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Compact fluorescent light bulbs

drsafety

Senior member
For people who haven't heard about CFL bulbs:

I have to give these little things a shout out here. They really are great inventions. They use MUCH less power than traditional bulbs (66% less) and last 6-10 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs. Plus they are fairly cheap-$2-$4 each. Everybody should be using these things!

here's a link with estimated annual electricity savings per bulb:

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/lea...ey-with-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.aspx

Saves you $ and reduces national energy consumption - how can you argue with that? 😛
 
Welcome to 10 years ago. 😛

Originally posted by: her209
They are big in the aquarium hobby.

I wouldn't say revolutionary. HID still reigns king however CF lamps are better suited for actinic supplementary lighting instead of VHO fluorescents in small reef systems up to 800 gallons or so. There's just no room for all those HID bulbs. 🙂

 
Sulphur plasma for WAL and LUXIII for high intensity areaway lighting (of course the beta markers will always be on even after high level electromagnetic assault) and those super duper Xenon mega-lumen tubes that look 100x brighter than the sun.

The filament bulb is an endangered species.
 
Ok, if you look hard enough you can find them for as little as $1.20 each if you buy in bulk, like on ebay (even the 100W equivalent ones.) My parents got 100 for $100 years ago, a very wise investment that has benefitted both them and me. Remember, the more efficient everyone else is, the lower our own energy costs. And judging by the fact that they still sell incandescent bulbs, there is a need for an awareness campaign.

CFL's: The Lighting of the Future, today!
 
they still don't fit where incandescent's do sometimes. And I still have to wait for them to brighten up. And yes, sometimes I would like instant on to take care of something real quick.
 
Originally posted by: lnguyen
they still don't fit where incandescent's do sometimes. And I still have to wait for them to brighten up. And yes, sometimes I would like instant on to take care of something real quick.

While the cheaper integrated CF lamp found in DIY stores does start at about 75% cold (room temp) and ramp upward within the following 90 sec or so lamps that have instant full ON capability are available. Their application is specialized and so is the price! ($$$$$)

In the next few years it should be interesting to see what all this ISP/Lumileds/Nichia (LUX/Jupiter respectively) fuss is all about. Full spectrum polychromatic sources with efficiacies approaching 1kL/W (!!) and CRI's approaching the max (100) with desirable CT's of 5800degK (40N Lat Sunlight lunchtime haha). It'll be here before you know it and "replacing a lightbulb" will sound as archaic as "you sound like a broken record!" 🙂
 
i just got two of the spiral bulbs. i use them for my home office and i like how they are much whiter and less hot. energy savings is a bonus!
 
Originally posted by: drsafety
For people who haven't heard about CFL bulbs:

I have to give these little things a shout out here. They really are great inventions. They use MUCH less power than traditional bulbs (66% less) and last 6-10 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs. Plus they are fairly cheap-$2-$4 each. Everybody should be using these things!

here's a link with estimated annual electricity savings per bulb:

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/lea...ey-with-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.aspx

Saves you $ and reduces national energy consumption - how can you argue with that? 😛

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are spawned in the spawnshops of hell! Sickly, pale glow causing instant depression. Nothing worse than coming into a hotel room for the first time, flipping the switch and, after a hidiously unpleasant pause, having one of those putrid things ooze to life like some uninspired corpse light. Yech. They also emit a sterile buzz to heighten the depression.
 
ikeas had em for ages. plus ikea has all the good sizes cheap and loads and loads of fixtures and lamps to use them in. normal shops tend to only have a few incadescent size replacement types.

as for leds..they arent that efficient.
 
Originally posted by: ironwing
Originally posted by: drsafety
For people who haven't heard about CFL bulbs:

I have to give these little things a shout out here. They really are great inventions. They use MUCH less power than traditional bulbs (66% less) and last 6-10 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs. Plus they are fairly cheap-$2-$4 each. Everybody should be using these things!

here's a link with estimated annual electricity savings per bulb:

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/lea...ey-with-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.aspx

Saves you $ and reduces national energy consumption - how can you argue with that? 😛

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are spawned in the spawnshops of hell! Sickly, pale glow causing instant depression. Nothing worse than coming into a hotel room for the first time, flipping the switch and, after a hidiously unpleasant pause, having one of those putrid things ooze to life like some uninspired corpse light. Yech. They also emit a sterile buzz to heighten the depression.
On the contrary, you can get 5500k CF bulbs that are 20x better than the dull yellow light an ordinary incandescent bulb casts.

Watch those color temperatures.
 
they still don't fit where incandescent's do sometimes. And I still have to wait for them to brighten up. And yes, sometimes I would like instant on to take care of something real quick.
I just timed on one of these bulbs in a lamp we have in our living room. I came on after being off all night in 1.5 seconds. After turning is off and then back on, it was on immediatly.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are spawned in the spawnshops of hell! Sickly, pale glow causing instant depression. Nothing worse than coming into a hotel room for the first time, flipping the switch and, after a hidiously unpleasant pause, having one of those putrid things ooze to life like some uninspired corpse light. Yech. They also emit a sterile buzz to heighten the depression.
The spiral bulbs people are talking about in this thread don't make ANY noise at all and I can't tell that they are not the regular bulbs as I bought the ones that put out the same amount of light as the bulbs I replaced. I am a big fan of these new type of bulbs and they are less prone to blowing out like their counterparts.
 
Originally posted by: farmercal
I just timed on one of these bulbs in a lamp we have in our living room. I came on after being off all night in 1.5 seconds. After turning is off and then back on, it was on immediatly.

yes, but not all are like that. I have yet to buy one that doesn't take at least a minute to get to full brightness. I really like them for ambient lighting, but there are some places they just don't fit well.

and yeah, i bought a 3 pack at ikea when they were clearancing them out 🙂 too bad they weren't true CF bulbs, they were rectangular and stuck out a little too much
 
I just wish that these were dimmable...I had these in my remote controlled ceiling fan and they cant be dimmed. If you dimm the lights, these bulbs flicker alot, needless to say I had to remove them.
 
Do not try to dim them unless they are dimmable! Yes they make dimmable ones and they are 5x the cost too!
 
I'll buy one if I find one with a good color temperature. I don't want that greenish-bluish or pinkish stuff in my apt. I have one somewhere and I couldn't stand it for more than 5 minutes.
 
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
I'll buy one if I find one with a good color temperature. I don't want that greenish-bluish or pinkish stuff in my apt. I have one somewhere and I couldn't stand it for more than 5 minutes.


Exactly
Id switch in a heartbeat if it wasnt reminisant of the lighting in our office. I want a soft, golden glow like conventional bulbs in my house. NOt glaring white light that gives me a headache in mins of usage.
 
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