CFL Light Bulbs, 13 watts = 60 watts?

BBShark

BBShark

Garage Monkey
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Being a green weenie, I bought some of those squiggly CFL bulbs that are supposed to save energy. Right on the package it says "60W replacement using only 13W". Light output is rated at 825 lumens vs. 840 lumens for 60W incandescents. Cool, less than a 1/4 of the energy!

So, I go home and take my 60W bulb out and replace it with my new green weenie bulb. I flip the switch and ...........,

This thing is WAAAAAAY dimmer than a 60W bulb!

I look on the internet and can't find any information that would indicate that these put out less light, only find info that it takes them a while to warm up. So I let it warm up, still sucks. I replace it with another CFL, still sucks.

I don't get it, they must be measuring light output outside of the visible spectrum because I sure can't see it.
 
BBShark said:
Being a green weenie, I bought some of those squiggly CFL bulbs that are supposed to save energy. Right on the package it says "60W replacement using only 13W". Light output is rated at 825 lumens vs. 840 lumens for 60W incandescents. Cool, less than a 1/4 of the energy!

So, I go home and take my 60W bulb out and replace it with my new green weenie bulb. I flip the switch and ...........,

This thing is WAAAAAAY dimmer than a 60W bulb!

I look on the internet and can't find any information that would indicate that these put out less light, only find info that it takes them a while to warm up. So I let it warm up, still sucks. I replace it with another CFL, still sucks.

I don't get it, they must be measuring light output outside of the visible spectrum because I sure can't see it.
Click to expand...

:drink: another lesson learned !!!!!!! we are always lied to by tree huggers
 
JeffP1167 said:
BBShark said:
Being a green weenie, I bought some of those squiggly CFL bulbs that are supposed to save energy. Right on the package it says "60W replacement using only 13W". Light output is rated at 825 lumens vs. 840 lumens for 60W incandescents. Cool, less than a 1/4 of the energy!

So, I go home and take my 60W bulb out and replace it with my new green weenie bulb. I flip the switch and ...........,

This thing is WAAAAAAY dimmer than a 60W bulb!

I look on the internet and can't find any information that would indicate that these put out less light, only find info that it takes them a while to warm up. So I let it warm up, still sucks. I replace it with another CFL, still sucks.

I don't get it, they must be measuring light output outside of the visible spectrum because I sure can't see it.
Click to expand...

:drink: another lesson learned !!!!!!! we are always lied to by tree huggers
Click to expand...

Tree huggers don't manufacture lamps, Chinese do.:chinese:
Since I have been using these things over 10 years, since they first arrived as "samples" at wholesale houses, I will give you my honest opinion
1)They are all made in China
2)They are all hazardous waste/But, they can be recycled
3)Output does appear to be on the optomistic side/so, I tend to bump them up 20% A 18 watt might be a better choice
4)They save twice/1/2 energy use = 1/2 heat output, ergo, 1/2 cooling cost
5)Incandecents are being phased out, and the cost of CFL's is dropping. I can buy a 10 pack here for $12.00 now. Some Edison customers get them free.
6) They last alot longer. When placed in a totally enclosed fixture, the are so much cooler with internal reflected heat, they last alot longer.
7) They do seem to be susceptable to vibration. My bath fan/light eats the cheaper ones a tad faster, but that seems to be improving also
8)They do take about 5 min to reach full output.
9)They cannot be dimmed, although I "believe" that is in the works also.
10)Cost effective wise, they excede the break even point in the long run, and are improving every day, so it's gonna happen.
11)The new T-8 flourecents with solid state ballasts are already saving millions of dollars in energy use and A/C cooling costs. They are lighter, last longer, and have less hazardous materials.
12)Once again, Nikoli Tesla proves Edison wrong.

You know, 825 lumens IS less than 840 lumens.:huh:
 
Just don't ban incandescent bulbs. CFL's are good in some places but not all places. Let it be my choice where I choose to use them or not.
 
