Finally an alternative to incandescents?

No, it's not a huge amount of energy. But if there's no point to lighting something, why do it?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon
Loading thread data ...

Sometimes it costs more to turn things on and off frequently. Burns out stuff. Expensive repair.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

I heard that from the building electricians. And that restroom everyone insisted on turning off at work, that lamp needed changing often.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

The darn ceiling fan is supposed to equalize room temperature, it would defeat the purpose to have it turn off. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Do people here ever trim a post? Sigh. At least most are bottom posting.

I do not believe ceiling fans actually do anything except make people think they're more comfortable when they're not. It's psychological. So as lon g as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine. When you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Reply to
TimR

I do not believe ceiling fans actually do anything except make people think they're more comfortable when they're not. It's psychological. So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine. When you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

nk they're more comfortable when they're not.  It's psychological.  So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine.  When yo u're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Which is obviously wrong. Is it just psychological that it feels cooler when a breeze is blowing? Of course not. Moving air increases evaporation from the body and takes more heat away, it's an actual physical process.

And as someone else pointed out, using a motion sensor on them isn't going to allow them to be used in a bedroom, when someone is sleeping. If it's an optional one that can be used or not used depending on the application, then it's a good idea. If it's another ram it down or throats mandate from govt, then it's a bad idea.

Reply to
trader4

I'm not surprised by that at all...

but the 90+ CRI is one of the main reasons that I'm excited about this bulb as opposed to the majority of other offerings on the market (the other being the un-fudged lumen output for a "60W equivalent")

Ayup, but I have a feeling that this bulb will quietly disappear after a while. Re: "California Quality" I think the L-prize fails because of its poor power factor.

formatting link

The Cree bulbs, which are the ones that HD is pushing now, seem decent-ish but have a published CRI that doesn't meet the specs, and some have reported a detectable flicker, BUT the do have power factor correction. So there's apparently no "perfect" bulb on the market, although the L-prize bulb with power factor correction would be pretty darn close.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

hink they're more comfortable when they're not.  It's psychological.  S o as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine.  When you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Ny best friends family runs many fans 24/7 in the summer even when no one is home to keep the house cool. No mtter how much he tries to explain it his family insists that a vacant home with fans running is cooler than no fans........

All the fans do is add more heat:(

I suggested he just get AC since it might be cheaper to operate...

Reply to
bob haller

I dunno if Lowe's still has them but they used to have a 2-C cell "Task Force" brand light with a 3W Cree emitter. Sucker is bright, I think in the 130-150 lumen range, about $30 - I bought a couple of them and still use them. I think I've only replaced the batteries in one of them in fact.

technology is catching up though - just yesterday I bought two Fenix brand flashlights @ REI for about the same price - they're tiny little keychain suckers and almost as bright. Model number for the smaller was LD-01, that one is going in the glovebox of my car (specifically sought out that model because it has a dedicated flashlight holder clip for a particular model flashlight that a) wasn't very good and b) is no longer made anyway) the larger E-11 is slightly brighter but still small enough to carry in a pocket unobtrusively.

Another example of really cool technology - if you told me 10 years ago that someday I'd be carrying a flashlight in my pocket that was about the same size as a mini mag lite but put out 100+ lumens I'd have laughed at you. Or even that one *could* carry an actual, useful flashlight in one's pocket and for a reasonable cost. But here we are!

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

formatting link

found here:

formatting link

looks like there is now exactly one other high CRI standard form factor bulb on the market

formatting link

which does in fact also have a high power factor.

unfortunately, a web search reveals that it is expensive (shocker!) out of stock at all of the few places I checked (I didn't spend a lot of time on this though) and one amazon review mentioned an audible buzz.

But we're getting there...

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

think they're more comfortable when they're not.  It's psychological.  So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine.  W hen you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

It isn't what the thermometer says, it is what it "feels" like. A bit too warm in the house? I turn on the furnace fan and am comfortable again. Eventually, it gets warm enough that I have to use the AC of course but that usually comes hours after I started that fractional horse fan. Yes, I know, you will deny that that works and refuse to even try it out. I have been there before with yu doubting thomases.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

they're more comfortable when they're not. It's psychological. So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine. When you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Nonsense. Moving air cools people off.

Reply to
krw

le think they're more comfortable when they're not.  It's psychological.  So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine.  W hen you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Count me as one of the doubters. With a ceiling fan you get a cooling breeze, which is a direct effect. It's blowing right on you. With a typical furnace fan running you don't get a breeze, in fact that would be undesirable. I guess if you had one area of the house that happened to be significantly colder, then it might get you somewhere, but that isn't the typical case......

Reply to
trader4

formatting link

I agree. It's odd that such a fuss is being made about power factor though. The effect on the electrical system in a single family home even with several homes on the power transformer out on the pole is tiny when power factors are either 0.5., 0.7 or 0.9. These are the requirements for the various lighting devices as regulated by the California Energy Commission for products sold in California.

Tomsic

Reply to
=

Turning a fluorescent lamp on and off frequently typically reduces the life of the lamp. But, there are certain ballasts that can minimize the effect. Fluorescent lamp life is usually determined using a 3 hours/start cycle.

There is little effect on the life of incandescent and LED lamps due to on/off switching; but incandescent lamps can fool you since they often burn out when switched on. However, tests done years ago operating incandescent lamps on a flashing circuit vs. continuous burning while recording the actual "on" times for each showed no significant difference in life.

Tomsic

Reply to
=

they're more comfortable when they're not. It's psychological. So as long as they're running when you're in the room, that's fine. When you're not in the room, the motor is just adding heat.

Do you use ceiling fans? They work, but IME you have to feel the air on your skin. I've had a couple that were pretty useless because they didn't push enough air. A good ceiling fan is often the difference between comfortable and sweat running down your nose. When you have good ones where needed you can knock about 5 degrees off your HVAC setting. Big savings.

Reply to
Vic Smith

Ballasts were going bad too. Cfl's suffer a bit from on off cycling. Many of mine are always on.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

5 degrees sounds like a lot and I'll guess that humidity will make a difference in the A/C setting too. Anyone else have an estimate?

I'd like to get some idea of fans vs. A/C settings to see if I might save energy this summer by installing a fan rather than using the A/C so much.

Tomsic

Reply to
=

formatting link

And this is all irrelevant anyway because as I feared, apparently the L-prize bulb is no more. I don't have 100% confirmation yet but they're out of stock everywhere and wikipedia is saying they've been discontinued. I dropped a line to Philips asking where I could buy them, but I suspect that this was a premium product being sold at or below cost and once Philips sold enough to demonstrate that they could make them they're going to now quietly drop them and concentrate on similar but not quite as good products that they can make more profit on.

I got six, now I'm wishing I'd picked up more of them.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.