Man, how impatient are we in our comfortable, high-tech palaces? It seems we can?t even wait for a lightbulb to fire up after we hit the switch. But don?t worry, you over-entitled fusspots, GE has you covered with its complicated new Hybrid Halogen-CFL light bulb.
The problem: CF, or compact-fluorescent bulbs take a while to get to full brightness. Depending on the model, they can take a large chunk of a minute to get up to speed. My parents, for instance, sit in the dark for what seems like forever when I Skype them and they turn on the light in the ?computer room?. My CF lamps, though, are at full power almost instantly.
GE?s solution is to put a tiny halogen lamp inside the bulb, squeezed in alongside the elegantly looping CF-tube already coiled therein. If nothing else, this intricate device looks like a glass-blowers version of a Swiss watch movement, beautiful and impossible to fathom. When you flick the switch, the halogen bulb lights instantly. When the CF tube comes up to temperature, the halogen lamp blinks out.
I?m inclined to think that this is a solution to a first-world problem, something which only whiners would ever feel a need for. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who refuse to buy energy-saving bulbs because of this warm-up delay, preferring to selfishly burn the planet?s resources for a few seconds of added convenience. If GE?s hybrid bulb can get these self-important idiots to switch over, then I?m all for them.
The bulbs will be on sale in 2011.
GE Unveils Unique Hybrid Halogen-CFL Light Bulb [GE. Thanks, David!]
Press images: GE
See Also:
Beautiful Sculpted Lightbulb Too Good for a Shade
'World's Only' Solar-Powered Light-Bulb
World's First Liquid-Cooled Lightbulb: What's The Point?
LED Lightbulb Lasts 19 Years, Claims Right to Vote
Levitating, Wireless Lightbulb
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