Bird is of course correct, but any dimmer sw bulbs like in our hall bath triple pendant light take the small incand base bulbs....never spotted a CFL for that, and can't use anyway, all the way dim, it's a nightlight....

have a LED small base bulb in the master bath for overnight .....blue,

I installed all LED for the running lights in the Clamper project, plenty bright enough....

got one in the ceiling eyeball above the sink, it hung down too far and glared into the house too much, so I just stuck a piece of tape on the eyeball to shield it....:clap::clobbered: I may get around to fixing that better some day, but maybe not.....:confused:

Harbor freight been sticking coupons in the Mint magazine once a month mailer for FREE LED little flashlights....that puppy puts out a good amount of light for something the size of my thumb.....

IMO, LED lighting is the future, no question....

:drink:
 
Incandescent bulbs will be gone in a year or two. Under the cover of night our illustrious US Congress passed legislation to ban them. And since the EPA and tree huggers have nightmares about any US manufacturing using that dreaded heavy metal called Mercury, all of those bulbs are made in China. Oddly enough, it was a Chinese lobby that prompted Congress to legislate the demise of incandescent bulbs.

:confused:
 
More good news about CFL's

Energy-saving lightbulbs being used in millions of homes could lose up to 40 per cent of their brightness over the next few years, engineers warned yesterday.

A design flaw in compact florescent bulbs mean they become dimmer as they age, a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology said.

Millions could need replacing long before their advertised lifespan of five or six years is reached.
 
BBShark said:
More good news about CFL's

Energy-saving lightbulbs being used in millions of homes could lose up to 40 per cent of their brightness over the next few years, engineers warned yesterday.

A design flaw in compact florescent bulbs mean they become dimmer as they age, a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology said.

Millions could need replacing long before their advertised lifespan of five or six years is reached.
Click to expand...

L O N G tyme ago, I rewired a antique floor lamp from the folk's house....used to take those HUGE base 3 way bulb, put in a standard screw base and used a CFL bulb in it...it's 3 U shape tubes next to each other, the thing has lost some brilliance over maybe ten? years now, but it's used for lighting the front 1/2 of the L/R to lessen the glow from the TV....but I do note the reduction and longer time to 'warm up'.....

but of course the reality is, the HORSE/ELEPHANT in the room is the HVAC units......

curious what my welder finds with his new 15 seer Carrier/knockoff has for a electric bill....his 20 y/o unit shit badly this year....

there is NO money to save with friggin' lightbulbs.....never see it in the bills, it's a theoretical thing,

:ill::gurney:
 
All the more reason to stock up on incandescents while you can. CFLs are shit. The real technology we need to pursue is LED bulbs. They super bright, extra energy efficient, NON-hazardous and will last about 3 days short of forever.
 
big2bird said:
JeffP1167 said:
BBShark said:
Being a green weenie, I bought some of those squiggly CFL bulbs that are supposed to save energy. Right on the package it says "60W replacement using only 13W". Light output is rated at 825 lumens vs. 840 lumens for 60W incandescents. Cool, less than a 1/4 of the energy!

So, I go home and take my 60W bulb out and replace it with my new green weenie bulb. I flip the switch and ...........,

This thing is WAAAAAAY dimmer than a 60W bulb!

I look on the internet and can't find any information that would indicate that these put out less light, only find info that it takes them a while to warm up. So I let it warm up, still sucks. I replace it with another CFL, still sucks.

I don't get it, they must be measuring light output outside of the visible spectrum because I sure can't see it.
Click to expand...

:drink: another lesson learned !!!!!!! we are always lied to by tree huggers
Click to expand...

