Flame effect pseudo coals

[Appelation Controlee]

We have one of those naff gas fires that has the yucky moulded pretend coals that are illuminated by a couple of red bulbs driving spinners - the "flicker" effect - by convection. Yes, the fire will ultimately be consigned to oblivion, but not just yet. The other day I realised that the two tinted bulbs, at 40w each, are using more juice than is used illuminating the whole of the room (done entirely with CFLs - 6 in total, although unimportant to the question following). By way of experiment, I fitted a couple of CFL lamps in place of the tinted tungstens to see if they generate enough heat to spin the flickerators and, although they are a little slow to start, it does work, which is good enough for me. Not good enough for SWMBO, of course, because the rosy red glow is now beaming, cheery yellow. OK, to the point, unless there's a compelling reason not to, I need to red lacquer the CFL lamps so that the illusion of warmth is imparted to the room, and so that, in spite of the CH turning the lounge into a sleep zone for me, the Mrs doesn't feel cold. So, and sorry for the long tale, what I'm looking for is a suitable lacquer to use on the CFL lamps. Any suggestions re. type & source?

[Tim S]

Appelation Controlee coughed up some electrons that declared:

Try a transparent modelling lacquer (from a modelling shop). I've used that on smaller bulbs before.

The other option might be some stage-light colour film which is good to high temperatures (much higher than a CFL) - wrap around the bulb and tape in position.

Cheers

Tim

[Appelation Controlee]

-------------------8><

Thanks Tim, the modelling shop I'll follow up. I had already decided that enclosing the bulb in a gel filter would interfere with the convection.

[TheOldFellow]

Nail varnish? Choose one she likes most ;-)

R.

[Appelation Controlee]

Hey, good idea! :-)

[Baz]

I was going to say nail varnish. I remember 50 years ago my Mum made us a night light by painting a bulb with nail varnish.

Baz

[meow2222]

6 packs of little pies usually come in red trays - or did last time I bought one - and these make effective light filters. You may find red plastic sheets in your local art shop, though I daren't ask at what price. They'll be the cheap low temp version of lighting gel.

NT

[Appelation Controlee]

Yes, I know the ones you mean, thanks, but I think they will divert/block the convection currents.

[meow2222]

I was thinking theyre large enough to be put where they wont.

NT

[Harry Bloomfield]

Appelation Controlee presented the following explanation :

Lacking the heat of convection, I suppose the modern way would be to drive them via a synchronous small clock motor. As this is a modification and has to work with a flow of air - how about a small mains powered computer fan to supply the essential flow of air?

[Appelation Controlee]

A damned good suggestion - I'll look into that. Thanks. :-)

[Appelation Controlee]

Sorry, I was stuck thinking in terms of enveloping the lamps. :-)

[whisky-dave]

I think those small fans work on 5V or 12V at the most. Perhaps a sterling engine design might work.

[Dave W]

Do you have the bulbs on when the gas isn't? If not, I can't see why you want to remove 80W of heat when you're spending so much on the

1000W (say) heat from the gas.

[Appelation Controlee]

Good question - in practice, and other than chilly summer evenings, the gas is never lit, as the room is heated by the CH rads. It's all about the perception of a "warm" room. ;-)

[Appelation Controlee]

Right, implemented this yesterday, and it works well enough. Convection is lower than the incandescents, so a bit slow to initially move the spinners [1], but perfectly tolerable, and SWMBO has announced that it qualifies as a satisfactory solution. Thanks for all the suggestions - the Owl meter has dropped a couple of points, so honour is satisfied. :-)

[1] Will try bending these to different pitches, but that can be done at leisure.