Fluorescent Light Bulb Questions

[Paul in Ottawa]

With all the recent media attention about replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones, I'm starting to feel a little guilty about not having done it.

When I tried the new replacement "bulbs" once before, I was struck by the difference in the quality of light they produce. A much harsher (cold?) light than we were used to. Have any of the manufacturers developed a product that produces a warmer coloured light?

Also, is there a dimmer that can be used for fluorescents? Bright light is not always desirable.

Thanks

[Gary in Waterdown]

The bulbs are better now than they used to be. They are available in different colour temperatures, too, so you should be able to find the right colour for a given application.

There are also dimmable bulbs available, but they can be hard to find. The regular bulbs are not dimmable at all.

[billh]

With all the recent media attention about replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones, I'm starting to feel a little guilty about not having done it.

...

The last thing I'd feel is guilty and if the gov't is stupid enough to try and ban incandescents ....

There is more of a lighting load in the winter because of less daylight. The so-called wasted heat energy provides heat to your house so it isn't really wasted.

I have virtually all of my incandescents on dimmers so I am not using as much electricity anyway. Where is the percentage in having to replace dimmers so they will work with flourescents or pay even more for a bulb that does. Apart from the compact flourescents look like hell if you can see them.

I have other fixtures that I don't think you can even by a CF to fit. LEDs maybe.

Has anybody seen just what the real energy saving is when you consider the extra components that go into a CF?

If you want to save a little money and feel happy go ahead and buy some. But the last thing I want is a bunch of government fools telling me what I can and can't do about lighting.

Bill

[Robin in Niagara]

Wall mart sells the dimmable bulbs. I have some that are warmer and the displays in the store also show warmer bulbs.
Robin

[Bill in NL]

For me, it's not just the energy savings, it's the lifespan of the CF bulbs. I bought my current house six and a half years ago, and switched every bulb I could (excluding chandelier bulbs and those small-base bathroon fixture ones), and I've change exactly 3 bulbs in over six years. That alone has proven the benefit to me.

I haven't tried them in the shop, where I have a combination of incandescent fixtures and 4-foot flourescent fixtures. How are they in the cold?

[Dave A. in Ottawa]

I replaced most of my bulbs with the mini fluorescents. I have now had 5 burn out in the last year or so - two in a flaming glory and black plume of smoke. I'm not sure they are good for applications where they are being turned on and off repeatedly. So where were the savings to be made?

Dave

[Claude in Kitchener]

I replaced most of my bulbs with the mini fluorescents. I have now had 5 burn out in the last year or so - two in a flaming glory and black plume of smoke. I'm not sure they are good for applications where they are being turned on and off repeatedly. So where were the savings to be made?

Dave

The saving were all for Hydro1. Because we all switch to CF the don't have to build another power plant. I guess that save us money to in the long run.

[mbowler]

I have had 5 burn out since I replaced mine. Two of them were in "Flaming Glory" and mercury vapour ladden smoke. The other 3 didn't flame or smoke but all showed signs of the plastic base melting. Note that it is illegal to throw these in the trash (at least in Ottawa) due to the mercury content. You have to haul them out to the hazardous waste depot. The energy savings for Canadian climate is nill for 8 months of the year.
Sounds like an ideal reason to ban incandescents to me. :confused:

Michael

[Claude in Kitchener]

Sounds like an ideal reason to ban incandescents to me. :confused:

Michael

I know there is a movement to ban these in the US but is there anything going on in Canada?

Much better to put a couple of bucks in tax on them because there are still applications where they are the best option.

[Lee Brubaker in Edmonton]

The savings between one or the other type of light bulb falls into the same slot as toasters with 750 watt elements instead of 1400 watts, never mind that it takes twice as long to toast your bread with the 750 watt units. Namely, the savings is all in some cluck's mind.

Lee

[Tall_Canuck]

The savings between one or the other type of light bulb falls into the same slot as toasters with 750 watt elements instead of 1400 watts, never mind that it takes twice as long to toast your bread with the 750 watt units. Namely, the savings is all in some cluck's mind.

Lee


No offense but how is that true when a 23w flourescent bulb gives off more lumins (1700) than a 100 watt incandescent bulb (1500) while using only 23% of the electricity?

