Wastes?
written by Russell , December 01, 2007

Florescent bulbs don't waste very much energy, and most of what they do waste is in the form of heat. It looks like it's just a little pickup loop wrapped around the tube. If that's what it is, then it would show up as an additional load on the tube's transformer.

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written by EatingOrange , December 01, 2007

But I would think the additional load on the light tube would be rather minuscule compared to the waste that would be generated by having a DC transformer plugged in to an outlet. Maybe the boss could just get off his ass and see if you're doing anything? There are a lot of ways to measure employee productivity and most of them don't involve spy cameras.

The real selling point is that you need only have access to a bare fluorescent tube to make it work.

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written by Russell , December 02, 2007

DC transformers aren't that wasteful. Most of the little wall-wart guys you get with electronics are better than 90% efficient. They do draw a tiny load when they are plugged in but not in use, but the real waste comes from the fact that many electronic devices don't actually stop drawing power when they are supposedly off.

I think this product is really for convenience, not energy efficiency. Most buildings don't have outlets on the ceiling, which is where you'd normally install a camera. This way, you don't have to snake an excension cable over the tops of the ciling tiles.

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written by Bryan , December 02, 2007

There's actually quite a lot to know about fluorescent technology; especially the ever popular CFL. So Cal Edison has a great site where you can learn more about CFLs and even take a pledge to replace a regular light bulb with a CFL. Check it out: www.sce.com/pledge

Right.
written by Erndog , December 03, 2007

I remember quite well the respectable magazine covers touting the soon-to-be "Atomic Cars". Sure looked promising!! So did the atomic powered trains and planes. (The air force actually developed an atomic plane in Idaho, but the weight/exposure ratio killed it) As for the backyard reactor, dream on. Being in the industry, I can tell you it has no possibility of fruition. Between licensing, pre-paid decommisioning costs, continuous monitoring, not to mention the possibility of accidently digging it up, or just hitting it with the ever-so-careful utility worker excavators, it ain't gonna happen.
Nice thought, though, but poorly thought out.

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written by Andrew , December 03, 2007

Unfortunately it seems that this camera requires that the light be on all the time. Also, it only works with fluorescents, not LEDs. Thus, this is not green at all. Invest in a camera that works in low light and turn the light off at night, save the environment.

HELP!!!!!!!
written by anja paspalj , December 11, 2007

can u tell us hu mad ethis product, wen nd how??? i need it fr my scince project!!!!