CFL Replacement for Mercury Vapor Yard Lights

Recently they developed a CFL Replacement for the standard 175W Mercury Vapor Yard Lights. These replacement bulbs were quite expensive when first came out. I just noticed that they are now priced about the same as the MV bulbs. I have always known that these yard lights add considerably to my electric bill, and I even shut off one of my two yard lights except for occasional use. So, the thought of using a CFL which from what I remember, uses around 50W seems like a large savings.

However, my experience with home type CFL bulbs in my garage and other unheated buildings has been poor to useless in cold weather. While saving energy and money is desirable, having a light that proves to be useless in cold weather is not acceptable. And while these lights work at night all year long, the long hours of darkness in winter are the months when they are on the longest.

My question is whether anyone has tried them, and if they function in cold weather? Also do they produce as much light as a 175W Mercury Vapor bulb? I intended to contact the manufacturer, but it seems that the company (Regent) does not list a website on the box, or I would have written it down at the store.

Reply to
letterman
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Could the company actually be "Cooper Lighting" and the brand sold as "Regent" and could it be that you could search google.com for the words

Cooper Lighting

and find their web site?

Note I searched for regent cfl and found Cooper Lighting "Regent".

Reply to
Bill

Look at Lumen per watt output, a cfl I dought will be any more efficient and will take 5 minutes at -10f to get bright and may not fire at under -10f. A smaller MV or sodium might be best.

Reply to
ransley

A daylight color CFL has some advantage over a mercury vapor of equal light output in this application. A daylight color fluorescent has a spectrum more favorable to night vision than mercury vapor, so you can get the same effect with less light (by photometric measurement).

However, beware of hype exaggerating the benefits of a spectrum favorable to "scotopic vision".

It appears to me that a daylight color CFL (5000-6500 K, preferably

6500) will only need to produce about 5000 lumens to match the nighttime illumination effect of a 175 watt mercury vapor that is in good condition. Mercury vapor lamps tend to age a lot before they die. One may get as much effective illumination as a 175 W mercury in "average condition" with 4000 lumens of daylight color fluorescent.

A 65 watt CFL produces about 4000 lumens, maybe a little more. An 80 watt one can easily produce 5000 lumens.

If you use a floodlight style fixture for the CFL in lieu of those traditional mercury vapor fixtures that don't do much directing of the light to where you need it, then an equivalent CFL may be 40-50 watts - if it has a daylight color.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

Reply to
Don Klipstein

Don, I use 9 and 14w softwhite outside, how much brighter would it percieve to be by using daylight bulbs, would a 9 w daylight cfl equal a 14 softwhite cfl, I was unaware the daylight cfls will seem brighter.

Reply to
ransley

In , ransley wrote, edited for space:

I seem to think that 9w 6500K CFLs will be effectively only very slightly dimmer than 14w 2700K CFLs outdoors at night. I expect it to be close.

If your daylights are 5500K (N:Vision), I expect a 9 watt one of those to be a little brighter than an 11 watt or a little dimmer than a 13 watt one of 2700k for outdoor illumination at night.

Keep in mind that photometric output is compromised a bit when color temp. gets past 4100K. This will nibble a little bit at the advantage of spectrum more favorable to night vision.

Now I have to try this. Sometime this weekend I will drag a setup out somewhere I can do some testing. (I live in an apartment complex.)

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

Reply to
Don Klipstein

=BF=BDOne may get as

rag a setup out

I use the CF in my pole lamp, which is on a timer, on at 6AM off at midnite, and has a dusk dawn sensor on the pole. so i dont need instant light, a slight warming delay is fine. saves tons of electric, works fine although the CFs dont have as long a life as advertised. probably becvause of the dusk to dawn sensor. we get freezing zero weather here, no problem.

one bonus of CFs, with regular incandescent occasionaly that brite flash at bulb burn out would fry the light sensor. I have seen it happen.

since going with CFs havent had a sensor failure......

Reply to
hallerb

MH requires a ballast and typically its own fixture like sodium and mercury. By and large, MH requires specific ballasts. Except there are a few MH types whose ballasts can run same-wattage mercury lamps (but the reverse does not work well), and there are a few MH lamps made for some sodium ballasts (and they will not work properly with MH ballasts).

I would go for MH, and of lower wattage. The higher color rendering index and higher scotopic/photopic ratio will let you get good illumination with less light than with sodium or mercury.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

Reply to
Don Klipstein

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