Any experience with these?
Our new kitchen will have 6 recessed cans that normally accomodate standard incandescent floodlight bulbs. For the sake of electrical consumption and heat output, I'd like to use CF floodlight bulbs, but have not used them before.
Other advantages? Disadvantages?
TIA
I have them in my kitchen. The heat output is noticeably lower than the incandescents. Electrical consumption is rather substantially lower as well, but we're not talking about a huge savings here. Maybe a couple of bucks a year. If you decide to use these you will want to experiment with different brands as the quality of light is rather variable. I have settled on the GE as offering the color temperature that suits my taste best, but your mileage may vary.
Good light, but may be a little odd color for food prep. Most offer good light however. They are not as bad as many of the older lights. I tend to mix some incandescent along with the cfs in the bath and kitchen. You might try using all cf and see how you like the color.
Much less energy usage and less heat. Good even light and long life.
I dislike them because of slow start, odd look and strange color light.
Shop around. There are different types of cf lights. Some are instant-on other will take a couple seconds to turn on. They are available in different temperatures (degrees Kelvin, which makes the color of light displayed) depending on what they will be used for. They generate less heat and last several times longer. You will SAVE MONEY as they will more than pay for themselves over the life of the bulb in energy saved.
~~Phil~~
You make a good point about the slow start, some are, or at least were. All of them I have bought recently have been fast starters. They also have had good color qualities. In fact they color is so good I chose them (mixed with some incandescent) for my bathroom light because of the quality.
Only real disadvantage is that you can not use them with a dimmer switch.
.....................................
Lets see : say 23 watts instead of 100 for 6 lights, perhaps 8 hours a day, every day, $0.12 a KWH
(100-23)*6*8*365*.12/1000 = $161 a year. YMMV
I found that the remote switches do not work either.
Just like regular fluorescents, the CF lamps have a color temperature and a CRI (Color Rendition Index).
For most kitchens, if you like to see the real color of the raw red meat you are cooking and make it appealing, you would pick a lower color temperature lamp (2500-3500 K) which emphasized the red light and the highest CRI you can find. The same applies to regular linear fluorescents although, these are easier to get. GE clearly labels one of their lines "for kitchens and bathrooms".
5000 K daylight lamps are used for photography and are bluish in color. Generally these would not be appropriate for a kitchen unless you are going for some unique architectural lighting scheme.The highest color temperature CF lamps I could find in regular stock are 6500 K which are extremely blue. I use them outdoors because they look cool.
Beachcomber
OUCH!
we pay 7 cents here!
people up north get screwed on utilities!
Having not done the math . . . I stand corrected. Electricity is a bit less around here, but the savings are still fairly substantial. Thanks
You need to get a remote switch that is designed for fluorescents. These types of switches require a neutral connection at the switch. If you don't have a neutral at the switchbox, they will not work.
The remote switch will work if you have at least one incandescent bulb that is controlled by the switch, so if you use a mixture of incandescent and fluorescent bulbs as suggested by Joseph Meehan, a standard remote switch will work. This setup works because a standard (2 wire) remote switch requires a trickle current on the circuit. That trickle current can pass through an incandescent bulb, but not through a CF, but since the lights in the circuit are wired in parallel, a single incandescent bulb in the circuit will provide that trickle current.
Lastly note that CF floods are often somewhat longer than incandescent floods and may stick out from the can.
Wayne Boatwright wrote in news:Xns9678E3BB1E62waynesgang@217.22.228.19:
If you mean the ones that look like flood lights with the bell shaped housing: Don't bother. The housing serves no purpose and causes the bulb to retain heat. I had a pair that didn't last even two years. I replaced them with standard swirl bulbs and they have been going great for several years.
On Sat 18 Jun 2005 04:06:48a, Joseph Meehan wrote in alt.home.repair:
In researching them I found that there are a variety of color temperatures available. This might make a singificant difference.
Thank you...
On Sat 18 Jun 2005 05:19:13a, Alan wrote in alt.home.repair:
I can't speak for the flood lamp configuration, but more recent CF bulbs I've bought have virtually instant start. The flood lamp configuration doesn't look any different than any other flood lamp, and there are now a variety of color temperatures available that might eliminate the color problem.
On Sat 18 Jun 2005 12:07:27p, Beachcomber wrote in alt.home.repair:
Thanks! I was aware of different color temperatures, but not of the CRI. I will investigate further.
On Sat 18 Jun 2005 08:03:43a, Ray wrote in alt.home.repair:
Actually, some that I've read about can be used with a dimmer, but I don't know how well they work. They are also considerably more expensive. I don't think I'll need them to operate on a dimmer, however, since in addition to the 6 floodlights, I also have a central decorative suspended fixture which will be on a dimmer. That will probably suffice for lower level lighting.
On Sat 18 Jun 2005 07:50:52p, Gordon Reeder wrote in alt.home.repair:
Thanks! Food for thought.
I have a X-10 type controller (Powerhouse) hooked up to operate some outlets & lights (CF & standard). Works great for me. But yes the CF's don't dim.
~~Phil~~
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