Posted by Frogwatch on March 23, 2009, 3:13 am
> > Flicker in fluorescents indicates there is some small leakage current
> > with something in the order of 100V behind it, getting into the circuit
> > beyond the switch somehow.
> > Tim
> A lighted switch will do that, the neon lamp is across the switch
> contacts.
I have roughly 20 CFL in my home and they do not perform anywhere near
as well as advertised and my experience goes back as far as CFL do.
They simply do not give out as much light as a comparable
incandascent. They do not last nearly as long as advertised and
often, very often fail much sooner. I have bought some cfl
floodlights where 3 out of 4 in a package were bad. I find that they
DO NOT SAVE MONEY. However, I use them because on average, they last
about 4X as long as incandascents. Thus they are basically an
expensive convenience for me.
Posted by Tim Jackson on March 23, 2009, 11:04 am
Frogwatch wrote:
>
> I have roughly 20 CFL in my home and they do not perform anywhere near
> as well as advertised and my experience goes back as far as CFL do.
> They simply do not give out as much light as a comparable
> incandascent. They do not last nearly as long as advertised and
> often, very often fail much sooner. I have bought some cfl
> floodlights where 3 out of 4 in a package were bad. I find that they
> DO NOT SAVE MONEY. However, I use them because on average, they last
> about 4X as long as incandascents. Thus they are basically an
> expensive convenience for me.
>
That's an interesting observation.
I've never had a bad CFL lamp supplied in this country.
I'll agree that the light output doesn't always seem to reach
expectations, especially during the first five minutes after switch-on.
Both my elderly neighbour and myself have quite a few of these lamps,
and I maintain both. I have noticed that I have to replace her lamps
more often than my own. I attribute this to the fact that I only have
them in locations where they are on for long periods. I have a couple of
3W CFLs as "safety" lights that are on 24/7, and they don't seem to fail
any more often than those that are used frequently for fairly short
periods. Of course this small sample is a way from being statistically
significant, and these casual observations a way from being rigorous.
I have to suspect that despite claims to the contrary, much of the
ageing of these lamps occurs during start-up.
Tim
Posted by ransley on March 23, 2009, 11:05 am
> > > Flicker in fluorescents indicates there is some small leakage current
> > > with something in the order of 100V behind it, getting into the circuit
> > > beyond the switch somehow.
> > > Tim
> > A lighted switch will do that, the neon lamp is across the switch
> > contacts.
> I have roughly 20 CFL in my home and they do not perform anywhere near
> as well as advertised and my experience goes back as far as CFL do.
> They simply do not give out as much light as a comparable
> incandascent. They do not last nearly as long as advertised and
> often, very often fail much sooner. I have bought some cfl
> floodlights where 3 out of 4 in a package were bad. I find that they
> DO NOT SAVE MONEY. However, I use them because on average, they last
> about 4X as long as incandascents. Thus they are basically an
> expensive convenience for me.
You need to buy a good brand with a warranty HDs are cheap with 7 yr
warranty, i have about 70 in use. .All Your findings are flawed. Here
are two independant reviews that compare many CFLs to incandesants.
www.popmechanicsmag.com www.consumerreports.com
Posted by harry on March 26, 2009, 8:25 pm
> > > > Flicker in fluorescents indicates there is some small leakage current
> > > > with something in the order of 100V behind it, getting into the circuit
> > > > beyond the switch somehow.
> > > > Tim
> > > A lighted switch will do that, the neon lamp is across the switch
> > > contacts.
> > I have roughly 20 CFL in my home and they do not perform anywhere near
> > as well as advertised and my experience goes back as far as CFL do.
> > They simply do not give out as much light as a comparable
> > incandascent. They do not last nearly as long as advertised and
> > often, very often fail much sooner. I have bought some cfl
> > floodlights where 3 out of 4 in a package were bad. I find that they
> > DO NOT SAVE MONEY. However, I use them because on average, they last
> > about 4X as long as incandascents. Thus they are basically an
> > expensive convenience for me.
> You need to buy a good brand with a warranty HDs are cheap with 7 yr
> warranty, i have about 70 in use. .All Your findings are flawed. Here
> are two independant reviews that compare many CFLs to incandesants.www.popmechanicsmag.com www.consumerreports.com
The above is exactly right. Cheap Chinese crap and a horrible colour
some of them too. Get the ones made by Philips & problem is solved.
I have some CFL's in my house that are fifteen years old. The very
first ones to come out. (look like jam jars) They do get a bit dimmer
as the years go by. Technology is now much improved & also you can
get ones that can be dimmed too (cost more). The new ones take a
second to get to full brilliance. Price 0.75 = $ if you buy them in
a multi-pack.
Readup on this re colour:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Phosphor_composition
Posted by clare on March 27, 2009, 2:20 am
On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:25:44 -0700 (PDT), harry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > > > Flicker in fluorescents indicates there is some small leakage current
>> > > > with something in the order of 100V behind it, getting into the circuit
>> > > > beyond the switch somehow.
>> > > > Tim
>>
>> > > A lighted switch will do that, the neon lamp is across the switch
>> > > contacts.
>>
>> > I have roughly 20 CFL in my home and they do not perform anywhere near
>> > as well as advertised and my experience goes back as far as CFL do.
>> > They simply do not give out as much light as a comparable
>> > incandascent. They do not last nearly as long as advertised and
>> > often, very often fail much sooner. I have bought some cfl
>> > floodlights where 3 out of 4 in a package were bad. I find that they
>> > DO NOT SAVE MONEY. However, I use them because on average, they last
>> > about 4X as long as incandascents. Thus they are basically an
>> > expensive convenience for me.
>>
>> You need to buy a good brand with a warranty HDs are cheap with 7 yr
>> warranty, i have about 70 in use. .All Your findings are flawed. Here
>> are two independant reviews that compare many CFLs to
incandesants.www.popmechanicsmag.com www.consumerreports.com
> The above is exactly right. Cheap Chinese crap and a horrible colour
>some of them too. Get the ones made by Philips & problem is solved.
>I have some CFL's in my house that are fifteen years old. The very
>first ones to come out. (look like jam jars) They do get a bit dimmer
>as the years go by. Technology is now much improved & also you can
>get ones that can be dimmed too (cost more). The new ones take a
>second to get to full brilliance. Price £0.75 = $ if you buy them in
>a multi-pack.
>Readup on this re colour:-
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Phosphor_composition
I still have 2 of the old "circline" CFs floating around that are
over 20 years old. Don't fit much, but they've seen lamp duty and for
a while one was in the furnace room/shop ceiling fixture.
> > with something in the order of 100V behind it, getting into the circuit
> > beyond the switch somehow.
> > Tim
> A lighted switch will do that, the neon lamp is across the switch
> contacts.