30 Percent More Efficient Halogen Lamp
At the 1997 Hannover Fair both Osram and Philips presented a new dichroic reflector halogen lamp that utilizes an infra-red reflective coating on the inner halogen capsule to reflect heat back to the filament, thereby reducing energy consumption. This low-voltage lamp consumes ~30 percent less energy than the equivalent best dichroic low-voltage halogen lamp. It can be used as a direct retrofit for standard halogen lamps. 30 Percent More Efficient Halogen Lamp
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Osram is the only manufacturer claiming that the new lamp can be on the market this year (and, in fact, was the only one who actually could present a functional prototype). Osram will launch the new lamps in two wattages: a 50-W (nominal wattage!) lamp that can directly replace a 65-W lamp and a 35-W version to replace a 50-W lamp.
According to Osram, the new lamp has the same life as their "Titan" range of low-voltage halogen lamps presented a couple of years ago (4 000 hours). When the Titan lamps were first introduced, their reflector was superior to that of the standard lamps, and the new "IRC" lamp has a reflector that projects the light more evenly, according to Osram.
Osram clearly has chosen to target the retail sector in their marketing. The lamp will be about 30% more expensive, according to Osram. But this price should still be very attractive to most shops, which can be illustrated by the following example from Sweden. (1 USD ≈ SEK 7.50) The example assumes a that the user is a medium-sized clothing store. Burning hours are assumed to be 3 000 hours/ year. Lamp prices are unclear¯a large retail chain is likley to pay less for the lamps.
In Scandinavia, for example, where the price of electricity is relatively low, a shop with about 300 lamps will save 13 500 kWh /year or appr SEK 6000 (~$800 (including the lamp costs) by replacing old 65-W lamps with the new 50-W lamp. This does not include the benefits of reduced cooling loads or the benefits of customers that are spared from excess heat emitted from the lamps. A similar retail store in Germany or Denmark, where the price of electricity is higher, would save more money on the electricity bill.
Nils Borg