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I have already done my prototype for the heated door seal and it is working great. I think that sticking with the auto/safety issue the only natural way to go is to start looking at how LED's are going to affect safety. It is already evident that stop lights on transport trailers are LED for the most
part anymore. They do not generate enough heat to melt snow and quickly become unable to see. The same with our traffic lights up north here. So the idea would be to utilize the electricity that is already available with the same sensor that I have on my door seal heater. It would come on when the temp gets to 5 deg cel and maintain a constant temp of 17 deg cel. This would keep all of the lights visible from the distance that they were designed to be seen from. Of course Arizona is not going to be interested in something like this, but from what I have seen...there are plenty stop lights that could benefit...wish me luck and let me know what you think.
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So instead of using old light technology up north, we use the newer LED technology, but add a heating element, and a heat sensor. |
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I'll bun it, under the assumption that the increased efficiency of the new LED lights will allow this to still be more energy efficient than the old bulbs, even when you factor in added production costs. |
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Why cut in at 5°C and maintain 17? Better
(and easier) to cut in a 3°C and maintain 3°
C, shirley? (Otherwise, you need the
separate sensors for external temperature
and lens temperature). |
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I thought as they got colder, LEDs became more energy efficient. Knowing that, wouldn't you want them to run as cold as possible all the time? |
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I think the 3 degree cutoff is a good one. And there are IR LEDs to be had, too - in case the heating element is too 20th century. |
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What about a hot air heat exchanger running along the exhaust that directs a flow of hot air over the lenses during cold weather, requires only an air pump to operate. |
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// I thought as they got colder, LEDs became more
energy efficient. Knowing that, wouldn't you want them
to run as cold as possible all the time? // |
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You do. They also last longer that way. But you have to
keep the lens (which is not made of LEDs) clear of snow,
so you heat it. |
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// And there are IR LEDs to be had, too - in case the
heating element is too 20th century. // |
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Do IR LEDs produce enough power output in the form of
radiation that will be absorbed efficiently by the lens? Of
course, you could instead use the waste heat of the IR
LEDs, coupled into the lens conductively. But then you'd
just have inefficient heating elements. A heating element
is up to 100% efficient (depending on how you're willing to
accept heat from it). |
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That's not hot enough. If you offer a warm spot you'll soon find birds and bird nests blocking the light. |
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Where could the birds perch that would block the light? If
they nest on top, what's the problem? (The nest will even
provide some insulation, reducing the heating power
requirement.) Why hasn't this been a problem with
incandescent traffic lights, which are self-heating? |
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Just design hot LED's. My 960 Lumen torch gets hot enough so isn't this about a design which melts ice with an appropriate flux of light? |
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Global warming. No more snow problem. |
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