Price of Light Bulbs

[Robert Gammon]

These lamps appear to be made by Feit Electric, 1000bulbs lists the PN with FEII as a part of the part number.

Feit gives a good graphic of color temps on its web site.

CF is about 2700K

Halogens come in at about 3200K

Cloudless day is about 5500K

partially overcast day is about 6500K

the whitest area of the chart is around 4000K, so YES 5000K and 6400K lamps will be slightly to somewhat blue.

Feit calls their lamps standard, Cool White, and Daylight. 1000bulbs shows 2700/500/6400K color temps all with the same base PN FC15/FEIIS15Wxx where xx is the color temp 27/5/64

I do not shop dollar stores for CFs. Only big box and internet sites.

[Robert Gammon]

Feit's 25W standard CF is rated for 1600 initial lumens, very close to the nominal 1710 of 100W incandescent and their 25W Mini CF is rated for 1800 initial lumens.

I am picking the 15W for SIZE. i have fixtures that I want to put a brighter lamp into, but lamp length cannot exceed 5 inches.

But even in incandescents, there is lots of variance in light output between brands, and models of the same manufacturer. Buyer beware, read the labels CAREFULLY!! Most of us only pay attention to the wattage rating when we need to be looking at Light Output!!!

[Robert Gammon]

See this page

Granted these are 15-18 inch lamps. Color temps for these range from

3000 to 6500

In the 4 foot range as we see in many household fixture

These are 4000K to 6500K

In the 6 foot range

Color temps here range from 4100 to 6500 with some of them the reddish lamps used in front of beef, poultry, and chicken displays in grocery stores.

In the 8 foot range seen in commercial applications

These are 3000K to 6500K

[Robert Gammon]

Ok, I am backing away somewhat

Most 6400Ks have been dropped to 5000K for my CFL order tomorrow or Wednesday

Linear is 4100 as that is the highest offered

CFLs 4100K or 5000K depending on model

[Robert Gammon]

Bought an el cheapo LoA 64K at walmart today just to try it out for a couple of days before making my decision.

Initial reaction is favorable.

While in this relatively new Walmart today, noticed they are using 5K T8

4 foot lamps over the open refrigerated foods area, and the high lamps appeared to be the same. Difficult to get close enough to the lamps to read the label accurately, but I can almost swear that I could see 5000K. It was a GE lamp.

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Hi Don,

Having lived in Toronto for some 19 years, I can confirm you are correct; in commercial/retail/office environments, 4100K would be most common, with 3500K and 3000K following in that order (the standard for most, if not all, North America). However, my comments were with regards to residential use and I apologize, I wasn't very clear about that.

Cheers, Paul

[George E. Cawthon]

Good catch, I was about to respond then looked to see if you found the error.

Your point is certainly valid, electricity not bulb cost is the main factor. I have no idea what the operating life time of most ight bulbs in my house is, but it is highly variable.

I have a good idea of the operating hours of my 60 watt desk lamp which is close to 2,000 hours a year. Bulbs burn out somewhat more frequently than once per year. Thus bulb life is probably in the 1500 hour area. Even bathroom lights (four 60 watt bulbs) have to have an average life of well over 750 hours based on burn out replacement and an average on time of 2 hours perday.

I recently installed two led nightlights (cycles through 6 colors) and calculated the annual cost based on the wattage and local power costs. Assuming the light remains on 24 hours a day, the cost would be 32 cents per year. Wonder what the operating life will really be. Fairly long, I hope, since each light was $3.00 (in a pack of 5).

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Hi Don,

You are one of the most knowledgeable people I know in the area of lighting and I've probably gained more useful information from reading your posts than any other source (and from those of Victor too). However, you did say one thing that puzzles me.... if I understood this correctly, in one of the messages related to this thread, you said there are no Energy Star rated CFLs with a 3,500K or higher colour temperature.

I bought twelve 3,500K 23 watt PAR38 CFLs for my kitchen and although I have long since disposed of the packaging, I was certain they were, in fact, Energy Star certified. I just checked the manufacturer's web site (Standard Pro) and I do see the Energy Star logo is clearly printed on the product literature and on the picture of the lamp carton.

See:

This logo is also shown on their 4,100K and 5,000K variants (I believe all are rebranded MaxLite products).

BTW, I selected this product because the stated CRI is 85 and because they have a flat, hard glass lense identical to that of a standard halogen PAR (as opposed to the soft glass or plastic construction of most CFL floods). I'm very pleased with this product, although I swear the colour temperature is higher ... 4,100K, if not more.

During the heating season, I use 100 watt halogen HIR PAR38s, but during the off-months (April through September), I switch over to these CFLs and save a total of 924 watts.

Cheers, Paul

[Don Klipstein]

This is by the manufacturer, and since I see the "Energy Star" logo on that page my asumption is that some of their products meet the "Energy Star standard" and they want you to think that all do.

Looks like I might need to get corrected here - I checked this out and got:

(split into two lines)

If the color temperature (more correctly "correlated color temperature") is outside the range of 2700-3000, then the product/packaging must make a statement of color temperature and of color and intended use, and I see spirit even if not letter in that rule that such statements need to make it clear that the color is "not a usual CFL color" (my words) and should make clear what the color is as best understandable by consumers.

It appears to me that acceptable is "4100K Cool White" or "5000K Cool Daylight Color" or "5000K pure white cool color" or "6500K Cool Daylight Color" or "3500K warm white but more white" and the like.

I suspect the color of the bare bulb in free air at 25 degrees C without the PAR around it may be closer to 3500, and in a hotter environment there is more mercury vapor in the tubing and you get a color shift. I wonder if the manufacturer's marketing department is even aware of this color shift.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[mm]

I carry cheap fold-up binoculars in my car. Mostly for reading signs that I can't read otherwise, and seeing other things without getting out of the car. Just a thought.

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Hi Don,

OK, glad to hear that is, in fact, the case. I just examined one of the bulbs and can confirm the Energy Star logo is printed on the base and I'm almost certain it is also printed on the outer packaging.

When the bulbs are first turned on, the colour is a warm pinkish tone, but within a minute or so, it is considerably cooler; to my eyes, it appears to be 4,100 K.

I bought nine more of their 3,000 K CFLs for other parts of my home (office, upper hallway and master bedroom). Compared to the 4 ft. GE SPX30 tubes that are next to these lamps, I would say the colour is in the range of 3,500 K.

I'm guessing there might have been a mix-up in the packaging but, as you say, it could also be related to the operating temperature.

It's interesting to compare these CFLs to the Philips MasterColour self-ballasted ceramic metal halide PAR38 lamp. The Philips lamp has a colour temperature of 3,000 K and a CRI of 87. Side-by-side, you can clearly see it is much richer in the reds and purples. I

***really*** like this lamp a lot, but I'm afraid the price is out of my league (this one was kindly "loaned" to me last summer by a local supplier who has always taken very good care of me).

Cheers, Paul