I'm pretty sure I've replaced the CFL in my kitchen twice in the last year.
Nothing funny about the application that I can see: single light fixture in center of ceiling, with a globe. Gets used about 5 times/day, never left on for over an hour.
The bulb I just replaced is Sylvania 23w .33a, "lasts 7 years". It couldn't have been in service more than 8 months.
Are CFL's all they are cracked up to be? Is one brand lots better than others? Etc, etc.
Peetie
Probably overheating in the globe. Check the instructions, in the past they were not to be used in and enclosed fixture.
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They don't like a lot of vibration either (like in a 25 year old garage door opener).
As others have said, a fully enclosed fixture may be bad for the bulb, even if the label says it's OK. I've had the experience of using in a closed globe a bulb labeled only "do not use in a fully enclosed RECESSED fixture" (emphasis added). After a couple of early failures, I contacted the company and was told that I should not use the bulb in an enclosed fixture. When I asked about the discrepancy with the label, they stopped answering my emails. I haven't bought any more of their bulbs.
Yet in other closed fixtures I have CFLs which have lasted for years. Go figure. Possibly it's because in the one with multiple failures, I used larger bulbs. But the others have also mostly been other brands.
I've switched to open fixtures for the problematic ones and have settled down to an extremely low failure rate.
On the average, yes, they are what they are cracked up to be. However, you will see a lot of variation. Despite the rating of 10,000 hours, some will last 1,000 hours and some will last 30,000 hours. In some, the color will shift slowly with long life. Unfortunately, if you switch all your lighting from incandescent to CFL at one time, you'll soon see the short-term failures and it will take a lot longer to see the compensatory long tail. Also our minds tend to dwell on the early failures and ignore the ones that just shine and shine and never complain. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Yes, some brands will be better than others, but you can't necessarily go by past records. They are probably all changing manufacturers as needed. I had bad luck with Sylvania, and that's the one which contradicted their own label -- but that was several years ago. I like the ones from Home Depot, formerly n-vision, now eco-something. In part that's because I like daylight spectrum (5500K) and they have a lot of choices in that color. They also have lots of choices in "soft white" (yellow incandescent-like, 3500K) and "bright white" (intermediate, 4500K).
You can get the standard 13W size for under $2 each in multi-packs. Unfortunately they almost all come in PETE sealed packages. If you don't have a nuclear bomb handing, metal snips do a pretty good job of opening the package. Still, it seems pretty stupid to me to package a fragile item in package that requires heavy-duty tools to open. If you don't already have metal snips or something similar, get them when you get the bulbs. Trying to open these packages with a knife is asking for a trip to the urgent care center.
Edward
Consumer Reports tested them in Oct. 2009 and found only Ikea's brand fell far short of rated lifespan. The 12,000 hour Sylvanias ranked in the top tier for lifespan, but some 10,000 hour Sylvanias were in the next tier.
Over 6 years ago, I bought a lot of MaxLite CFLs that usually blew out in1-2 years. Many had a blown transistors and a large electrolytic capacitor that was bad. That capacitor was some funny brand (Aishi) and was mounted right in the middle of the base, where it baked really well.
I write the date on mine when I install them.
I have a hallway light in a globe that used to burn out a bulb at least every 6 months before I switched to CFL's. I put a CFL in it about 2 years ago and it hasn't burned out yet.
I also tried some of the three way bulbs in a three way lamp and have not been as lucky with them. I was lucky to get 2 months out of them, so I stopped using them.
From my experience, bulbs mounted base up have a markedly shorted lifespan than those mounted base down. Base up in a recessed fixture (which really bakes the electronics pod) is the worst for longevity.
-- Bobby G.
Use a Sharpie to write the date of installation and the source on the bulb's base. When (if) it fails, return it.
It's possible that, if enough people do that, we'll see truth in labeling.
Or maybe not.
I have no problem with one in a kitchen fixture like this. Been there
2-3 years where with incandescent's, I was replacing maybe every 6 months. Closed fixtures don't like a lot of heat but cfl's give off less than incandescent's.What I don't like is use in short term fixtures like bathrooms. By the time you get them up to full light, you're out of the bathroom. I just had one burn out after less than 6 months.
Also, I've noticed they all tend to hum. It can be annoying if you are working close to the cfl and there is no background noise.
Personally I like them in inaccessible places where light burns for long periods but don't like the government mandate that will ban incandescent's as cfl's are not a panacea and are annoying with their hum and trying to use for short lighting periods.
