Is there such a thing as a true "instant start" CFL which produces full intensity brightness as soon as it is turned on? I am trying to find an indoor bulb which will not require any warm up period to attain full brightness.
I know that claims are made, but wonder if they are exaggerated or true. General Electric, for example, actually labels their bulbs as "instant on" but they are not 'instant'.
I also realize that colder temperatures prolong the ionization / warm up period, but my application is for indoor use at normal 70 degree F temperature.
Thanks. I've already done that. Now I am asking others to spare myself a lot of wasted time, gasoline, and frustration. Perhaps there are others who know the answer...........
GE is supposed to be working on a hybrid CFL that would initially turn on a halogen bulb, then switch to the CFL after it warms up. It does not appear to be available yet.See their press release here:
I did some further research based on your outstanding tip, and sure enough, the new GE hybrid bulbs are just now showing up in the retail stores with precisely what I am looking for.
Here is one of several other articles describing the roll-out of the new, very clever product:
I've read the rest of the thread and notice the hybrid GE bulb recommended to you. I'm just guessing that it's going to be pretty expensive so, why do you need such a quick "warm up"? FWIW I recently bought some 40 watt equivalent LEDs at Lowe's that accomplish everything you want, will last longer and give a nicer light than the CFL's I have. They were on sale for about $10 but they are available now (and don't have any mercury in them)
If the voltage between the electrodes is high enough (600V+), a fluorescent lamp will turn on instantly (or too quick to perceive brightness change, anyway). The regular ballasts don't generate such high voltage but I remember experimenting (20+ years ago) with diode/capacitor
- based voltage boosters that were able to light a fluorescent lamp instantly. Neither ballast nor the started were needed.
A great side effect was that you could also light up a burned-out lamp, just as long as there's still vacuum in it. Most fluorescent lamps will go out because the filament would burn out, just like your regular incandescent lamp. But with this voltage booster I could (and did) literally pick a lamp from trash and reuse it again, which worked pretty well for my full-time student budget :)
Anyways, I'm in no way suggesting that it would be easy to hack a CFL, simply because the "C" in the name stands for "Compact" and that makes getting to the electrodes so much harder. All my experiments were on the older, tubular lamps with no space restrictions whatsoever. But I do believe that the voltage booster can be made into the space inside the socket. I remember it only needed two high voltage diodes, two high voltage capacitors and one resistor but don't quote me on that - it was
20+ years ago.
So, if you are up to it, understand the health and fire safety implications and have time and skills to do it, then the answer is: "yes, you can have an instant-on CFL" However, since I've never heard of these available commercially, you're probably going to have to make one yourself.
P.S. This is EXACTLY the kind of DIY project that can kill you because of both the high voltage and the direct coupling of the circuit to the mains, so don't say I did not warn that it should only be approached if you have the right skills.
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Would be interesting to know your application that requires such a lamp. LIfe has lots of other things to be annoyed with. Why pick this one?
FWIW, I've seen significant differences in startup time for the SAME brand of lamp from different batches. I'd guess the OEM's just buy from the current low-price leader. When I buy CFLs, I take along a socket and plug them into the outlet by the back door at home depot.
I don't use a light meter, but it seems to me the last batch from Home Depot do that. And they were down to 48 or 60 or 80 cents a piece iirc for 60 and 100 watts. This was 5 months ago and 40 and 75 watt equivalents were still expensive for some reason.
They are called Ecosmart soft white, in bubble packs of 4, with green and white paper inside.
And not only tthat, they're smaller than they used to be and fit in the 4?" globes that some of my light fixtures have.
I use pretty much all CFLs around my house and with the exception of some encapsulated decorative globe types in a light bar, none of them show any notable warm up period after a few hours of use. There is perhaps a 1/4 second start time from switch on, but they are at 80%+ brightness immediately.
I do find that most CFLs do require a few hours burn in time, presumably to fully vaporize and distribute the tiny amount of mercury, before they settle into the no/negligable warm up state.
Most of the CFLs I use are basic 60W equiv models, with some larger
100W+ equives in a few applications. Also, unlike what some people claim, I have very few failures of CFLs and when they do fail it's usually after a number of years of daily use.
The lighting is intended for a dark hallway and staircase being used by elderly people with limited eyesight.
The warm up time of so-called "instant" CFLs I have tried is several minutes, leaving the areas with insufficient light until the warm-up period elapses.
The bulbs I will be using are indeed expensive at $5.99 to $9.99 MSRP based on wattage. Perhaps LEDs would be better, if they can put out similar light output (approx 750 lumens), cost about the same, and last a lot longer.
Thanks for the suggestion and I will certainly check it out. The last time I looked, the LED bulbs were way more expensive, but it has been quite a while since I compared prices.
I too have played for fluorescent fixtures, and I used to light up tubes with my ham radio transmitter / antenna (running 2KW PEP) instantaneously using RF. The phosphors, like those on a CRT faceplate, glow as soon as electrons impinge, rather than waiting for the heated filament to ionize the tube and make a plasma.
Noble gas tubes such as those filled with xenon, argon, neon, etc. certainly go to their plasma state truly "instantaneously" and it is thus not surprising that they make perfect "flash guns" for photography with no delays and pulses of light less than a millisecond duration immediately.
In this specific matter, I am looking for a commercial, off the shelf solution which can be maintained with no DIY effort.
I think the new GE hybrid is a great solution, assuming they last as long as claimed. The LED would be even better owing to its simplicity, but I have to allow cost issues to determine which path I chose.
The thing that could solve this headache for all of us is for the industry to just get together and come up with some consistent metrics that they would all use. One of the most important would be the time to reach say 80% of full output. Otherwise, as you've noted, instant on can mean anything. I've had the same problems. Some do come on very fast, while others can take a long time.
And then there is the problem that for some applications CFL light is just unacceptable due to the quality of the light. I would not be surprised to see the laws changed when folks realize big govt is once again ramming crap down everyone's throats.
Start with the 12-packs and others that aren't in a clamshell. If you can't find any of those, ask the guy at the back checkstand if they're rapid start and if you can return any that aren't. Buy 'em, test 'em, return them to the same guy immediately. Find the outlet first ;-)
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