I have switched a number of my 60 and 100 watt incandescents to the soft white 23w soft white flourescents from walmart and have been very impressed so far.
Nice warm looking light, long lasting, high lumins, low electricity use and they are quite cheap.

So far, I dont see the downside. :cool:

[Donna H]

I have had 5 burn out since I replaced mine. Two of them were in "Flaming Glory" and mercury vapour ladden smoke. The other 3 didn't flame or smoke but all showed signs of the plastic base melting. Note that it is illegal to throw these in the trash (at least in Ottawa) due to the mercury content. You have to haul them out to the hazardous waste depot. The energy savings for Canadian climate is nill for 8 months of the year.
Sounds like an ideal reason to ban incandescents to me. :confused:

Michael

Hi Michael,
A while back there was a similar thread about faulty CF's. I think it was Globe Electric that had something on their site about a re-call. In Ottawa, besides Haz. Dump, you can return CFs at Ikea and at an electrical contractor. It's in the city's "Take it Back" program guide.

I probably have one of the original CF's and have had it for at least ten years. It cost a lot of money back then, has the plastic shroud on it. Think it's "Phillips". Otherwise, have replaced most regular bulbs as they have burn out. Have only ever replaced one compact CF.

Additionally, that's most of the lighting in the shop I'm in. The landlord tells me he hasn't replaced a bulb in at least three years.

To each his own, but I'm sold. It's one of my small contributions to save the planet.

[John Bartley]

Because the only criteria I have for making a choice is the amount of hydro I save in the use of either type of bulb (based on the advertised power consumption figures), I've made the choice to go with the CF's almost anytime I change a burned out incandescent. There are only a couple of places where I want instant bright light and the CF's don't give that so I use an incandescent there.

I guess if I knew with some certainty what the cradle to grave costs were, including economic and environmental costs from mining the raw materials to recycling the worn out product I would be able to judge whether they're better or worse. I doubt any of us will ever get to see those figures. The marketplace economies of this type of product are (in my opinion) greatly affected by the politics of the "notion" of preserving the environment. In other words ... as long as things are "seen to be an improvement", whether they actually are or not is largely ignored by the masses (including me).

cheers eh?

[J.P. Rap]

For every gain there is a loss. Too often that loss is overlooked by those who stand to gain something from the gain. As John mentioned, we don't know the "cradle to grave " costs of CFs. It wouldn't surprise me to find out there is a huge cost assosiated with the savings in electric power. We just aren't seeing those costs in front of us. It's much like nuclear power. They are proclaiming nuclear power as the saviour of our electrical system, yet we have no way of safely disposing of the waste produced by the nuclear power plants. Our children and grandchildren are going to pay the price of that shortsitedness and it won't be pretty.
Back on topic, who is going to pay to clean up the mess when all that mercury ends up in landfills. It will happen because people either are too lazy or just don't know the hazards of tossing them in the garbage bin.
I have slowly been replacing my bulbs with Cfs. We have a hazardous waste site not too far from here so it's easy access for me (I drive right past it often).
I honestly don't know if CFs are a good thing or a bad thing. Im just following the lambs.:(
FWIW

[Tony in A'burg]

SWMBO was complaining about the amount of light that was given out by the CF bulbs I had installed in the kitchen. She has a row of 4 bulbs (fat alberts)above the mirror in her bathroom, so I changed one with the same style of bulb (CF) and asked her to guess which one I changed. She couldn't pick it out. End of discussion, well that discussion anyway. Granted when they are first turned on they are a litttle dimmer but give them a few seconds and they are pretty well the same. I replaced all the incandesant bulbs in our house with CF bulbs about 2.5 yrs ago and haven't had one burn out yet.

Tony

[Tall_Canuck]

For anyone concerned about the brightness of the CF bulbs, make sure to check the Lumen output when you buy them so you get the right ones.

The ones I bought at Walmart have a higher lumen count then the incandescent 100w I am replacing thus putting out much more light than the incandescents (1650 lumens vs. 1500) for a much lower cost in power (23w vs. 100w).

Peace.
TC

[John in Calgary]

...Granted when they are first turned on they are a litttle dimmer but give them a few seconds and they are pretty well the same...

