U.S. according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Lighting Group, a part of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, is led by scientist Michael Siminovitch, who cooperated with partners in the U.S. lighting industry to bring a prototype design to a manufactured reality within months of conception. Pennsylvania lighting manufacturer, Emess Inc., of Ellwood City, is already selling torchieres based on this design.

“Imported halogen torchieres use tungsten-based halogen sources in the 300-Watt range,” Siminovitch says. “The halogen torchieres have caused one of the largest increases in residential lighting energy use in the U.S. They are consuming more energy than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are saving. They also operate at high temperatures, posing a severe fire hazard. “Halogen lamps are essentially heat sources that happen to generate light.” A recent high-profile example traced to halogen torchieres is the fire that burned jazz musician Lionel Hampton’s New York City apartment. When Siminovitch’s group first saw reports of the fire hazard and high energy use of these lamps more than two years ago, they began doing photometric tests in their lab, measuring the light and heat output of halogen torchieres on the market.

Halogen lamps burn at 1,000 F - so hot that you can’t hold your hands over them - and they heat the ceiling and nearby walls, creating the danger that nearby flammable materials, such as drapes, will catch fire. In comparison, compact fluorescent lamps in the Berkeley Lab design produce a wall temperature of only 100F, cool enough to touch without burning.

As reported by Lighting Group member Erik Page, the Lab developed a number of different CFL-based prototypes, deciding on a two 36-Watt lamp model to compare to the typical 300-Watt imported halogen torchiere. They found that the CFL lamp produced 50 percent more light and used one-fourth the energy of the halogen torchiere.

The Lighting Group estimates that the CFL lamp will save $136 and use 2,000 kilowatt hours less electricity over the 7 year life of the lamp, assuming energy costs of 8¢ per kilowatt-hour. (Halogens also have a much shorter life than CFLs, usually needing replacement after a year or so.)

Lauding the new CFL torchiere, as well as a cooperative program from Emess Lighting, LBNL, and Stanford University, to stage a lamp swap of old, hazardous halogens for the commercial version of the new CFL torchiere, Secretary of Energy Federico F. Peña commented, “This new lighting technology, developed by Dr. Siminovitch and this team at DOE’s Berkeley Lab, will help make our environment safer and cleaner. We are now working with the Environmental Protection Agency to move these new lamps from DOE’s lab into America’s homes.”

Siminovitch, Page, Jeffrey Mitchell, and Linsey Marr have presented their research on halogen torchieres and CFL prototypes at the Association of Energy Engineers Meeting. The Lighting Group also welcomes additional collaborations with the lighting industry. For more information, contact Bruce Davies at Berkeley Lab’s Technology Transfer Department (510) 486-6461.

Excerpted from a story by Allan Chen, in LBNL’s Frontline “Energy”

License for Aerosol-based Duct Sealing Technology

Most residential buildings waste approximately 20% of heating/cooling energy through duct leakage. In the U.S. alone, this translates into an energy loss of over one Quadrillion BTUs derived from non-renewable fossil fuels, at an annual cost of over $5 billion.

Berkeley Lab has devised a rapid, economical technology to seal ducts in “forced air” heating and cooling systems by means of an internally injected aerosol. The new aerosol compound remotely seals holes in ducts and leaks between duct joints, and is effective even after bends and junctions in the ductwork. The duct sealer blows aerosolized adhesive particles into the duct surfaces. The new sealing aerosol is delivered by a portable aerosol sealing apparatus designed for ease of use, which also measures the amount of leakage and provides verification that the sealing has been performed. Popular Science honored the system in its “Best of What’s New in 1996” issue. By sealing ducts, a consumer could realize $300 annual savings in energy costs.

This technology has been licensed to Aeroseal, Inc., a startup company, formed to commercialize the technology in the field of residential and small commercial buildings. Licenses in other fields of use are available.

Information provided by Susan Weintraub, LBNL Technologies