Compact Fluorescents Revisited

[Mr__Bill]

In a recent discussion on compact fluorescents many expressed their dislike for the lamps. I think I know why.

In a recent discussion on shop lighting a post suggested that 6500K was a good color temp for shop fluorescent lighting, making everything look better and brighter, it got me to thinking... 6500K is rather white and bright.

The local power company handed out some CF lamps and I started comparing them to some that I had and found that the color temp of the CFL's from the power company was 2700K. If you are used to white and bright (6500K) then going to a 2700K lamp will be a very dark experience for you. To add insult to the dimness, not all are as bright either. I have nominal 60 W in CFL that are 14 W - 900 lumens and 13 W - 720 lumens and the nominal 75 W are 1000 and 1200 lumens. Only one listed the color temp (the ones from the power company). I expect that the others may be even worse.

Therefor I think that the dislike for the CFL's is based on expectations generated from marketing information. If you use a CFL that has a color temp the same as what you are used to and the lumen output is the same or higher then you would find that CFL's are a good replacement. If you buy from a source that is meeting a price point you may have a less than illuminating experience.

All this has to do with how things look and not how fast the light comes on. If you want a fast light use and incandescent, if you want a cheap light for long periods of time then use the CFL's

Additional info on color temp. available here. (I have no relationship with this site, it has a nice color temp chart so I used it.

Also posted on another forum because I really could not remember where the discussion started.

Bill, on the Sunny and bright Oregon Coast

[Alex Franke]

Yes, that's a great site. Several people have actually recommended it to me as well. They have an almost unbelievable selection, including CF in the higher color temperatures -- here's an example: http://www.1000bulbs.com/30-Watt-Com...rescents/4013/

[dlminehart]

Original fluorescent tubes were very bluish or greenish. Made skin look sick. They've cleaned them up a lot lately, with a coolish white (6500) and a warm white (2500) being the most common. If you have to match incandescent lighting in a room, the 2500s are a good bet. Otherwise, I agree that the 6500s are much better, giving truer colors.

[gjat]

I don't like flourescents because of the mercury. I also believe they're being hyped by CFL makers because they can make good $$ on it.

LED's, innovative fixture designs, and alternative lighting schemes are the better long term solution. I think that the better alternative is being shortchanged for the 'quick fix' that isn't the benefit nor 'fix' we're led to believe it is. I've been doing outdoor lighting and traffic signals for a few decades, and it's truely astounding how much advancement has been made in just the last few years with LED's, as well as how well engineers have always been able to manipulate light with reflector and refractor designs to efficiently put all the light where we need it.

We've got most of the technology in hand now. Why do things half-azz with CFL's that is probably creating another problem with mercury? We need to do something, but we're not in a crisis situation where we need to let the barn burn to save the horses. We've got the time to save the horses and put the fire out.

[ssmith1627]

The CFL thing seems out of control. I like your comments that there are other / better options out there that need to be developed. We need something that doesn't require a hazmat team to clean up if one gets broken. I have a two year old -- it's going to happen at some point if he gets his hands on one. Scary. And there's no one in the world I'd want to keep away from that stuff than that little guy !

Steve

[TB Roye]

We have a few CFLs around the house but I have yet to find one that I can read the paper by. I have one of the old 50-150-250 bulbs in the lamp by my chair that I read with. When you get older you need more light to read with. I have some old track lights out in the shop over two of the benches the have conventional spot and flood bulbs to suppletment the Flourescent tubes on the celing. I have two CFL bug lights outside and they are fine, never burn out, but don't put much light either. I think the LED light might be the next big thing in home lighting. They seem to put out more light and doin't use the energy.

Tom

[Hellrazor]

I'll let you know what I find out on Thursday. I am going to a full day lighting seminar presented by Philips. Part of the info will be the upcoming T12 vs T8 conversion, one of the other features is the lighting demos to show all of the differences in lighting color and styles.

[MilDoc]

Personally, I think CFLs are great, at least until LEDs get much better.

Just be careful with them. If one breaks, DO NOT immediately clean it up! let the "dust" settle, then follow good technique (see previous posts).

And, please, dispose of them correctly. We do not need the mercury leaching into the water table.

[Rslaugh]

I'll let you know what I find out on Thursday. I am going to a full day lighting seminar presented by Philips. Part of the info will be the upcoming T12 vs T8 conversion, one of the other features is the lighting demos to show all of the differences in lighting color and styles.

If you're going to Philips showroom in NJ you will have a great time and be impressed.

LED's are a good long term solution but not quite there yet. Investigate how much mercury is really in a good CFL like Philips, GE or Siemens vs how much more nasty stuff is pumped into the environment by the power plant supplying 4x the power for an incandescent.

[Hellrazor]

If you're going to Philips showroom in NJ you will have a great time and be impressed.

Thats the one, road trip to Somerset NJ..

We had a meeting with reps from Philips and Advance a few weeks back about our future needs in converting to t8. The Philips Rep arranged for us to go to the seminar.