Re: CFL Blues
Al
> 21 May, 2007, I installed one 26W 6500°K major brand CFL; 8 June,
> 2007, I installed two 26W 6500°K and four 15W 6500°K CFLs, same major
> brand; on 6 October, 2007, I installed two 26W 6500°K and one 15W 6500°K
> CFLs, same major brand. I've stuck with the same brand (GE) because it
> is the only one of a suitable (to my tired old eyes) color temperature
> and widely available in handy-homeowner stores. All are either
> horizontal or base-down and well-ventilated. I don't pay much attention
> to the "15-minute rule" because, although, it may be a valid point from
> an engineering POV, in real-life, it's simply academic twaddle: Life
> does not transpire in15-minute units. For example, it is entirely
> possible to piss and get off the pot in fewer than 15 minutes; do you
> actually know someone who'd leave the light on and then -- getting out
> of bed, perhaps -- go back to turn it off? Besides, when nothing but
> CFLs is available, the "rule" will be irrelevant. In point of fact, in
> two rooms with briefly transitory traffic, I have installed an
> incandescent lamp AWA a "sleeper" CFL, used only when the room will be
> in use for an extended period.
> In recent weeks, two of the low-wattage and one of the
> higher-wattage lamps installed in June, '07, have failed; one of the
> higher-wattage lamps installed in October, '07 has failed. That seems
> comparable to experience with100W incandescent lamps but at
> significantly higher expense. Even if the PN succeeds in quadrupling
> electricity rates, there's no way those suckers "save" enough juice to
> amortize their (much) higher price.
> Next week, I'm going to put GE's, "Lasts 5 years" guarantee to the
> test. Am I the only cynical Luddite stockpiling "on sale" incandescent
> lamps in anticipation of their extinction?
> --
> Running on single malt in USDA zone 9
I use CFLs exclusively except for two clamp lamps. I refuse to pay
more than $3 for a CFL and most have been in the $1-2 range. The only
failure I have had was one from the dollar store years ago. I turn the
lights on and off all the time with impunity. I have a big box of old
incandescent lights now taking space in the basement. When I move, I'm
not giving my CFLs away.
BigDog1
Yep. I buy the cheapest ones I can find. A few years back I started
writing the date on the base with a sharpie. The least amount time
'til failure on any of them has been a bit over two years, and most
have been burning since I started the practice. I don't pay enough to
worry about the warranty. There's a 15 watt CFL over my kitchen sink
that burns 24/7 that's been there for over four years.
Don Klipstein
BigDog1 wrote:
<SNIP to here>
>Yep. I buy the cheapest ones I can find. A few years back I started
>writing the date on the base with a sharpie. The least amount time
>'til failure on any of them has been a bit over two years, and most
>have been burning since I started the practice. I don't pay enough to
>worry about the warranty. There's a 15 watt CFL over my kitchen sink
>that burns 24/7 that's been there for over four years.
I would advise against buying the ones of "dollar store brands", which I
find mostly available at dollar stores other than Dollar Tree (which I
suspect to know better than to sell such stool specimens).
Problems with "dollar store brand" CFLs in my experience:
1. 100% rate of falling short of what I sense as claimed light output.
Sometimes only mildly, sometimes by a factor of atv least 3, often
in-between.
2. High rate of not stating light output in lumens. (And 100% rate in
my experience of somewhat to extremely obviously falling short when
they do.)
3. Color is usually a "daylight" icy cold slightly bluish shade of white,
sometimes even whan the package claims "soft warm white light" or the
like.
3a. When the color is a warm one, the phosphor technology is usually one
achieving a low color rendering index. The spectrum is like that of
"old tech warm white" fluorescents, wich have CRI in the 50's (where
a perfect score is 100, and incandescents and sunlight/daylight
achieve 100 by definition).
4. My experience is that most "dollar store brand" CFLs are not UL listed
and do not have "FCC ID". My impression is that CFLs with built-in
ballasts and sold in USA are normally UL-listed and require "FCC ID"
when the ballast is electronic. (Every dollar store CFL that I ever
saw had a built-in electronic ballast.)
One was subjected to a recall for not using the industry-normal flame
retardant type of plastic for its ballast housing. I suspect that
use of plastic that is insufficiently or not flame retardant will
keep an integral-ballast CFL from achieving UL listing, and I wonder
if that is a factor in other dollar store CFLs that have integral
electronic ballasts but no mention or logo of any safety testing
laboratory or agency in North America.
5. Moderately above-average rate of failing early.
6. Highly above-average rate of "not working right" - such as base region
getting starngely hot, swirling/flickering, etc.
7. Highly above-average rate of failing in a spectacular way, including
one of "Telstar" brand filling a room with smoke and having a "burning"
orange glow in its ballast housing (base region above the screw base)
until power was shut down.
I mention more in:
http://www.misty.com/~don/cfdollar.html
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
Al
> In <9e73dbc4-48bf-4241-988d-dc3992c46...@d15g2000prc.googlegroups.com>,
I just went around and checked mine and every one is UL and FCc
approved right on the base. The light output and shade of light has
never been a factor for me. My sources are Walmart, ALDI, Dollar Tree,
ACO, and an offbeat dollar store where the single bad one came from
years ago.
jeff
Note that 5 years is not 5 years. This is based on so many hours a
day, and I think their 5 years is about 6000 hours.
I'm running mostly Walmart and Home Depot stuff here. The one I just
looked at said Continental Electric. Now, I tend to buy the 7 year and
longer bulbs, but I have just one failure in the last several years and
I am 100% CFL.
BTW 1000 hrs of 100w at 10cents/kWHr is $10.00. So even if your CFL
only lated that long the break even price would be about $7.50. A good
deal, I think.
Jeff
Al
I'm careful not to leave lights on much so maybe I'm just short on
hours is why mine have lasted so many years. However, I can easily
recall that "tingly" sound of hitting the switch on an incandescent
light when it went out. I can recall because it happened so often.
With the cheap CFLs, my bulb cost is even less than incandescent and
the electric saving is profit. Plus I don't have to stand on a chair
to change them.