Silver conductivity

[WonderWoman]

COuld I make a lampshade out of sheet silver?

Would it get too hot and be dangerous?

 

[Vormulac]

Hi WW,

I'm not expert in such things, but metal lampshades are not at all unusual in my experience, so I can't see why not. You would have to experiment with how close to mount to the bulb and bulb wattage to see where you stand with the heat issue. (often the little spotlights you see for sale have metal shades/surrounds and they do get very hot, my guess would be they are mounted to something heat resistant)

Just my thoughts on the subject.

V.

 

[Adam]

The bigger the sheet the more of a heatsink it would become. So it would "wick" more of the heat away from the source (the bulb). Thus the bigger the sheet of silver, the cooler it would be.

However, halogen lamps run mugh higher temperatures so your suggestion needs to be properly researched.

You could start at wikipedia? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightbulb

See this "relevant bit"...

Quality halogen incandescents are closer to 3.5% efficiency, which, although still extremely low, will allow a 60 W bulb to provide nearly as much light as (and a 75 W to provide even more than) a non-halogen 100 W. However, small halogen lamps are often still high-power, causing them to get extremely hot. This is both because the heat is more concentrated on the smaller bulb surface, and because the surface is closer to the filament. This high temperature is essential to their long life (see the section on halogen lamps above). Left unprotected, these can cause fires much more easily than a regular incandescent, which may only scorch easily flammable objects such as drapery. Most safety codes now require these bulbs to be protected by a grid or grille, or by the glass and metal housing of the fixture. Similarly, in some areas halogen bulbs over a certain power are banned from residential use.

I'd suggest that proper heat source / power / temperature / heatsink calculations should be undertaken for safety.

Adam

 

[WonderWoman]

What about a tube of silver around one of those lit tealights?

 

[Adam]

What about a tube of silver around one of those lit tealights?

Well, I made a tea light holder in wood, so I doubt you'd have problems in silver. See these pictures ....

Adam

PS, I can't claim any credit for this first picture - it was the first members project I hit upon!

 

[CHJ]

COuld I make a lampshade out of sheet silver?

Would it get too hot and be dangerous?

If the lamp is for use on mains (240v) voltage; It is is essential that any supply plug and cable has an earth core and that a metal Lamp Holder and supports are used so that the metalwork in the shade is earthed.

This is a legal requirement to ensure your safety is covered as far as is practical.

Heat is unlikely to be your problem, but accidental contact with broken bulb elements is a possibility, especially if it is a table lamp that can be knocked over.

 

[Midnight]

COuld I make a lampshade out of sheet silver?

almost certainly... it'd be pretty expensive and would tarnish readily, but theoretically there's nothing to stop you...

Would it get too hot and be dangerous?

silver is the optimum conductor; the standard by which others are measured; makes no difference if it's heat or electricity, it'll conduct both really well... but don't let that put you off.. there's ways and means to mitigate that... clever design would allow proper heat dissipation (tube within a tube with air-flow between the two)..

Proper product selection would minimise the amount of heat it needs to dissipate in the first place... forget incandescent or halogen; both are basically heaters that emit light as a byproduct... use hi power LED arrays instead.. lets you use low voltage wiring, low current switching and the neat generated is negligible...

 

[WonderWoman]

Adam-nice tealight holders! Your my mums dream carpenter.

Thanks for all the info.