"Twisty" fluorescent bulbs

These bulbs are supposed to last much longer than incandescent types. I have had several of them give up the ghost way too soon (the last was a Philips brand). Has anyone else had this problem?

---MIKE---

>In the White Mountains of New Hampshire >> (44=B0 15' N - Elevation 1580')
Reply to
---MIKE---
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Mine don't last very long either. Doesn't matter, they do have a 7 year guarantee, so I keep calling the 800 number and they mail me new ones. I think the reason they really don't last as long as they say that they do it because the alleged lifespan is under ideal conditions, and under ideal conditions a flourescent is on all the time. I try to only use them in places where the light is on a lot. In places like hallways and outdoors where flourescents aren't going to work good I use regular incandescent bulbs.

Reply to
scott21230

I've installed several of them in my fixtures in the past year, and none of them have died yet.

Reply to
Jeff

Andy comments:

I use them in the summer time when I have to have air conditioning.

In the winter time, I replace them with 100W incandescents.....

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Reply to
Andy

Yep. I ran across an article on fluorescent bulb lifespan a while back. As with incandescent bulbs, turning them on and off is what shortens the life. If the fluorescent is on 24/7 you'll get the rated hours. If it's on say a third of that time, you'll get about half of the rated hours (please note all of my numbers are either right or wrong or somewhere in between, but the gist of it is correct). The article calculated that if you were going to be back in the room in a half hour it made more sense to just leave the light on. This is one of the stumbling blocks to those automated motion-sensor lights.

The compact fluorescents have healthy warranties - years, so just give the manufacturer a call.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Only one of dozens has failed me in 5-7 years, a "Lights of America" or

some-such no-name. Of course, I use them wherever a light would not be short-cycled- where it would be left on for some time, or off. Bottom line: only bathrooms now have incandescents.

True, the one on the porch can take a while to get to full output. Not a problem to me.

Meanwhile, each succeeding generation of them seems better than the previous.

I tried some 40W reflector incandescents in some recessed fixtures; their longevity was a few months, on average. Maybe resulting from slight vibration walking on floor above?

J
Reply to
barry

I had an issue with bulbs having very short life in a ceiling fan that was run more or less constantly; I replaced the bulb with a fluorescent and it too burned out quickly. However the second fluorescent as far as I know is still in there and working fine. I'm guessing the vibration of the fan was causing the incandescents to fail, not sure why the first fluorescent failed.

I also used one of the fluorescents in a blast cabinet that just ate light bulbs, that seems to be working out well.

nate

Reply to
N8N

I've had several of these bulbs, and have generally been disappointed with the life span. I've had them in lamps and overhead lighting, one of which is a basement stairs light that I leave on constantly. That bulb lasted only about 1 1/2 years. The shop light tubes that I have last longer than that and they are cycled on and off regularly. Once the price drops on the flourecent bulbs to that of incandecents, or once the technology improves the life span, they will probably be a good choice; but for now, I'm sticking with incandecents.

Smooth

---MIKE--- wrote:

Reply to
srr113

I'm going to try the above strategy as well since I live in north Missouri and winters are cold here.

Do you buy just the reg incandescent? Not halogen or anything?

Reply to
me

Agree. LOA not lasted well for me either

I HAVE had god luck with the ones that Costco sells tho.

Reply to
me

I currently have 4 in service, two outside ones that were installed years ago. I think I replaced one of them. They are on 24/7. Two are in table lambs that cycle as any table lamp would - on and off. Been there a long time and haven't replaced either.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Not much with incandescents. CFs lose about 6 minutes with each start.

Sounds wrong, at 10 cents/kWh and $2 for a 6-7K hour bulb.

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

I've got about 20 or so in use and haven't replaced any of them in ages. They get varying amounts of on time, from 24 hr on a couple to an hour here and there on others.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

Andy comments:

It doesn't matter. Electric lights are 100% heat, as they require no outside air to come intot the house to emit energy. I like a lot of light. In the winter, they supplement my heat --- In the summer , they oppose my air condx...so I minimize the sources.

Twenty five cents for a 100 watt bulb is a good space heater. Even cheaper, joule for joule, than space heaters.... If you like halogen, get halogen --- it all ends up as heat energy after it bounces off the walls a dozen times.... Whatever is the least expensive, tho the differences in cost are minimal.

Andy in Eureka , registered PE and retired engineer

Reply to
Andy

I typically get at least one year continious on. Thats well above normal lifespan. I get 61000 hours. An incandesent is only supposed to last 1500 hrs, thats with a long lasting bulb. Cycling and other things will certaily matter.

gs

Reply to
zek

I multiplied wrong. I multiplied time 7. It should be 8760 hrs for the CF.

gs

Reply to
zek

Agree

But do you advise on using 100 watt bulbs and not something smaller like 60 watt?

Again..... my goals is to use same strategy as you.... use incandescent bulbs abs heater/lights in winter.... and the swap to CF lights in summer.

Reply to
me

That's a year on your planet? :-)

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

Yes, things are tested under ideal conditions. They often perform much worse in real conditions. You get the same thing with wireless devices, that give much less range than advertised.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

Interesting. Having more energy-efficient light bulbs doesn't help you when you need heat.

Of course, I live far enough south that it's too hot most of the time.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

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