zlacker

You could just purchase stage lighting.

Stage lighting fixtures use the halogen metal iodide bulbs that he salivates over at the end, and already solve all of the issues he outlined. They provide their own ballasts, are metal shielded, use a lens that acts as a UV shield, have built-in cooling.

In fact the only issues with stage lighting:

1) The cooling wasn't designed to be silent (it isn't expected to be near someone in a near-silent environment)

2) The lamp casing wasn't designed to be near anything flammable (they get very hot)

3) The lens and casing is designed to throw the beam in a very small angle of spread over a reasonably long distance (they're not designed to point at your face from a few feet)

But given that, it seems reasonable that one could put it farther away and reflect it into the space you want lit.

And if he really wanted to go crazy whilst staying with LEDs, then he could just get a few of these: http://pulsarlight.com/products/chroma-range/chromaflood200/ which are used in architectural lighting and each one produces 10k lumens, and they are safe for indoor and outdoor use, are waterproof, and can be driven from standard mains power.

>>buro9+(OP)
There's another issue with stage lighting, which is that they draw enough power to flip most residential circuit breakers and possibly to cause electrical fires as well. You're looking at 500W per lighting unit; 575W for the more modern ones with bluer hue. Most theaters are specially wired from the mains to a bank of "dimmers" that safely provide at least 2000W per circuit.

>>buro9+(OP)
Where can I buy a ChromaFlood200 at? A quick search didn't turn up anything... What does it cost?

>>cauter+51
That should be no problem in Europe, Australia, etc. There are portable 3000W appliances, like kettles, heaters and (Old) vacuum cleaners.

>>Symbio+s1
It's certainly an issue in Europe, especially in older buildings. As an example, my apartment has two breakers - one for the oven, and one for everything else. Which means that in terms of appliance use, I can run my washer, dryer, microwave, or vacuum - attempting to run any two of those at once practically guarantees tripping the breaker.

>>Symbio+s1
I had no idea! In most kitchens here you can flip the circuit breaker by running the microwave and toaster at the same time. I've also occasionally done it by turning the oven light on while both (gas) oven and microwave were in use. Sigh.

What does a kettle need 3000 watts for?

>>adanto+a1
They're being sold in the UK here for GBP £70 (probably excluding VAT at 20%).

http://www.limelitelighting.co.uk/product.asp?code=PulsarChr...

>>Symbio+s1
Not an issue for newly built apartments, perhaps, but I've been living in an old one for the past year and the electricity is just really poorly done. I've had the circuit breaker fail on me while doing laundry (1kw) and warming up some pancakes in the microwave (1kw). And that's without my neighbour being home, as (go figure) we're on the same circuit breaker.

>>radiow+T1
That seems too good to be true. It's difficult to find prices for this product, but a couple of German stores I found charge at least 10x the price:

http://www.arax.de/architektur/preislisten/10_pulsar_leds.pd... (>2500 EUR)

http://www.lightpower.de/fileadmin/user_upload/lightpower/Ho... (1000 EUR, used)

>>IkmoIk+X1
Do you pay for his use or does he pay for yours? Or is the circuit breaker somehow before the mains panel? (Which I find hard to imagine, but then again your situation is already quite strange.)

>>Symbio+s1
I guess those kettles could even work in USA on a 30A circuit. Electric tankless water heaters, which amount to the same thing, also need such circuits.

>>jacque+q3
Utilities may be included in their monthly rent.

>>morsch+b3
Mmm. Yes, could well be.

>>radiow+T1
If you navigate to that page from the top menu, you'll find that's a hire price.

>>cauter+N1
A kettle wants as many watts as it can reasonably be provided with -- you're heating a fixed volume of water by a fixed temperature rise (from cold to boiling), so the more power the faster the kettle boils (and if you have a lower-power kettle it doesn't use less energy overall, it just takes longer). Thus kettles are typically designed to draw more-or-less the maximum permitted current for the usual UK domestic socket.

>>cauter+N1
I want my tea water and I want it now!

Seriously, mine boils in almost no time. Needs a lot of power to do that.

>>cauter+N1
Boiling water?

3kW isn't a magic number for the kettle, it's just the amount of power you can get away with drawing when you've got a 240V supply rated at 13A. The more power, the faster the water boils.

As I understand it, freestanding kettles are much less popular in North America, presumably because a hob can draw more power?

>>JshWri+E3
It is.

>>andrew+H4
North america just doesn't use as much hot water as Asia and Britain. No tea or instant foods. Pasta must be boiled, coffee is usually made in a dedicated device...

>>sliver+77
I (and I thought most people) preboil pasta water in a kettle. Then I can start cooking the pasta within 2 minutes instead of 15.

>>andrew+H4
Have lived in both New Zealand and US and made regular use of water kettles. I'm not sure if popularity is a function performance (or if there are other cultural reasons) but I can confirm that water kettles connected to 240V are way more awesome... P=IV and all.

This extends to home espresso makers. Some international models of home espresso makers get rave reviews in AU/NZ, but lackluster reviews in the US. Only so many watts you can get on 120V before you exceed amperage constraints.

>>cauter+51
My theater's ETC Source 4s are lamped at 800W.

110V * 15A = 1650W. Room for one, at least.

This provides good illimination from at least a hundred feet. You need much less, so can lamp much lower.

Dimmers should not be in quotes, they do in fact perform dimming.

>>andrew+H4
Yeah, stovetops are generally wired to a dedicated 240V circuit or are gas.

>>buro9+(OP)
LED street light units are becoming reasonably priced.[1]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Yescom-98-Watt-Wired-Street-Garden/dp/...

>>moogly+Z8
You can also just boil your pasta in the kettle.

>>moogly+Z8
How does this work? If you are using the exact same heat source, then the only difference seems to be the metal/composition/thickness of the kettle vs. a cooking pot. Which doesn't intuitively seem like it will save 13 minutes out of 15.

>>Animat+2s
I don't believe they will have a high Ra value for the CRI. I.e., shitty color representation as is common for street lights.

>>tallan+J1
I guess it depends if regulations have forced an upgrade of the wiring.

My mum's house is from 1905, but had to be required when she bought it in 1980, and there's no problem running everything in the kitchen at once, plus many portable heaters. We did this at Christmas a couple of years ago when the gas heating broke. I can't remember ever tripping a breaker.

My apartment's main breaker is rated to 50kW, with the oven and hob and laundry machines on 3-phase power, and several 230V 16A circuits for lights and sockets.

>>polyno+Lx
You'll always save time with an electric kettle — it's likely to be better-insulated, have a lid, and the heating element is in contact with the water. It will still take 4-5 minutes though, even with a powerful kettle.

In case you're not familiar with them, we're discussing something like [1], or, to show these are very widespread commodity appliances, [2], which costs $7 including tax.

[1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Cordless-Indicator-Warr...

[2] http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9016710.htm

>>julien+6t
I don't think you can get an electric kettle without automatic shutdown at boiling point in Europe. At least, I've never seen one.

>>polyno+Lx
An induction stove with booster function will come close to the performance of an electric kettle, but I don't have one of those. Any other type of hob will heat water a lot slower.

>>polyno+Lx
I guess he means an electric water heater...