Electrode-less sulfur lamp . . . remember those words. They make up what is touted as the newest and greatest in lighting discoveries since Thomas Edison's.

According to the Department of Energy, this sulfur lamp represents a technological breakthrough in lighting.So what's the fuss all about?

This is what: Using the electrode-less sulfur lamp, combined with the light pipes, researchers have been able to increase light levels by as much as a factor of four, the energy consumption has been cut by two-thirds and unwanted UV rays have been successfully slashed in half. Pretty impressive.

And there's more. Installation - even retrofitting - of the sulfur lamp and light pipe combination is less expensive than installing or redoing conventional lighting. How much less expensive? The claim is that it is less than half the cost of conventional lighting installation. Plus the light pipes significantly reduce maintenance costs. The reason for this is that the pipes and lamps can be positioned in easy access locations while the illumination is well distributed throughout the intended area.

The lamp: Just to give you an idea of how powerful this light source is, the light emitted from one of these sulfur lamps is equal to more than 250 standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs. Bring your sunglasses!

Electrode-less means that there are no wires connected to the bulb and there is no filament or metal electrode within the bulb.

The new light is still in the research and development stage so we as consumers need to be patient. The release of this product for commercial distribution is at least a year away. So we'll just have to sit patiently in the dark until then.

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