A 60 watt "Capsylite" or "Halogena" can be used wherever a 60 watt standard incandescent can. The heat output is the same. They warm up and cool more slowly since the glass is thicker, so they may appear to be hotter but they are not.
Permitted, partial list:
Philips SLS 15, 20 and non-dimmable 23 watt.
42 watt compact fluorescent produces at least much non-radiant heat as
60 watt incandescent - probably a bit more. Fixture can get hotter. Also, 42 watt compact fluorescents can easily suffer from heat buildup unless the fixture has air flowing freely. I would try for 26 watts at the most unless you have good free airflow - preferably with the bulb not base-up.
Possibly not conservative at all, if there is any good indication from my experience with a friend's "bankers' light" style desk lamp that takes tubular "short showcase" or "refrigerator" bulbs of T10 size.
The lamp is rated for maximum of 60 watts. With the included 60 watt bulb, the wires started burning near the socket, discoloring and producing a burning odor.
I have a suspicion why that happened: The lamp was designed overseas, where the line voltage was probably 230 volts. And there, the bulb of that shape and size and wattage may have a vacuum. 120V bulbs that shape, size and style have a vacuum up to 40 watts but the 60 watt one is at least sometimes gas-filled, due to wattage being near 25 watts per inch of filament length (if you do not uncoil the filament). That is roughly the "break-even point" where the ability of the usual gas fill slows down filament evaporation enough to permit a higher filament temperature that achieves increased light output for a given wattage and life expectancy despite the gas conducting heat from the filament. And, what I suspect is that the fixture was Ok with a vacuum-containing
60 watt bulb of that style but not a gas-filled one.
And, even if the fixture burns your home down for a reason other than the bulb being of higher wattage than the fixture is rated for, you can have liability trouble if the fire insurance company finds that the fire started at a fixture rated 60 watts max and having 75 or 100 watt lightbulbs.
Any big ones like these with a warmer color (lower color temperature) than 6500 or 5000K? Such a high color temperature may be good illuminating a yard at nighttime since high color temperatures are seen better by night vision. And if you get enough light to be as bright as a classroom or an office (100-180 footcandles or 1100-2000 lux) 4100 and
5000 look good, and 6500 looks great at sunlight-like illumination levels in the thousands of footcandles, but for indoor use I surely like 3500K or so!
Another issue where I would find fault with these particular big compact fluorescents, more like their marketer: They claim "full spectrum" - maybe they can get away with that since there is no industry-wide definition of "full spectrum" in the lighting industry. But I have seen the spectrum of enough compact fluorescents claiming "full spectrum" and I doubt anyone who sees the spectrum would call it that. But I don't think they need to make such a claim, since compact fluorescents normally have a color rendering index of 82, unlike the 62 of "old-tech cool white" and 53 of "old-tech warm white".
Also keep in mind: Compact fluorescents produce little infrared, and so they produce more non-radiant heat than incandescents of same wattage. I had a 42 watt compact fluorescent make a fixture slightly hotter than a 60 watt incandescent did. Also, compact fluorescents do not take heat as well as incandescents. Because of this, be judicious with high wattage compact fluorescents in terms of having them heat up fixtures or themselves.
Don't use any incandescent bulbs higher than 60 watts in a fixture rated for just 60 watts.
I have tenants put in higher wattage bulbs on a frequent basis. It destroys fixtures, start small (perhaps big) fires and causes flickering lghts. The higher wattage causes heat build up that typically oxidizes the rivets holding the wires to the sockets in most fixtures, may scorch the surrounding area, crack glass shades and melt plastic ones.
I've even seen heavy damage casued by upping the useage to a 75 watt bulb over a 60 watter. The heat buildup, even over a fairly short time, is amazing.
The above topic is a constant running battle I have with tenants.
