Does an alarm clock whose numbers give off a lot of light use more energy than an alarm clock whose numbers don’t give off much light?

We recently bought a new clock radio to wake us up in the morning. The digital clock radio you see most often has red numbers that indicate the time. With the radio alarm clock that we bought now, the numbers are colored golden yellow. The numbers also shed more light. I wondered if this alarm clock uses more energy as a result.

Asker: Brigitte, 41 years old

Answer

Dear Bridget

The answer is not so clear-cut, since there are also parts inside your clock radio that consume energy. If we limit ourselves to the consumption of the glowing figures, we can already say something more. The digits that can be seen on a clock radio are usually formed using LEDs. This electronic component is known to consume little anyway and to have a long lifespan. It is indeed the case that there is a relationship between the consumption (the current through the LED) and the amount of light that is generated.

Now, however, our eye is more sensitive to one color than to another. Golden yellow light is more noticeable than red light. So it is true that with the same current (consumption) through the gold-yellow LED, we get the impression that they emit brighter light than with red LEDs.

Finally, it should also be noted that the efficiency of LEDs has increased in recent years. This means that you have more light output with the same consumption.

If you really want to know which clock radio consumes the most, this can only be done by measurement. Or maybe your clock radio has a sticker that indicates the maximum consumption.

Answered by

ing. Filip Declercq

Home automation, embedded systems, microcontrollers, windows applications, bluetooth, usb, healthcare & technology

Does an alarm clock whose numbers give off a lot of light use more energy than an alarm clock whose numbers don’t give off much light?

Vives Catholic University
Doorniksesteenweg 145 8500 Kortrijk
http://www.vives.be

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