“Cooler” Light

I made a small but significant improvement in my workshop this weekend.  For a number of years I have been using a series of clip-on task lights that allow me to "point" a 100-watt bulb at the area or tool on which I am working.   I usually clip the lights to the rafters above my head and point them directly at my work. I sometimes I use two or more of these lights at once (like when I am using the lathe).

The lights have always worked great, but I always end up breaking a sweat from all of the heat that they generate just above my head.  This weekend I replaced the regular incandescent light bulbs with 100-watt equivalent compact-fluorescent light bulbs.  The compact-fluorescent bulbs generate almost no heat and are every bit a bright.  Plus they use 47% of the energy and last 10 times longer than the regular light bulbs.   Nice change.

About mattsanf

Matt Sanfilippo is the Chief Partnership Officer (CPO) for the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Co-Director of its Engineering Research Accelerator. In this role, Matt coordinates and enables strategic and sponsored research opportunities across the college, and stewards the development of proposals for major research opportunities along strategic themes. Additionally, he enables collaboration among the college's research institute/center executive directors, and industrial and government relations personnel in the pursuit of opportunities with industry, federal and state governments. Before becoming CPO for the College, Matt was the Senior Executive Director for Research Initiatives, the Executive Director of CMU's SII (Smart Infrastructure Institute) and ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems), and Associate Director of PITA (Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance) and RAMP (Research for Advanced Manufacturing in Pennsylvania). Before CMU, Matt was Managing Director of Applied Technology for Michael Baker Corporation, an engineering and energy services firm. Matt managed Baker's technology division including Geographic Information System (GIS), software and web development, multimedia, virtual reality, visualization, Global Positioning System (GPS), mapping and surveying services. Before joining Baker, Matt was an Innovation Director for Redleaf Group, a Venture Capital/Operating Company focused on information security, supply chain and mobility solutions. While at Redleaf, Matt managed technical due diligence for seed-stage investments and coordinated relationships between Redleaf and their partner companies. Prior to Redleaf, Matt was CIO of GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, an infrastructure engineering firm, and operations manager for their Internet start-up that focused on web-technologies for health and safety and manufacturing metrics. Matt is on the board of Larson Design Group (LDG), past Chairman of the Board for the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, current board member of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), current Vice President of the Sewickley Heights Gun Club (SHGC) and former member of the Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania State University Beaver. Matt is also former Vice President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals and former Vice President of the Board of Trustees for Baker Combined Charity of Pennsylvania.

Posted on October 16, 2006, in Tools and Shop. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. I am a big fan of compact fluorescent light bulbs. In my home, I have replaced all of the incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. The power savings is significant.
    What happens when a compact fluorescent bulb burns out? For an incandescent bulb the filament burns up and breaks. No fire hazard. Well, about two months ago I had a compact fluorescent bulb physically burn out and started to smoke and just about ready to catch fire! Fortunately no damage was done.

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