Mercury vapor light ban

[sonnyndad]

My favorite type of HID light will be banned in 2016. A lighting enthusiast has made a petition to help keep mercury vapor lights around. It you have a name and an email address, you can help.

http://www.petitiononline.com/16mercvp/petition.html

 

[electrolux137]

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I'm not so concerned about Mercury Vapor lights, but I sure was hopping mad when incandescent bulbs got killed. There is NO other bulb that gives the same warm hue of light as an incandescent bulb.

Imagine my surprise when I went into Red Tag today (a variety store around the corner from my church) and saw a shelf full of 100-watt incandescent bulbs. 4 bulbs for 99¢. I bought every box on the shelf.

 

[sonnyndad]

I am aware that this is Vacuumland and not Lighting Gallery, and vacuum collectors will not care so much about lights. But, on Lighting Gallery, we are trying to get as many signatures as we possibly can before the bill takes effect. Mercury Vapor is a much loved type of lighting because, as you mentioned, some lights emit a specific color that many people find very pleasant. Including me. I have over 250 watts worth of DX mercury vapor burning in my room right now. I beg of anyone who reads this to sign their name on the petition to try to keep mercury vapor alive. Even if only one member on this site signs their name, it would be worth my time to post the thread. No other light bulb emits the beautiful fuschia-magenta colors upon startup, and we believe that future generations should be able to enjoy that aswell. So please! Help make a Difference!

 

[tolivac]

Mercury vapor bulbs still have a place in the lighting world-they are still good for parking lot lighting,and street lighting.They are long lived,inexpensive,and have good lumen output over the life of the bulb.I have some mercury vapor lights in my lighting equipment collection-its almost like the vacuum regs-politicians should keep their noses out of things they know NOTHING about!!!As a whole HID mercury bulbs have greater lumen per watt than any of the incandscent lighting family.-and longer life.Over the life of ONE mercury bulb you would replace MANY incandescent ones.Oh yes--mercury vapor bulbs are preferred for building face lighting and outdoor plant lighting-the blue with green tint of the mercury bulbs bring out the greens in plants that many folks like.And like flourescent bulbs mercury bulbs can be inside phospor coated to further improve their efficiency and color quality.Ballasting for these is simple,too.If someone is concerned about mercury content-modern flourscent and mercury bulbs have LESS mercury in them than before-lamp makers have found the performance and efficiency of the lamp improved with LESS mercury-the amount is under 50 milligrams-contrasted to several times that before.And the less mercury contributes to less arc tube blackening-lowering the efficiency and life of the bulb.

 

[tolivac]

I signed the petition-too bad there isn't one for incandscent lamp fans!The parking lot and grounds where I work is lit by 250,400W mercury lights.

 

[constellation86]

833 amps to light a parking lot! Glad I don't have to pay that bill!
Nicholas

 

[sonnyndad]

833???

Where'd you get that from? Here, I'll help you. 250 luminaries x400 watts per luminaire =100,000 watts total. 100,000 watts divided by 277 volts=361. Multiply that by power factor of ~0.9 and you get 324 amps. Still a lot, but not 833.

 

[tolivac]

I will have to rephrase the statement---the lot is lighted by 250W and 400W fixtures.10 400W and 14 250W these run off a photocell controlled 120A 208V 3ph contactor.So the current is more modest.There is no 480V/277V at this plant-main is 208/120 stepped down from 4160V.The building is fed with 3P 4160V 1600A per phase.Most of that goes to the transmitters.The lighting here is nothing compared to the transmitters.I am impressed by the outdoor lighting here-the system is 50yrs old and functions well.Only a few ballasts have been replaced.The bulbs used are the Mercury clears.We have phosphored ones in stock-but don't use them.And there are a couple of GE 215W high pressure sodium "conversion" bulbs.Our pump room is now lit by 4 400W probe start metal halide.Sylvania clear bulbs.Only one has been replaced over a 5yr period.These lamps are on all the time.Much better than the old incandescnet lamps.Only one fixture has been replaced on the outside--a 400W one.I have the fixture rescued it from the trash.So far I have a 400W HP sodium ballast in it-somewhere I have a 400W MH ballast-this one can run either mercury or 400W probe start MH bulbs-just have to find it from one of my "junkboxes".I can run a MH "conversion bulb in the fixture-better than the HP sodium-white light.

 

[constellation86]

I used 100,000 watts / 120 volts = 833 amps. I never thought about 3 phase.
I still wouldn't want to pay the bill on 24 bulbs!

 

[tolivac]

Most very large lighting systems use 3ph power.The lights are equally distributed between the phases so as to load the phases equally.Again at my plant the lighting cost is nothing----Its the cost of the transmitters-some pull 120A per phase @4160V!Now the management is VERY concerned about the power cost of the transmitters.Going by the current draw as marked on spare ballasts-the total draw of our lights would be 45A@208V-this could be divided to 15A per phase.This plant is getting by easy compared to parking lots of the shopping centers here.The shopping centers here have 1Kw MH lamps-and more fixtures than what the transmitter site has-they have more area to light.Bright parking lots are also more attractive to shopping center customers.The new Wal Mart here has LED parking lot lights-like our Mercurys better and my MH lights at home better.The light from the LEDS is very "Cold" in appearence4 not real attractive-and kinda dim.Sometimes the LED lights flicker on and off.The enighboring Food Lion MH lighting looks MUCH better!!!!