Fluorescent street lighting a possibility but filament lamps still the best
✍ Scribed by R.H.O.
- Book ID
- 103078418
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1945
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 69 KB
- Volume
- 240
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0016-0032
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✦ Synopsis
Fluorescent Street Lighting a Possibility but Filament Lamps Still the
Best.--City streets illuminated by brilliant columns of light and glowing fluorescent bars may be a possibility, but according to engineers of the General Electric Illuminating Laboratory, it will be some time before modern cities assume the spectacular appearance of the pseudoscience writer's dream. The present filament lamps are still the most efficient street lighting source in terms of cost and good lighting.
The possibility, of fluorescent street lighting is not being overlooked, however, by General Electric engineers, who are constantly working to overcome the difficulties presented by fluorescent lighting, a method which may have the advantage of nearer and more attractive appearance.
Fluorescent lamps offer possibilities for many beautiful as well as spectacular effects such as luminous pylons like those employed on world's fair roadways. Moreover, with fluorescent lamps it is possible to produce striking color effects without any loss in lighting efficiency such as occurs when colored "gelatins" are placed around ordinary filament lamps.
In spite of the decorative possibilities offered by fluorescent street lighting, the problems before engineers at present are items of cost per dollar of operation in respect to the amount of visibility obtained and factors of public safety.
Though the installation of fluorescent lighting units upon standards now in use and with existing circuits offers no serious difficulties, the drawbacks of such a system outweigh its advantages. First of all, a fluorescent lamp, unlike the filament type, is highly sensitive to weather conditions. Cold temperatures necessitate jacketing of the lamp to prevent losses in light output.
At present, the principal disadvantages of a fluorescent street lighting system lie in the realms of maintenance and operation, for in many cases light efficiency, glare and visibility have no marked difference over the lamps now in use.
The prime consideration in any new type of lighting is the benefit to be received by the public in terms of visibility obtained per dollar of total lighting cost, regardless of the spectacular appearance which a new unit might present. In this respect fluorescent light, as it has been developed thus far, cannot compete with the filament lamps in use today.
G-E's engineers, however, point to the history of lighting progress as illustrative of new developments in illumination. It was no overnight switch from gaslight to arc light illumination, and many years passed before the present filament lamps came into universal use in street lighting systems. Such is the case with fluorescent lighting.
While the tubes of "cold" light are practical for home and industrial applications at present, the modern city will have to wait for its spectacular fantasy of light until the time when engineers have adapted successfully the fluorescent light to meet the requirements of modern street lighting. R. H. O.