Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

Wayne123

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

Cariboocoot wrote: »

You know, if you told most people that you spent $40 or even $18 on one light bulb they'd ask: "ARE YOU CRAZY?"

That $40 would be 400 kW hours of electric here. That's a lot of light. But CFL's started out in the "outrageous" zone and soon became a practical alternative to incandescents. I just don't think it ought to be legislated mandatory. What next? Diesel is more fuel-efficient than gasoline, so let's outlaw all gasoline cars? They just don't think these things through very well.

I'm going to buy an LED bulb next time I go South (not available here yet) and put it in a lamp with the meter on just to see how it does. I'm sure my wife will critique the quality of the light for me. :roll:

The last time I checked my electric bill, I averaged 21 cents a KWH.

I have never been happy with CFLs, my house has dimmers everywhere and most CFLs I have tried have not lasted very long. The last dimmable CFLs I bought were about $12 each and most of them were dead in a year. I would be happy to see the prices drop on LED bulbs but it will take awhile.

BB.

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

I bought a set of dimable CFL's for a condo that had lots of can fixtures in the ceilings with dimmers...

It is really almost useless--Yes, they did dim a bit and made the light less intense--but flip the dimmer down too far/too quickly and you had "disco lights" blinking on and off. More lame than cool effect. :roll: Not near the effect that you would want/expect with a filament type lamp.

-Bill

n3qik

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

Cariboocoot wrote: »

What next? Diesel is more fuel-efficient than gasoline, so let's outlaw all gasoline cars?

I vote YES !!!!!

Had diesel trucks last 20 years. Have a diesel Jeep Liberty last 6 years.


I have one of the ECHOSmart bulbs in the garage opener. Do notice interference on the FM radio in the Jeep and sometime with the remote on the opener also.

Cariboocoot

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

Well I had a look at what was being offered in LED lights around here. And at the empty shelves where the incandescents used to be. *sigh*

The only "reasonably priced" unit was $12 for a 50 lumen bulb. What are you supposed to do with that?
There were no LED's comparable to 60 Watt "regular" bulbs. Not here. BC is almost Outer Mongolia at times!

They're going to have to fill that empty shelf space with something. In the meantime my CFL's keep going. BC Hydro is threatening us with Smart Meters and rate hikes ($0.10 per kW hour now). Neither will bode well for those all-electric houses that were put up everywhere due to really cheap hydroelectric power!

bmet

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

MisterB wrote: »

One reason I use Halogens is that my lighting is 12 volt and they are the by far the best and brightest 12v lights available. I like it that they are bright and hot. I get a lot of light out of a 10 watt halogen bulb while ten watts of incandescent light is dim and not very useful for working.
.

I purchased this while experimenting with a 4 watt, bi-pin LED lamp to run off of 12 VDC. It came supplied with a 20 Watt Halogen lamp.

I didn't have enough accessories to do a side-by-side comparison, but for for 3/4 less consumption the 4 Watt LED looked (to me) to be nearly the same brightness.

The submersible housing has a 12 foot cable, making it one of the most portable and versatile flood lights in my toolkit. Adapted with blade terminals, it quickly connects to my shed's power pack, or my vehicle. I've also paired it with a UB1270 as an all-day video light. On New Year's eve I used it to replace a Coleman lantern at the picnic table.

ggunn

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

bmet wrote: »

The submersible housing has a 12 foot cable, making it one of the most portable and versatile flood lights in my toolkit.

Submersible? I don't think that's what they mean when they say floodlight. ;^)

bmet

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

ggunn wrote: »

Submersible? I don't think that's what they mean when they say floodlight. ;^)

That just means that the housing is weatherproof. It doesn't diminish the coverage or intensity at all. Personally, I like a housing that can be used indoors or outdoors without regard.

MisterB

Re: Goodbye Incandescents - not yet

bmet wrote: »

I purchased this while experimenting with a 4 watt, bi-pin LED lamp to run off of 12 VDC. It came supplied with a 20 Watt Halogen lamp.

I didn't have enough accessories to do a side-by-side comparison, but for for 3/4 less consumption the 4 Watt LED looked (to me) to be nearly the same brightness.

LED lights are constantly improving. I recently looked at the newer LEDs for lighting available from a Hong Kong supplier I've bought from before. Lots of new products both in raw LEDs and bulbs. Lots more mcds in a 5mm led and yellow white LEDs that weren't even on the market 4 years ago. It's only a matter of time before the price of the bulbs gets reasonable because it's already there on the component level.

I'm still found of halogens. I like the heat they give off and their spectra and one of joys of a wind turbine is that there are windy nights when you've got extra power to burn and having halogens is nice for such nights.