I think there is just a large variation in how they perform and how long they last. I use a 100W equivalent one in an enclosed globe on a ceiling fan. And it's lasted at least 5 years, maybe longer. And I typically leave it on at night. I can't see the temp inside a reasonably size globe getting that hot from a bulb that only draws 23W.
On the other hand, I've had lots of them that fail in a year or less. It's just another example of govt abuse of power, forcing these down our throats, when they have obvious and serious problems.
Have more than 120 CFL's installed, some over 5 years. Base up, horizontal, enclosed, open, some with many on/off cycles through the day, driveway post lanterns, gagage door openers (3 w/ 2 CFL's each), paddle fan lights, various table lamps. Every area except floodlights on security system. I have had 3 failures in the period. Two in master bath and one in basement. All 3 were in open fixtures, 2 w/base up and
1 w/base horizontal. Several brands, GE, Sylvania, Bright Star, etc, but regardless of branding, all are listed as made in China. Last week bought package of eight 13W @ Sam's Club for $1.86. GE branded but made in China.
Just curious. Does number of on/off cycles have any effect on life? I am at war with my wife over the kitchen one. she turns it off every time she leaves. since there is no window there it needs to be turned back on on the visit, constant through the day. She is "savign money", I say it uses more electricity starting up than leaving it on.
Harry K
They do not take more power to start up than they save. However, they do not last very long if they are cut off and on often. They and most all fluorescent lamps need to be left on most of the time and not short cycled. This is for most all electrical devices.
Yes, it shortens the life, but I don't know how much. I once heard the "rule of thumb" was leave in on if about 15 minutes or less before it would go back on.
Enclosed fixtures accumulate heat. CFLs in ceiling fixtures can overheat, depending on the fixture and orientation of the CFL. (Base-up is worst, base-down is best.)
I have about 20 years of experience with an enclosed kitchen ceiling fixture, roughly hockey-puck-shaped, about 8 inches in diameter and about
4.5 inches tall/deep. In that one, I use two 13-watt CFLs. In my experience, they get about 4,000-5,000 hours life expectancy in that fixture, about half they were rated for. It appears to me that in most of the failures, heat is shortening the lives of the electronics inside them.Maybe you could try replacing your 23W CFL with an 18W one. In the likely event the 23W was overheating quite a bit, its light output was reduced a little by the overheating. CFLs produce full light output only when their tubing has temperature at or somewhat close to optimum. An
18W CFL is likely to produce only slightly less light than a 23W one does in that fixture, once the fixture heats up.=======================================
While you are up to trying a different CFL, if you were using 2700 K ones, you may want to try a 3500K one if you want a "whiter shade of warm white". I would advise against color temps. higher than 3500K in most home use - those usually cause a "stark" or a "dreary gray" effect at usual home illumination levels.
Both Lowes and Home Depot have 3500K CFLs.
A CFL in the process of starting does not use more electricity than one that is running - at least not significantly. Turning it off for even only 10 seconds will save electricity in comparison to leaving it on.
However, starting a CFL does cause wear. If the CFL takes a fraction of a second to a second to start when cold, and does so without any blinks, then it has a gentler starting method - a start causes as much wear as a couple to a few minutes of continuous operation. If the CFL starts instantly (even if dim) when cold, then a start causes as much wear as maybe 10 minutes of running.
Financial break-even time between leaving-on and turning-off varies with electricity cost, CFL wattage, CFL cost and the CFL's starting mode. But for a "one-size-fits-all", I would only turn it off if it is expected to stay off for at least 20 minutes.
In , Edward Reid wrote in part, edited by me for space:
It's Ecosmart.
Ecosmart's colors:
Soft White - 2700 K (incandescent-like) Bright White - 3500 K ("halogen-like" whitish-incandescent color) Daylight - 5000 K (icy cold pure white) 5500 K when it was N-Vision (extremely slightly bluish)
With other brands, "Bright White" is sometimes 4100 K, which is white of a shade similar to that of average midday direct sunlight. "Daylight" usually means anywhere from 5000 K to 6500 K (bluish white), though I have known Sylvania to use "Daylight" as their term for 3500 K.
Ned Flanders wrote in news:vURPp.14644 $ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe01.iad:
Even incandescents don't like vibration. The only incandescents in our house that fail with any sort of regularity are three in a ceiling that is subject to heavy foot traffic on the floor above.
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