Remote Living > Lighting
What are your thoughts on CLF bulbs?
Frank S:
several years back I used to buy 240v 100w incandesents and use them on 120v ac the heavier filaments would last 4 times as long as a comparable quality 120v bulb even though dimmer
SparWeb:
I once tested one of the slowest CFL's in my house with a datalogger and a photocell. Here's the intensity graph:
After the first "flash" of about 20% intensity, it drops to just 15%, then slowwwwwwly crawls up to its rated brightness after 6 minutes. Briefly turning off and on, and it retains most of its intensity, but still requires 30 seconds to return to full brightness. Turned off for more than a minute and it must re-start its long slow climb. The lesson is to turn this light on once, and leave it on for the whole evening.
I have other CFL's in the house that require less than 30 seconds to accomplish this, from a cold start. The difference lies in vastly different levels of quality. YGWYPF.
Mary B:
Have a couple of these http://www.menards.com/main/led/feit-led-dimmable-general-purpose/p-2123175-c-7482.htm so far so good, color is okay, not quite as white as I would prefer but tolerable.
MattM:
I've bought no less than 40 LEDs from Walmart and Lowe's this past year. It might be close to 50 for the past two years. Twelve are 4W candelabras. One is the 65W replacement at 11W. The rest are 60W replacements in the A19 form factor most at 5000K color temperature value. I buy them 2-5 at a time to keep them affordable. I've also swapped out a couple dozen bulbs for CFLs varying from 40W to 100W equivalents. Natural light color has been my focus.
Overall it's been a modest reduction on the electric bill. It's been a huge improvement in light quality, considering the change to natural colors. Big jump in quality IMO. I'm going for long term savings.
Bruce S:
I don't mind CFLs for what they are and what they can be used for.
Yes, there is mercury in them but not nearly as much as the older ones do (actually 1/10th in newest ones)
LEDs are great, and quickly coming down in price. WE need to remember, CFLs have been around for about 10+ years, LEDs in retail and larger wattages at best only 5 years.
Engineering and manufacturing responds to consumer demand not what's right or best.
For my plants, both Veggies and flowers, they absolutely love the light spectrum, even the strawberry plants have responded all winter. I can run the CFLs off a smaller inverter and not worry about over heating the plants.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version