Re: CFL Facts
- From: Victor Roberts <xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:24:52 -0400
On 10 Apr 2007 18:29:25 GMT, andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article <amsl13hi0fnmq613p4sf79b7ll9vfhsq99@xxxxxxx>,
Victor Roberts <xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
We've made a little progress on www.cflfacts.com. A very
few questions and answers have been posted, just enough to
get started on the site design, and my web designer (my
son) has taken the raw text and given it a bit of class. The
site needs a lot more work, including graphics and links to
other sites with more graphics, but I would be interested in
your opinions on the site so far.
Victor,
Looks good. Some pictures would really help.
On the way.
If you want to take any of the pictures from
http://www.cucumber.demon.co.uk/lights/diy/
for your website, feel free (they were all
taken by me), but you can probably find better
elsewhere.
Thanks!
It feels a bit US-centric at the moment.
Well, probably because it is :-) I don't know enough
about regulations and jargon of other countries, so I've
decided to focus on the US first.
"Screw base" won't
have such an obvious meaning in UK (and might even be read
as screw base verses BC). GU24 doesn't exist outside the
US AFAIK. There is a UK company pushing a modified GU10
for a similar purpose, but it's got no tracktion as you have
to buy their own expensive single-sourced lamps, which are
not available in retail outlets.
All good points. Screw base and GU24 don't even mean much
to US consumers :-)
I've rarely heard people complaining about short life here,
and indeed there are many around which have lasted too long
and should have been changed ages ago, but just don't die.
Seven years ago, IKEA was selling very cheap Chinese CFL's
(by far the cheapest source of CFL's in the UK at the time),
and these just never die. Some have probably done 25,000 hrs
and are noticably dimmed and should be replaced, but I still
see quite a number in service.
I wish we could say the same about life. Most CFLs do have
a long life, but some don't. In less than 1 year I lost two
of four Philips reflector CFLs that I had installed in a
track light system. Doesn't say much for quality when
Philips lamps fail that fast.
The most common complaint is that the filament equivalancy
on the packaging is a plain lie -- in the small print, you
can find that the comparison is against a softtone (painted)
filament lamp, which are rarely used and have significantly
reduced light output compared with standard frosted lamps.
This initial bad experience puts many people off. I have
been working on the CFL wikipedia page (see discussion page)
and put togther a graph comparing light output of filament
lamps and CFLs:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/bc930ca506fffe94349a8d6900ad6e7e.png
which is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Compact_fluorescent_lamp
I think we have become more realistic in the US than we were
when CFLs were first introduced. This is a point I will
have to address.
Also, the lower initial light output can compound this; I
suspect some new CFL's get removed and discarded in dusgust
before they've even had a chance to warm up.
Warm-up time will also be discussed. I have some CFLs that
are so dim when first started that you need to be a "true
believer" to know throw them out immediately. The same
Philips reflector lamps come to mind :-)
BTW, CFL's which look like standard filament lamps have been
around in Europe for ages.
But I suspect they all have covers over multi-tube or spiral
lamps, as I state at CFL facts. Only an electrodeless CFL
can have the shape of a GLS or A-Line lamp without an extra
light and heat trapping cover.
However, a CFL with equivalent
light output above about 40W incandescent is still bigger
than its incandescent equivalent, although they are getting
smaller with time.
Also an issue. Thanks for your comments.
--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com
To reply via e-mail:
replace xxx with vdr in the Reply to: address
or use e-mail address listed at the Web site.
This information is provided for educational purposes only.
It may not be used in any publication or posted on any Web
site without written permission.
.
- References:
- CFL Facts
- From: Victor Roberts
- Re: CFL Facts
- From: Andrew Gabriel
- CFL Facts
- Prev by Date: Re: CFL Facts
- Next by Date: Re: CFL Facts
- Previous by thread: Re: CFL Facts
- Next by thread: Re: CFL Facts
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