Tree huggers don't manufacture lamps, Chinese do.:chinese:
Since I have been using these things over 10 years, since they first arrived as "samples" at wholesale houses, I will give you my honest opinion
1)They are all made in China
2)They are all hazardous waste/But, they can be recycled
3)Output does appear to be on the optomistic side/so, I tend to bump them up 20% A 18 watt might be a better choice
4)They save twice/1/2 energy use = 1/2 heat output, ergo, 1/2 cooling cost
5)Incandecents are being phased out, and the cost of CFL's is dropping. I can buy a 10 pack here for $12.00 now. Some Edison customers get them free.
6) They last alot longer. When placed in a totally enclosed fixture, the are so much cooler with internal reflected heat, they last alot longer.
7) They do seem to be susceptable to vibration. My bath fan/light eats the cheaper ones a tad faster, but that seems to be improving also
8)They do take about 5 min to reach full output.
9)They cannot be dimmed, although I "believe" that is in the works also.
10)Cost effective wise, they excede the break even point in the long run, and are improving every day, so it's gonna happen.
11)The new T-8 flourecents with solid state ballasts are already saving millions of dollars in energy use and A/C cooling costs. They are lighter, last longer, and have less hazardous materials.
12)Once again, Nikoli Tesla proves Edison wrong.

You know, 825 lumens IS less than 840 lumens.:huh:
Click to expand...


in other words they suck
 
LED seems like it should be the future. Still what about my fancy candle stick chandelier in my formal dining room? It only works with incandescent bulbs....anything else would look like shit. It is only on 1 hour a week on average, but if some stupid fuck bans the bulbs will that same stupid fuck give me a government check :quote: to go replace the fixture....no thanks.

Can anyone provide a link showing that incandescent bulbs are definitely being banned?
 
clutchdust said:
All the more reason to stock up on incandescents while you can. CFLs are shit. The real technology we need to pursue is LED bulbs. They super bright, extra energy efficient, NON-hazardous and will last about 3 days short of forever.
Click to expand...

Congrats Gary.
The first LED fixtures I installed in 1995 were exit signs. Low maintenece cost was the issue. With a lifespan of 1 million hours, they estimated 100+ years without failure, and draw VERY little power.
I have seen them at the dump, and expect them to take over the market when they are more cost effective. They also operate stone cold, so more conditioned air savings there.
 
68L71 said:
LED seems like it should be the future. Still what about my fancy candle stick chandelier in my formal dining room? It only works with incandescent bulbs....anything else would look like shit. It is only on 1 hour a week on average, but if some stupid fuck bans the bulbs will that same stupid fuck give me a government check :quote: to go replace the fixture....no thanks.

Can anyone provide a link showing that incandescent bulbs are definitely being banned?
Click to expand...

I doubt specialty lamps willl be banned. Just the typical Edison base TA inside frosted will die. (What you guys call a light bulb)
 
I used the CFL things out here quite a bit in my last villa. The villa was about 30 years old and the wiring wasn't the best and was always fluctuating. About once a week or maybe a fortnight, I'd hear the surge protector on the computer "squeal" then a few seconds later - POP POP POP as almost any light bulb that was switched on at the time would blow. Even though incandescent bulbs are pretty cheap out here, it got pretty old pretty quick having "bulb day" on a regular basis. Add to that, some were 220, some 110 and some had bayonet bases and others were screw in.

I did notice that they didn't seem as bright so if I was replacing a 60w bulb, I'd put a 75w equivalent CFL in.

On a side note though, I can assure you all of one thing. A 110v 100w incandescent bulb in a 220v lamp is FAR brighter than 825 lumens! :smash:
 
saudivette said:
I used the CFL things out here quite a bit in my last villa. The villa was about 30 years old and the wiring wasn't the best and was always fluctuating. About once a week or maybe a fortnight, I'd hear the surge protector on the computer "squeal" then a few seconds later - POP POP POP as almost any light bulb that was switched on at the time would blow. Even though incandescent bulbs are pretty cheap out here, it got pretty old pretty quick having "bulb day" on a regular basis. Add to that, some were 220, some 110 and some had bayonet bases and others were screw in.

I did notice that they didn't seem as bright so if I was replacing a 60w bulb, I'd put a 75w equivalent CFL in.

On a side note though, I can assure you all of one thing. A 110v 100w incandescent bulb in a 220v lamp is FAR brighter than 825 lumens! :smash:
Click to expand...

with .00002% of the lifespan........:eek::smash:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BBShark said:
More good news about CFL's

Energy-saving lightbulbs being used in millions of homes could lose up to 40 per cent of their brightness over the next few years, engineers warned yesterday.