Since Don prefers the cooler color temps, the 150watt monster above has little use indoors except in large area lighting, or in circadian rhythm adjustment. Walmart, Sams Club, Home Depot, Lowes, churches, schools and the like. In circadian rhythm adjustment, people are exposed to
10,000 lumen light for 15 minutes at a time, 3 days a week for 3-4 weeks to restore serotonin levels, depress melatonin levels
At 85W, 4200 lumens and $19.89, we have a spiral CF with a 3000K color temp
While Don and others may find that the 5000K+ light too blue/gray, a properly adjusted color TV (Tube, LCD, DLP, ...) is adjusted to be as close to 6400K as the set will allow to get as pure a white level as possible.
I agree with Don's assertion, the electronics inside CFs can be quite sensitive to heat, more so than a standard incandescent or halogen bulb. The old rule of thumb for linear fluorescents was that 1/3 of the energy consumed by the fixture was generated inside the analog ballast. Digital ballasts cut that energy use to under 10% of total fixture power. so with a total power of 42W, roughly 4W is dissipated inside the base, the rest is dissipated inside the tube. The issue is what happens when the lamp is inverted and air circulation is impaired. Heat generated by hte tube rises to heat up the electronics. This dramatically shortens lamp life. Some vendors will spec both max and min operating temps.
One spec that I found interesting is that for linear fluorescents, you get specs for both initial lumens and mean lumens. Mean is generally about 10% lower than initial.
I'm going to answer Doug's comment first since I can't find it in the thread (must be some kind of screw up in the computer). So here it is.
I suggest you measure. The manufacturer probably does come up with the correct number but you would probably have to go through several gyrations to get it and it may be meaningless as a practical matter.
For examples, in recent years the ratings of electric motors have been so highly exaggerated that there was a spate of court case. For example the 5 hp motor rating on small air compressors got a lot of attention because it was such an egregious exaggeration. You simply cannot run a 5 hp motor on a 120V 15 or 20A circuit without tripping the circuit breaker. Most 1 hp motors on
120V will draw at least 10A so a 5 hp could be expected to draw 50 A. So much for manufacturer ratings.
Second, I believe Don touched on the point about light fixtures affecting the amount of light available. That is certainly important because lumen is spherical candle power. For the consumer, the most important fact is how much light hits the surface when installed in his/her fixtures and that means measuring foot-candles. So get a light meter and measure the foot candles.
I believe most of us with decent eyesight can just rely on them to determine comparative lighting intensity.
FWIW, I mostly use fluorescents. For the outside bulbs, I use the exterior rated floodlights. In warm weather, they light up pretty quick. In cold weather, they take a bit to come on so I use 1 CF and 1 regular without a problem (by cold, I mean below freezing). Also use a regular interior bulb outside in a protected location with no problems.
Inside, I notice when the bulbs are new they sometime take a bit to come on, but after that they are pretty quick -- I always figured that they needed to charge the coil or something when new.
When I have mixed brands, I have noticed some have slightly different lags.
The problem that I have is that who of my fixtures won't take the CF bulbs because they are so thick near the base.
BTY, at my mother's house I installed the CF for ceiling fans. They work well and have a large round bulb covering the coils so they look okay.
True, but not all of that heat is dissipated by the base. Some is heating the envelope, and some is radiated; heating the opposite wall.
...but not all heating the base.
It certainly does. *Temperature* is the issue and usually the base temperature, though the shade/diffuser might also be the limiting factor. If you think a watt is a watt, try touching a lit 40W fluorescent then a 40W halogen lamp.
60 watt incandescent produces, roughly:
3.4-3.5 watts visible light, .05 watt UV, and maybe about 30 watts of IR. The light, UV and IR largely escape the fixture without contributing to heating of the fixture. The radiated output contributes to heating of the room and of the building, but the radiation from the bulb that escapes the fixture does not contribute to heating of the fixture.
Roughly 26-27 or so watts conducted and convected heat.
42 watt compact fluorescent produces roughly:
8-9 watts of visible light, a fraction of a watt of UV and a couple to at most a few watts of IR.
Roughly 30 watts convected and conducted heat.
I have a floor lamp with a globe and a "Raytek" infrared non-contact thermometer. The globe gets slightly hotter with a 42 watt compact fluorescent than with a 60 watt incandescent.
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