“The light so dim but feels nice!
Keeps the monsters away!
That’s the light so small!
Use it night or day!”
Do you sleep with your lights completely switched off or do you put on the ‘zero’ watt bulb!?
But practically though, ‘zero’ watt is not actually ZERO!
read on!
In most army houses every room especially the bedroom would have at least two light switches. One would be regular while one would be reserved for the ‘zero’ watt bulb!
Come night and these cute little orange bulbs would come to life and we would be told to sleep!
So by default I have always slept with the light on! Till I went to the hostel and there was not concept of ‘zero’ watt or even more than one switch! Forget that! We also had only a single socket! Forget that, we also had a single light!
Yes, of course it never had the light bulb! There was of course no fun for obvious reasons since there were no hanger for fan! Apparently having a hanger for fan made it easy to hang yourself! That solution to actually handle suicide risk seems dated but then this is not a blog about that!
So anyway initially we would pool in and get one tubelight! The richer kids would get the tube with the slim tube and electric choke or starter! While we would settle for the cheaper mechanical one! Unfortunately that Mechanical choke must be switched on before the drop in voltage in the evening or else the tube would keep on try to start the whole night and fail miserably!
The electric one would start effortlessly though and when even it could not start then the problem was real! We would then have seniors who actually by that time would have become trained electricians who would repair the junction box! The sparks would fly but they did not care! Even now I wonder how we survived in between those junctions boxes who constantly used to spark and make sound the whole night!
But, coming to the night! The first room we all had would be a common hall which like I mentioned had only one switch and light! So it is either off or on! If you want to read then you had to go out of the room and read in the corridor!
That was the time when we or rather I, got used to sleep without light! Since we were so tired with the classes and the dissection and the practicals, sleep was a necessity and it used to come without any effort!
Still I fondly remember those zero watt bulbs!
Now since my dad is an engineer he had already told us that ZERO watt does not mean that they do not consume any power, but the term stayed put!
The term “zero-watt” dates back to an era when energy meters in households were less sensitive to very low-power devices!
Back then, energy meters used to measure the electricity consumption in homes had a minimum power threshold, below which the device’s usage would not register!
Traditional incandescent bulbs of around 10 to 15 watts often fell below this sensitivity limit, which meant that when used alone, their power consumption did not show up on electricity meters. As a result, these bulbs were perceived to consume “zero” power, leading to the nickname “zero-watt bulbs.”!
This naming convention stuck, even though the bulbs actually consumed a small amount of energy. The main reason for this persistence was the convenience of using a term that suggested low energy usage. Zero-watt bulbs provided enough light for visibility without significantly affecting electricity bills, which made them attractive to people seeking cost-effective lighting for limited purposes!
Technically, there is no such thing as “zero-watt” bulbs. These bulbs generally consume 12-15 watts of power!
They work on the same principle as standard incandescent bulbs, using a tungsten filament that heats up and emits light when an electric current passes through it. The low wattage of these bulbs means the filament doesn’t produce as much light or heat, resulting in the gentle glow characteristic of zero-watt bulbs.
With advances in lighting technology, LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs have largely replaced incandescent bulbs, including zero-watt bulbs, due to their energy efficiency and longer lifespan. LED bulbs can achieve the same level of dim lighting as a zero-watt incandescent bulb while using only a fraction of the power—sometimes as little as 0.5 to 1 watt! In factual terms then the LED bulbs are the true ‘ZERO’ watt bulbs!
Now because of the double training, when I have to sleep; I can sleep with or without the light! But if there is a racing car of thoughts going in my brain then even in complete darkness and silence, the sleep eludes me! It is like my sleeps is roaming around free and independent! Mention independent and that reminds me of Lakshmibai Newalkar, the Rani of Jhansi; the fighter and leader of the independence movement!
Now turn on the ‘zero’ watt bulb or not! And sleep!
Shubh ratri!.
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