Incandescent light bulbs

Re: Incandescent light bulbs

I find CFL`s to be a joke, A high % of their light emitting surface is facing itself, And as for energy saving, That depends on which set of numbers you read, try doing Volts x Amps
If you work in VA as we do, A 20w CFL will actually "pull" 36 VA (translates to watts the way we work) It costs more, has nasty (er) chemicals & is a horrible light to work by, give me 40w incan vs a 20w CFL in 99% of applications.
Have a good one
Tim
PS when the new Smart meters are installed, I wonder what they meter in ? VA by any chance ?:D

Re: Incandescent light bulbs not being sold in the US

As İ understand, incandescent bulbs will be sold in the US - though they will have to be more efficient and more efficient models are coming on the market.

Quote from Energy Star, 'It’s not entirely correct to say "CFLs will be required" or “incandescents will be phased out” because the standards set by the bill are technology neutral, and by 2012, a next generation of incandescent bulbs could satisfy the 30% increased efficiency. There are also other lighting technologies, such as halogen and LEDs that will be able to meet the new requirements and are expected to both increase in performance and drop in cost over the next few years.'

Further, 'There are many types of incandescent bulbs that are exempt from this law:
--any kind of specialty light (ie. bulb in refrigerator)
--reflector bulbs
--3-way bulbs
--candelabras
--globes
--shatter resistant
--vibration service
--rough service
--colored bulbs (i.e. "party bulbs")
--bug lights
--plant lights

The law applies to the sale of bulbs, not the use of existing stock of bulbs.'

Re: Incandescent light bulbs

A lengthy list of exceptions but İ expect those amount to a very small fraction of all incandescent lamps sold.

The big points are that in the US:

1) İncandescents are not being outlawed - but being required to be more efficient

2) The locations where the other types of lamps are not suitable are not being touched.

Has anyone heard of induction lamps?

Re: Incandescent light bulbs

n3qik wrote: »

Well the world is going to end Dec. 2012, so I would not worry about it. But if we are still here in 2014, I think LED is/will be the way to go. 80% of my lights are LED.

I have read that LEDs, though relatively expensive, are not long-lasting.
Is that true?

Re: Incandescent light bulbs

My experience with LED replacements has been less than great. I got a pile of name brand LED (sylvania) strip lights for some home decor but ended up using them for an under desk light (sort of like a kitched cabinet light. To date, I have six failed units in less than a year. I disected one and determined that they are wired in series so if one LED goes, the whole string goes.

Re: Incandescent light bulbs

nvyseal wrote: »

Has anyone noticed that CFL's lose their brightness after a year or so of usage or is it just me? I swear my lights used to be brighter. I'm not talking about when you just turn them on, but even after an hour of usage they seem to be not as bright

Most of the CFLs in my house aren't noticeably dimmer after a couple years, but there are a few. I have an admittedly tiny sample set, of course, but the ones that are dimmer fall in two categories:

1) Lamps that are seldom used, and then only on a short time. These are "somewhat" dimmer - but it is noticeable. It isn't just warmup time, even after being on a while they are still not as bright as others.

2) Worst are lamps that are in completely enclosed fixtures presumably because they get hotter. Especially bad is one that's in a "bathroom vent" fixture (it's in a closet, not a bathroom) and I assume this one has gotten worst because the fixture is recessed so the bulb probably gets exposed to the heat of the attic during the summer. (The CFLs I bought said they were rated for enclosed fixtures, and none have failed, but they are "dimmer".)

The "workhorse" CFLs in the living room are in torchiere-style floor lamps - the buibs are completely open to the ceiling, just a diffuser below them. They run continuously many hours every day, and are still going strong although one or two take a little longer to warm up to full brightness.

These are all 60W-equivalent. I bought four 100W-equiv (25W) CFLs in the beginning, and three of the four died relatively quickly - a couple rather spectacularly! The fourth sees very little use, but is still working. In contrast, some of the smaller ones are now near 4 years old. I had one dead out of the box, and one other (of 25-30 total) that has died since.

A qualifier, though - I've never had any real trouble with *incandescents* either. I still have some of those in the bathrooms that were there when I bought the house over 6 years ago. Never did get why some people seem to have bulbs (of any type) dying every six months!