Sic
vos non vobis mellificatis apes
— So
d o yo u b e e s m a k e h o n e y , n o t f o r yo u r s e lv e s .
Virgil
2017 Newsletter of the Signet Society of Harvard College 4 6 D u n s t e r S t r e e t , C a m b r i d g e , M a ss a c h u s e t t s 0 2 1 3 8 • 6 1 7 - 5 4 7 - 0 5 2 6 • S i g n e t S o c i e t y . o r g
The Signet Switched To LEDs, And You Can, Too We were wondering what the Signet can do to help solve the world’s problems (which can seem so large), and thought we’d work on reducing our carbon footprint. Light bulbs are a place to start. Don’t build any coal plants on our account! The Signet has 152 bulbs (we think), in at least 8 different types of fixtures. We had migrated to fluorescents wherever we could, but they have downsides like mercury content, requiring special disposal. Worst have been the curly-tail types, which would occasionally smoke before burning out. If their glass portion breaks, users are sinisterly advised to “leave the area for 10 minutes,” which isn’t practical in a collegiate environ.
It’s the economics that will persuade you. Their operating cost can be a tenth of incandescents and a third of fluorescents. With almost no heat, they reduce air conditioning costs in warmer months. LEDs that replace fluorescent tubes have a directional angle of 140°, so you’re not lighting what you don’t care about.
Some styles are still not available, like the giant mogul bases in our library torchieres, and some artfixture halogens. But given the rapid pace of new styles retrofitted to existing fixtures, these are no doubt on the way.
Happily, the price of LED bulbs has dropped dramatically in the past year, with many more bulb types available in pleasing colors. More than 100 of our replacements cost between $1.50 and $3.50. Some are actually cheaper than the incandescents, fluorescents, and halogen bulbs they replace, especially if you shop at a certain online retailer whose name starts with “A.” We like the warm look of 2700K, which has the homey, yellow aspect of incandescents. (4000K, often called ‘Daylight,’ has the bluer cast of many fluorescent tubes; 5000K is like a dentist’s office, and 6000K is like a Walmart parking lot.)
Our Bulb-Changer-In-Chief, Mark Hruby ’78, points out that “Most students have never paid an electric bill, so they don’t think about turning off lights when they leave a room. They should, but it’s a lot less irksome when the operating cost is so much less.”
These are all LED bulbs, now inexpensively available for many fixture types, in the color spectrum you’d enjoy in your own home.
The best part of LEDs is their very long life. Most claim to last at least 10,000 hours. Replacements for halogen spotlights can last 25,000 hours—art gallery owners should be ecstatic. So, depending on how old you are, there’s an increasing chance that you’ll never have to change that light bulb again!