Only use 60 watt bulbs?

[Bob]

Compact flourescents are often not designed for use inside enclosed fixtures. My guess is that the electronics inside them overheat without ventilation. Check the manufacturers specs.

Bob

[Robert Gammon]

BEST comment yet. to adequately compare incandescent light output to fluorescent light output, the color temp needs to be the same and the calibrated light output on BOTH bulbs must be the same. Otherwise, we will see a difference!!

[Rich256]

I have new ones. Just as you said, even with them it takes a few seconds for full brightness. Some people might object to even that short delay.

And like you I have outdoor ones that seem to last forever. Very pleased with them.

[Jim Redelfs]

That's a GREAT suggestion. Electrically, that would be easy.

[PipeDown]

My most frequent problem is that the larger bulbs do not fit in my outdoor fixtures and when I screw the cover on, the coils break. They are physicslly larger than standard bulbs and that is a problem for some fixtures. The lower wattage bulbs (equiv 75W incandescent or less) fit but the larger (100W or 150W incandescent equiv) rarely fit at all.

The OP's fixture does look plenty large though.

[CJT]

Why do you say this? If they dissipate the same power as a regular bulb they will, by definition, generate the same heat (unless they produce more light, in which case they'll generate _less_ heat).

[Doug Miller]

Depends on the type of CF bulb. The ones I get at Home Depot are pretty nearly the same color as incandescents.

[mm]

It has a shade, but from that webpage, I can't tell if it is covered at the TOP or not. I suspect it isn't.

The top is what counts.

So the heat will exit.

I have in my kitchen a 3 bulb fixture, each bulb with a sphere of glass totally enveloping the bulb, except for a little bit around the socket. Because of lack of light, I've used up to 100 watt bulbs instead of the 60 Max. Nothing has failed except for the plastic or whatever surrounds the metal threads of the light socket. Large pieces of 2 of the sockets have fallen off. It seems to happen when I'm changing a burned out bulb. But in my reckless yet well informed opinion the lack of this plastic is not important if the fixture was wired correctly and the metal threads are connected to the neutral**. Or if I turn off the fixtture before replacing bulbs, which I don't do. Or if I'm careful not to touch it. But careful only lasts for the first 10 years.

ON SECOND LOOK, THIS PARAGRAPH IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THE FIXTURE IN THE URL: OTOH, with the design of your fixture, you won't be able to touch the outside of the socket even if the plastic breaks and falls off. It would be much more likely that you touch the inside, and that will be the same when the fixture is new and perfect.

**In general, don't forget that the original electrician may have wired it correctly, but the painter, or you when you paint, may remove the fixture to paint under it without painting IT, and wire it backwards when replacing.

Also worth noting that though I own several voltmeters, digital and mechanical, I've never bothered checking if the electrician installed it right. He made two small mistakes in this house that I know of. Anyone can get something backwards once in a while.

[ameijers]

Or painting the walls white. If OP has a dark wall color, or wallpaper, those little 60w will get lost. Wall sconces are cheap, and trivial to change- I'd get different fixtures.

aem sends...

[George E. Cawthon]

And how do you know that? have you measure the light output?

[George E. Cawthon]

Of course the color temperature is different, but so is the intensity. Before you jump on Doug's band wagon maybe you should do some tests; Doug seems to be an absolutest, i.e, his opinions are always the absolute fact.

It quite apparent to anyone I have asked that a 13 W fluorescent, mixed with 60 W incandescents are not only a different color but not as bright. Since the human eye is extremely sensitive to small color changes and small differences in intensity, a detectable difference would not be unexpected.

Also, I don't need to rely on my, and other's, eyes or the manufacturer's statement. My test show that my 60 W incandescent bulbs are at least

10 percent brighter than my 13 W fluorescents.

No suppositions, no opinions, just facts derived from tests.

[Doug Miller]

No, but the manufacturer has. That's where they come up with the numbers on the package, George.

[Doug Miller]

No, George, it's just that yours are so often incorrect... :-)

I'd just *love* to read a description of those tests, and your qualifications to design and conduct them and interpret their results.

[Bennett Price]

Do the fixtures seem to be well ventilated? Is the shade open at the top?. Are there holes in the bottom of the fixture to let cool air in?

If fixture is not well ventilated, perhaps you can drill holes in it to drastically improve ventilation and allow you to go to 75 watt bulbs.

Keep in mind that not all 60 bulbs are equal. Clear vs. frosted, (clear is brighter, long-life vs. conventional (conventional is brighter).

Ray wrote:

[HerHusband]

I installed compact fluorescent bulbs in a couple of our ceiling fixtures. With 12' ceilings, I was hoping this would minimize bulb changes.

Unfortunately, our fixtures are completely enclosed under a glass dome, and the CF bulbs died in just a few months, less time than a regular light bulb.

The rest of our light fixtures need "short" bulbs (I use ceiling fan bulbs). CF bulbs (and normal light bulbs) stick down below the fixtures and look terrible.

And, our porch lights are on special motion switches that won't work with the CF bulbs.

So, unfortunately in our case, we can't use CF bulbs in our current house. I installed them in our old house and loved them. The bulbs were still going strong 5 years after I installed them.

Anthony

[Don Klipstein]

Most 13 watt twintubes put out 820 or 825 lumens. At least one manufacturer that used to claim 900 said 820 or 825 in more recent years. And when temperature is non-ideal - fairly common in enclosed fixtures - the light output is even less.

Meanwhile, I don't see major brand 13 watt spirals claiming 900 lumens, although I have seen some Sylvania ones actually outshine 60 watt incandescents.

In my experience, it has been common for Lights of America and Maxlife compact fluorescents to fall short of claims back when I tried theirs - and Consumer Reports confirmed my experience in their October 1992 article. More recently, I tried some Maxlife ones and had them fall short

- one seriously.

Another thing: The phosphor degrades, so compact fluorescents will fade slightly as they age.

I consider it fairly common for a 13 watt compact fluorescent to fall short of producing the output of a 60 watt incandescent. I have found it perfectly reasonable to need an 18, 19 or 20 watt compact fluorescent to not fall short of producing as much light as a 60 watt incandescent.

Sometimes it is true. Of course, I do find that matching or slightly exceeding the output of a 60 watt incandescent with only 18-20 watts is quite a bargain!

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Don Klipstein]

Another issue: Light distribution pattern. And in some fixtures, size and location and shape of the light-producing element (or diffusing coating or phosphor coating) can have an effect.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Don Klipstein]

Like when Lights of America used to say on the package of their 45 watt one that it produced as much light as a 200 watt incandescent and that the light output in lumens was 3100? While it produced less light than a

150 watt incandescent rated to produce 2980 lumens? And in more recent years said the lumens was 2700?

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Don Klipstein]

Light output per watt is only slightly greater with halogen than with a decent incandescent. A 60 watt halogen produces 900-960 lumens when a 60 watt standard incandescent normally produces 870.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Don Klipstein]

That color is icy cold pure white to bluish. At typical home illumination levels, this can produce a "dreary gray" effect.

Overhead sun on a cloudless pollution free day is about 5200-5400 Kelvin. 6500 is more blue than that - more blue even than sunlight in space, which is about 5700 or 5800 K. Even 5000 is "icy cold" at typical indoor illumination levels.

4100-4300 is the color of "cool white" fluorescents. I am aware of different fluorescents with different color rendering properties and same color temperature, but 4100 is considered by most to be "not warm enough" unless the lighting evel is as as high as that typical in an office or a classroom. 3500 kelvin is something I sure find pleasing in home use while "more white" than incandescents and 2700K compact fluorescents.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])