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New Technology Provides Effective LED Emergency Light Bars

By Elena McDowell


Human beings get the vast majority of their sensory input through their eyes, and most of their environmental interaction is directed through sight. In any situation, vision is the first and strongest input the brain uses to make even survival level decisions for action or inaction. In crisis situations, the availability of LED emergency light bars can be a life or death condition.

Of all the inventions which have propelled civilization forward in the technological era, the incandescent bulb was perhaps the most significant and least heralded. Without the ability to illuminate the night, life would be much different than it is now. The impact on economies alone would be dramatic if all nighttime activity was restricted or eliminated due to the absence of illumination.

The problems associated with the incandescent bulb are well known to all. They are very fragile, requiring very little impact to crack them and render them useless. The waste a lot of energy in the production of heat, which also means the glass bulb can crack as a result of temperature shock. It has been a struggle to produce them in very small forms which limits their uses in a number of ways.

The genesis of the emitting diodes began as far back as 1907, with the discovery of electroluminescence by an English researcher with the Marconi company, Joseph Round. Considerable research and development into the phenomenon gradually perfected the use of this process. The first commercial emitting diodes appeared in 1962, when the first visible spectrum diode was developed.

There are several ways that the illumination produced from diodes are comparatively superior to incandescent bulbs. What is the most important, from a commercial perspective, is just how well the product is able to convert energy input into lumens. This notion is referred to as luminous efficacy, and this value for diodes surpassed that of incandescent bulbs around the year 2000.

The price of these devices, as with almost every new device, was cost prohibitive for commercial profitability, but this problem was rather quickly overcome through new materials. While the price per bulb may still be higher, the lifetime cost of the product is much smaller due to increased durability. The lifetime of a typical incandescent bulb is between 1,000 and 2,000 hours, while the typical emitting diode bulb boasts a lifetime the 25,000 to 100,000 hours.

In practical use, diode based bulbs function better in cooler temperature, peaking at around minus 30 degrees, which should make them ideal for freezers refrigerators or outdoors in northern tier climates. Their heat efficiency, however, means that frost or sow can accumulate and degrade their luminescence, though a simple heating coil addition can resolve the problem, this does degrade their electrical efficiency, a price most find acceptable for outdoor uses.

The efficiency and durability of light emitting diodes, combined with the ability to manufacture them in very small sizes compared to their incandescent or fluorescent counterparts make them an ideal new product. Their reliability and durability put them in an important place in society, and even more so when crises occur. The invention of LED emergency light bars presents a huge step forward in emergency protective equipment.




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