LED Blog: LED Lighting And All Things Green

Cao Group LED Bulb

Always on the lookout for companies with new innovative form factors, I found these guys at a recent LED lighting expo and managed to take some spy shots. These bulbs are amazing! They actually took about 18 LEDs and fit them onto a pinpoint giving TRULY omnidirectional light, just like a lightbulb! They were blindingly bright too.

That’s not all…. the LED light bulb can be unscrewed! You take off the glass cap, unscrew the LED, and pop in a new one. Talk about reducing waste. Hats off to you Cao Group!

The only issue? Since they’re packing so many LED’s into a tiny spot, and trying to make it fit in the shape of smaller bulbs, the heatsink must stay small, and therefore so as not to overheat, the most powerful bulb can only go up to 3W. About equivalent to a 35W incandescent bulb.

Cao Group Candelabra Bulb and Mini Spotlight

Energy Ball - Powered by the Wind, Sadly not Chi

I’ve decided to expand the realm of the blog to encompass the second half of the title rather only focusing on LED-specific information. As much as I love LED lights (and could talk about them all day) I feel that broadening your horizons ultimately makes you a better, more well rounded person.

I found this energy ball (unfortunately not the Kamehameha variety) while trolling through the interwebs, and it’s pretty, and pretty innovative. It’s basically a small wind turbine in a round configuration that provides increased efficiency and quieter operation than conventional windmill-style versions. It can operate in relatively low winds and can provide up to 15% of the energy of a typical Swedish family. For fat American’s I’d say cut that by 1/3rd, so maybe it can power 1/2 a PS3. The added benefit (or detriment depending on how you see it) is that it’s less likely to make spontaneous chicken (or bat) nuggets for you throughout the day.

A turbine is a turbine is a turbine, you say? Well then I guess you you haven’t seen enough turbines. A large factor for the purchase of any consumer is form (vs. function), so having such a cute-looking windmill ball on the top of your house could make you the envy of your neighbors as well as providing a service to the environment. The other big factor is cost, so if they can make these at a good price point, I’d love to get a couple and put them outside. I would even name each of them after obscure DragonBall attacks.

[Via Inhabitat]