A design flaw in compact florescent bulbs mean they become dimmer as they age, a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology said.

Millions could need replacing long before their advertised lifespan of five or six years is reached.
Click to expand...

Actually, all fluorescent bulbs lose brightness as they age but if CFL's lose 40%, that is too much and there is indeed a problem.

I tested some CFL outputs a few years back with a lumen meter and discovered that most ratings are big time BS. I use the CFLs but I have to upsize considerably to get good light. I use at least a 75W CFL equivalent to replace a 60W incandescent but I prefer a 90W CFL equivalent.

Another thing I've discovered using CFLs over the years is that the life span rating is BS as well. I think they must rate the lumens at commercial bulb levells (130 volts) but the life span at 110V.

I still use them and with the price coming down the payback is there, but there are still issues to be resolved.

I have had really good luck with the bug light CFLs I use in the porch light fixtures. They seem to work well and they last. Brightness is not a consideration for me at these locations so the 60W equivalent works fine.

DC
 
I'm not personally against CFL, incandescent light bulb are ridiculously inefficient, but LED are the way to go.
The nasty untold stuff about CFL is that the base of the bulb contains a transformer, often a crappy one, and they output a lot a electromagnetic radiation, the range is short, but it can affect some person. So I would never put CFL in the bedroom table lamp, way too close from my brain.
Fluorescent lamp are fine in the old tube form, with a shielded transformer.
Well, fine, it you're not sensible to 60Hz flickering like me...
 
DC3 said:
I have had really good luck with the bug light CFLs I use in the porch light fixtures. They seem to work well and they last. Brightness is not a consideration for me at these locations so the 60W equivalent works fine.

DC
Click to expand...

That's strange. Those are the only ones I had trouble with. Only lasted about 6 months instead of the gazillion hours the waranty says. Went thru a half dozen and said screw it for that price, other bulbs worked fine. Maybe they've improved in the last 10 years.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TimAT said:
Incandescent bulbs will be gone in a year or two. Under the cover of night our illustrious US Congress passed legislation to ban them. And since the EPA and tree huggers have nightmares about any US manufacturing using that dreaded heavy metal called Mercury, all of those bulbs are made in China. Oddly enough, it was a Chinese lobby that prompted Congress to legislate the demise of incandescent bulbs.

:confused:
Click to expand...

Speaking of mercury, I was going to check the light level with my old handheld light meter but I forgot, it's a useless relic because the battery contained mercury and has not been made for years. Same as my old 35mm SLR, useless.
 
BBShark said:
TimAT said:
Incandescent bulbs will be gone in a year or two. Under the cover of night our illustrious US Congress passed legislation to ban them. And since the EPA and tree huggers have nightmares about any US manufacturing using that dreaded heavy metal called Mercury, all of those bulbs are made in China. Oddly enough, it was a Chinese lobby that prompted Congress to legislate the demise of incandescent bulbs.

:confused:
Click to expand...

Speaking of mercury, I was going to check the light level with my old handheld light meter but I forgot, it's a useless relic because the battery contained mercury and has not been made for years. Same as my old 35mm SLR, useless.
Click to expand...


I fail to see all this alarmist crap over mercury, it's a natural occurring element of the earth, I used to play with it, coating old silver coins making them greasy.....had it all over the place in early control glass for household furnace work.....

yeh, sure, I suppose it would kill someone if they ate a pound of the stuff, but really, this EPA has gone all ape shit over nothing.....

as usual......anything they can DO to fuck over industry.....and the people....

like this latest crapola about leaflets in HD/Lowes....can't touch a old house without pulling a EPA permit, and all that LEAD scare crap.....makes me glad I don't have to do that much anymore....stupid fools as if 95% of the working stiffs have the time of day to give to the EPA over some imaginary 'threat'....

:hissyfit::cussing:
 
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