CFL question

[zahc]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100527351&N=10000003+530230+90401&marketID=90401&locStoreNum=8125

Bulbs like this



Do they need to be plugged into a ballast? I'm confused because it doesn't look like there's room there for there to be a built-in electronic ballast, yet the website says they can be plugged in wherever incandescents go, and the porch lights at my apartment use those bulbs with no visible ballast, just wires running out of the brick wall to the fixture. If there is a ballast built into my apartment, it must be in the wall or something.

[Perd Hapley]

I should know.  I've worked on some of those fixtures before.  If they do require a ballast, it would be quite small.  There might be one in the fixture, but you're just overestimating how large it would be. 

[zahc]

The fixture seriously has about 2 inches of romex wire coming out of the brick, straight into a plain plastic socket. No ballast in the fixture.

If these work hooked straight up to mains electricity, they would be perfect for a project I'm working on.

[Firethorn]

Do they need to be plugged into a ballast?

That particular one would need to be plugged into a ballest.  It's a desk light type flourescant bulb.  It's got a clip and bayonet plug.

They do produce all sorts that would go into a light socket, that have the standard edison socket and built in ballast.  Available for quite reasonable prices today at many stores.

I'm kinda sobbing because the deals are so great, but I bought a bunch back before the deals became quite so good, and kinda laughing because I haven't had to replace any for burning out.

[AJ Dual]

Mrs. Dual keeps kept thinking our CFL's have failed in some lamps, because she flips the switch, and forgets to wait the 1/10th second for it to start, turns it off and starts over.. 

[mfree]

What kind of CFLs are you using that have that kind of delay? They might just be failing.

I'm pretty exclusively using 75w equivalent bulbs in the house, and they're all nearly instant.

[AJ Dual]

What kind of CFLs are you using that have that kind of delay? They might just be failing.

I'm pretty exclusively using 75w equivalent bulbs in the house, and they're all nearly instant.

No, she's just really impatient sometimes. 

They're all GE 26 Watt/100W equiv. bulbs. It's the free-standing lamps with a rotary switch that fool her. She turns it faster than they start up.

[zahc]

Home depot has boxes of either 4 or 5 14W ones for about $8.

[Balog]

Damn, Mrs Dual has cat like reflexes. 

[zahc]

They do produce all sorts that would go into a light socket, that have the standard edison socket and built in ballast.  Available for quite reasonable prices today at many stores.

No they don't. They used to use long loops of tubing, but now all of the screw-in ones have curly tubes. I'll be dammed if I can find a long-and-skinny CFL anymore. That's what made me wonder about these ones. Something like this would probably work

[Firethorn]

No they don't. They used to use long loops of tubing, but now all of the screw-in ones have curly tubes. I'll be dammed if I can find a long-and-skinny CFL anymore. That's what made me wonder about these ones. Something like this would probably work

Oh, so you want a long & skinny one!  Okay, it just seems a tad odd to me, most fixtures with the edison socket are designed for more globular lights.  You can find CFLs today with coverings that give it a look more or less like a soft light traditional light bulb.

My grandfather has one of the ones that look like the picture.

Found plenty of places to buy the 4U type pictured, only problem is the 1k minimum order.  Sorry.   

[zahc]

I'm putting the bulbs in a deep picture frame to make a light box for viewing transparencies. So thinner would be better. Using actual tubes, with a ballast, would be ideal but I'm going for cheapness here, so I figure I can cram a couple $2 CFLs in there and run simple wiring.

[K Frame]

Phillips is still showing straight tube compact fluorescents.