Need help with Compact Fluorescent
anna
California Home
Our vanity bathroom has a 26W Nutone Compact Fluorescent 2 pin
light / with fan - ceiling light.
( the light appears to be about 9 inches long)
It is so dark with this light in the bathroom. I am desperately
trying to get a brighter light...I searched all over the internet.
Went to Home Depot etc. No luck.
Not sure why they do not make brighter lights for 2 pin Compact
Fluorescents.
Any suggestions..where I can a brighter 2 pin Compact Fluorescent
light.
FYI....I am not handy.
Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Anna
Rod Speed
> Need help with Compact Fluorescent
> California Home
>
> Our vanity bathroom has a 26W Nutone Compact Fluorescent 2 pin
> light / with fan - ceiling light.
> ( the light appears to be about 9 inches long)
> It is so dark with this light in the bathroom. I am desperately trying to get a brighter light...
Give up on a compact fluourescent there, use a normal incandescent of 100W
or so. The power useage difference will be minimal with a bathroom light.
> I searched all over the internet. Went to Home Depot etc. No luck. Not
> sure why they do not make brighter lights for 2 pin Compact Fluorescents.
There's technical problems with doing that.
Don Klipstein
anna wrote:
>Need help with Compact Fluorescent
>California Home
>
>Our vanity bathroom has a 26W Nutone Compact Fluorescent 2 pin
>light / with fan - ceiling light.
>( the light appears to be about 9 inches long)
>
>It is so dark with this light in the bathroom. I am desperately
>trying to get a brighter light...I searched all over the internet.
>Went to Home Depot etc. No luck.
>Not sure why they do not make brighter lights for 2 pin Compact
>Fluorescents.
>
>Any suggestions..where I can a brighter 2 pin Compact Fluorescent
>light.
Those CFLs with pins generaly lack ballasts, so the ballast is probably
in the fixture. The ballast largely determines how much power will go
into the CFL.
Some possibilities for most likely minor improvement:
1. Nutone is not one of the major brands. By many accounts, the most
reputable brands are the "Big 3" - Sylvania (or Osram/Sylvania), Philips
and GE.
In my experience, light output from a Big-3 and a non-Big-3 pin-base
ballastless CFL is usually about the same. But you may have a chance for
improvement.
If these are not available at home centers, try electric/lighting supply
shops.
2. You may want to try a different color. This can affect how bright the
room appears.
Color of compact fluorescents and other triphosphor fluorescents is
usually stated by color temperature or a 2-digit abbreviation of color
temperature.
Higher color temperature can sometimes make a room appear brighter due
to better stimulation of scotopic vision - although some studies in this
area are not fully accepted.
Having color temperature unusually high for a given lighting level can
lead to a "dreary gray" effect.
27 / 2700 - The usual CFL color. Most people find this one best for
most interior home lighting, especially in less-bright areas.
30 / 3000 - A less common one, only slightly whiter than 2700.
35 / 3500 - A "whiter but still warm" color, often found to be good
for brighter interior home lighting, such as in bathrooms.
41 / 4100 - Plain neutral white. Can cause a "dreary gray effect"
unless lighting level is of brightness typical of offices,
classrooms and retail stores.
50 / 5000 - Icy cold pure white, easily causes a "dreary gray effect"
in home lighting, despite color being about the same as that
of sunlight with the sun high in the sky and with clear air.
One more thing - CFLs often need half a minute to a minute to warm up to
achieve full brightness. Ones with outer bulbs around the tubing tend to
have a greater need to warm up and need more time to warm up. In
bathrooms that people use at night, this often comes in handy - the lights
are dimmed at first!
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
Dave
"Rod Speed" <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:671h2bF...@mid.individual.net...
> anna <annab...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Need help with Compact Fluorescent
>> California Home
>>
>> Our vanity bathroom has a 26W Nutone Compact Fluorescent 2 pin
>> light / with fan - ceiling light.
>> ( the light appears to be about 9 inches long)
>
>> It is so dark with this light in the bathroom. I am desperately trying
>> to get a brighter light...
>
> Give up on a compact fluourescent there, use a normal incandescent of 100W
> or so. The power useage difference will be minimal with a bathroom light.
>
Amazingly, I'd agree with you. Unfortunately, this is a Kalifornia home the
OP was asking about. If incandescent is still legal there, it won't be
soon. I believe (google it) that California has already outlawed
incandescents.
What the OP needs is a whole new lighting fixture, but one that will accept
a larger CFL bulb, or multiple CFL bulbs. The best solution would be to
replace the CFL fixture with an incandescent fixture, if that was legal.
But it's not. -Dave
Rod Speed
> Rod Speed <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote
>> anna <annab...@yahoo.com> wrote
>>> Need help with Compact Fluorescent
>>> California Home
>>> Our vanity bathroom has a 26W Nutone Compact Fluorescent 2 pin
>>> light / with fan - ceiling light.
>>> ( the light appears to be about 9 inches long)
>>> It is so dark with this light in the bathroom. I am desperately trying to get a brighter light...
>> Give up on a compact fluourescent there, use a normal incandescent of 100W or so. The power useage difference will
>> be minimal with a bathroom light.
> Amazingly, I'd agree with you. Unfortunately, this is a Kalifornia home the OP was asking about. If incandescent is
> still legal there, it won't be soon. I believe (google it) that California has already outlawed incandescents.
Completely trivial to get a decent supply of whatever turns out
to give enough light from outside that state using the net etc.
> What the OP needs is a whole new lighting fixture, but one that will accept a larger CFL bulb, or multiple CFL bulbs.
> The best solution would be to replace the CFL fixture with an incandescent fixture, if that was legal. But it's not.
Completely trivial to do an end run around that stupid law.
nicks...@ece.villanova.edu
>What the OP needs is a whole new lighting fixture, but one that will accept
Good idea. Go to Home Depot. Buy a 100' Leviton YUS-A9500 Temporary Light
String (the kind you see at construction sites and used car lots), for about
$50, with a light socket in a bright yellow plastic shroud every 10'. Remove
the shrouds and buy 3 of Home Depot's 14 W CF 4-packs and hang the string
around the ceiling perimeter.
Nick
Rod Speed
Makes a hell of a lot more sense to use an incandescent bulb instead.
Seerialmom
Hopefully that's not your only source of light in the bathroom; sounds
like it's more of a "hallway" type light just so it's not pitch dark.
That outlet probably has a maximum watt to be used; 26 is pretty high
for that size. Have you considered upgrading, instead?
Seerialmom
> "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:671h2bF...@mid.individual.net...
Actually they aren't illegal "yet in California; in the OP case if she
can get an updated fixture installed that can handle incandescent or
CFL that would be best.
Seerialmom
> Some possibilities for most likely minor improvement:
>
> 1. Nutone is not one of the major brands. By many accounts, the most
> reputable brands are the "Big 3" - Sylvania (or Osram/Sylvania), Philips
> and GE.
>
Nutone "IS" a major brand of bathroom fans; this fan just happens to
include a fluorescent light as well.
Don Klipstein
Nutone is not a major brand of light bulbs.
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)