Yeah, that is my only complaint with these bulbs, when you first turn them on in our kitchen, it can seem pretty dingy. As they warm up they brighten up, but you'll never remember when that happens, only that they weren't full power at first.

Edit: Oh yeah, and my wife thinks they are ugly, so no CF where you can actually see the bulbe, unless you buy the 'housed' versions that look like light bulbs or flood lamps, and they actually fit the fixture.

[Lloyd in Mississauga]

I've been slowly replacing them inthe house in areas where I find the lights tend to stay on for way too long.

It is hard to get the teenagers to turn off the lights, so I have been sticking in the CF's. In the grand sceme of things, it is the winter months where we may see any real amount of savings because of the shorter hours of daylight. Many days when I get home, the inside of the house is lit up like a runway yet everyone is sitting in front of the tv with the lights in that room off or only one on. I am hoping the CF's will gain me back a few pennies in the end.

SWMBO doesn't like them in areas where they are visible when not turned on. Most people don't look into lights when they are turned on.

I'm sure someone will start wrapping a thin plastic cover over them at some point to make them "look" better. A light frosting on the cover so you can't see in, but the not enough to block the light.

LED's will be developed to replace the smaller chandlier bulb's in time, but their big issue will be the look of the bulb when it is not on. The LED christmas lights they out look like cheap plastic bulb's. Most people won't want that look in their nice dinning room chandier.

At the end of the day, you can't take from peter to pay paul. What they save in electrical costs will be eaten up in other costs that we won't see for 5-10 years when the politicians of that day are looking for ways to cut their costs.

Lloyd

[J.P. Rap]

I think they look kinda neat. It's likely that we're so used to seeing a regular bulb that the CF just look odd to us.
I don't care much for the housing at the base of the bulb but the curly part looks kind neat.
My 2 cents

[Robin in Niagara]

I think the shape is neat too. Wall Mart is now selling a LED lightbulb. It looks like a regular bulb but is a lot dimmer. It can be set to different colours or changing. It is perfect where you want a dim light brighter than a night light. I am replacing the bulbs in my moonrays outside with white LED christmas tree lights. I cut a 4 bulb string, strip about 1/4" from the ends, tin them with solder, hammer them flat and stuff the ends in the socket. Nice soft light and they never need replacing. Those other bulbs were expensive. In fact all my outdoor summer lighting this year will be white LED christmas lights.
Robin

[Bryan @ Woodstock]

The savings between one or the other type of light bulb falls into the same slot as toasters with 750 watt elements instead of 1400 watts, never mind that it takes twice as long to toast your bread with the 750 watt units. Namely, the savings is all in some cluck's mind.

Lee
I had a 4 slot given to me, must have had that low watt element. I gave it away, dried the toast out, it was so slow!
I have had one of the CF burn out and heat up , giving a plastic burning smell in the house. They work good outside, in the front fixtures at the garage door and in the two pots at the porch.

[Richard in Smithville]

I hope that the old bulbs don't disapear from the shelves. The blue ones make a great heat source over the lizard tank and they cost less that half of what the pet stores charge for the same thing.

[Paul in Ottawa]

SWMBO doesn't like them in areas where they are visible when not turned on. Most people don't look into lights when they are turned on.

I'm sure someone will start wrapping a thin plastic cover over them at some point to make them "look" better. A light frosting on the cover so you can't see in, but the not enough to block the light.

LED's will be developed to replace the smaller chandlier bulb's in time, but their big issue will be the look of the bulb when it is not on.
Lloyd

I went "shopping" this weekend, and I was quite surprised by the changes in CF bulbs in the last while. There are both cool white and warm white ones so the light is less jarring. Don't think they have one which mimics the yellowish light from incandescent bulbs though; the claim is that warm white is closer to daylight and since there are "blue" incandescent bulbs that do that too, I guess you might say they are equivalent.

In addition to the curley CF bulbs, which you can get in small and large size both in 40, 60 and 100 watt equivalents, there are bulbs which are more or less spherical on the outside (I guess Lloyd's wife wasn't the only one who didn't like the look) and some that looked a lot like the pointy ones that are used in chandeliers.

But the only ones that are dimmable are the big curley ones and a special dimmer is required too.

So technology is moving along.