Did I get my moneys worth? CFL quit...

[Firethorn]

I've seen topics where people complain about how quickly their CFL bulbs were blowing.

Well, the one in my kitchen just quit.  Now, I've had the habit of writing the install date on my bulbs for quite a while.  This one was installed Dec 23, 2010.  So it made it not quite 5 years.  It was a 26 watt GE, replaced by a 9W Cree w/10 year warranty.

Anybody else have the habit of writing the date on the bulb?

[TechMan]

Actually it was somebody here, maybe you, that got me into the habit of writing the install date on the bulb.

[Hawkmoon]

I do that on CFLs, because I'm interested in checking the life against the claims. I haven't had one yet that came close to the advertised bulb life.

[K Frame]

I had a CFL last on my back patio over 6 years. It was on 24x7x365.

Ones in the pole lamp out front don't last quite as long because the on-off cycles take a bigger toll, but I got around 5 or so years out of one.

As soon as I find an LED that's suitable for an enclosed outdoor location I might switch both front and back CFLs out.

[brimic]

I have a friend who is in the commercial/residential lighting business- as in she designs lighting systems for entire factories/municipalities/etc....
She has as much hatred for CFLs as I do, and says Cree LEDs are the way to go. She also explained that all of the reputable manufacturers use Cree LED chips in their LED lights as well.

[K Frame]

I used to be fine with the CFLs as light sources until the better LEDs started coming out, ones that weren't so god awful blue or glaring white.

I just wish the 100 watt equivs would come down in price a bit more.

[Kingcreek]

I never liked CFL and after 1 caught fire I removed them all.
LED I like just fine and am transitioning to as the incandescent gradually fail

[K Frame]

Hey, this is the first 100-watt equiv. LED I've seen under $10.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-LED-Light-Bulb-455675/205861840

Going to have to get 1 or 2.

I'm also seeing more 3-way LEDs, but they're still big time spendy.

[Perd Hapley]

Hey, this is the first 100-watt equiv. LED I've seen under $10.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-LED-Light-Bulb-455675/205861840

Going to have to get 1 or 2.

I'm also seeing more 3-way LEDs, but they're still big time spendy.

Oh, great. Another Philips lamp they're only selling to Home Depot. Impressive, actually, if it's really equivalent to a 100W incandescent at just 14.5W, especially at 2700K.

[never_retreat]

Interesting idea. I do have a habit of putting dates on things on the truck like batteries, filters, etc but not on the bulbs.
Most never last like they claim. Half the problem is the test method they use. Its something goofy like 12 hours on 12 hours off. Nothing like the way a person uses abuses a bulb.

[230RN]

Now, I've had the habit of writing the install date on my bulbs for quite a while.

Me too.  I have a pile of them sitting in a big box, waiting for one of our leftie legislators to try to make them mandatory --whereupon I will appear in front of their office with a boxful of dated, burned-out CFLs.

One  thing I learned for sure is that they need a LOT of ventilation.  How the hell they figured all that energy used up in the circuitry could get out of that prison of a ceramic enclosure is beyond me.

I also found that I couldn't fit all four of them in my bathroom light fixture.

Biggest frackin' boondoggle there ever was.  I think the manufacturers and the patent license-holders lobbied and lied to get them mandatory in certain hyperleftist States.

Terry, 230RN

[K Frame]

I don't understand why Phillips is sole-sourcing some of its bulbs through Home Depot either (with some available through Amazon), but I've got one about 1/4 mile from me, so not a big deal.

I think I'm going to swing by tonight and get two, and possibly a floor lamp. I've got one of those 500 watt halogen pillar lamps in my office upstairs. Before I added insulation to the attic a few years ago it was nice in the winter, but now, especially in the summer, it's just fricking overkill how much heat it pumps into the room.

[Pb]

Hey, this is the first 100-watt equiv. LED I've seen under $10.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-LED-Light-Bulb-455675/205861840

Going to have to get 1 or 2.

I'm also seeing more 3-way LEDs, but they're still big time spendy.

Notice it's only got a life span of 10,000 hours listed... I'm guessing they used cheaper parts to get price down!  That's a lot less than most quality led bulbs, which usally list a life of 25,000 hours.

[230RN]

...

I've got one of those 500 watt halogen pillar lamps in my office upstairs. Before I added insulation to the attic a few years ago it was nice in the winter, but now, especially in the summer, it's just fricking overkill how much heat it pumps into the room.

I've got one of those 500 Watter pole lamps and I refuse to use it because of the reported fire danger.

Back to the CFLs:  The only redeeming feature is that the >6000K ones make great lights for photography.

"Save $DD.PP over the ten years' life of the bulb!"

Yeah, sure, if you're lighting the inside of a meat locker with them... in which case they don't give out half the light they're supposed to at those temperatures anyhow.

   BOONDOGGLE !

Terry

[Brad Johnson]

Sounds like you got your money's worth.

What kills CFLs in pratical use isn't actual use, it's power cycling. A CFL left lit and untouched will likely exceed it's rated life even in less than hospitible environments.

Mike... Philips has sub-$10 100w equivalents now. Available at Home Despot. (Oops, just noticed you'd already uh, noticed). Main difference I can see between the 25k and 10k hr rated lamps is dimmability. Check out BigCliveDotCom on YoobToob. He's done teardowns of a bunch of different LED lamps.

Brad

[230RN]

What kills CFLs in pratical use isn't actual use, it's power cycling. A CFL left lit and untouched will likely exceed it's rated life even in less than hospitible environments.

The same is true of incandescents.  The power slam when 110V hits the cold low-resistance filament is the most frequent time of their burnout, but they're NOT as fragile as CFLs, in my humble opinion.

After all, if I left my CFLs on all the time just to prolong their life, the so-called "savings" would evaporate.  You call that "in practical use"?

Sorry, but you can't convince me that CFLs are economical in normal usage.

Period.

(But my camera does like that >6000K.)

Terry

For everyone's amusement and edification:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ostcSDGJs

"And if the Centennial Light Bulb and its Firemen last a thousand years, men will say, this... was their finest hour." (With an appreciative nod to Sir Winston Churchill)
 

(G-d, I love the smell of a CFL rant in the morning!  It smells like victory.)

[brimic]

I think the manufacturers and the patent license-holders lobbied and lied to get them mandatory in certain hyperleftist States.

Two letters: GE

[K Frame]

I've got one of those 500 Watter pole lamps and I refuse to use it because of the reported fire danger.

Terry

I have 3 left. I don't use them often, and I NEVER leave the room without turning them off. I've had at least one where the switch melted down.

[KD5NRH]

What kills CFLs in pratical use isn't actual use, it's power cycling. A CFL left lit and untouched will likely exceed it's rated life even in less than hospitible environments.

A car left un-wrecked will have a perfect safety record too.  Only measurements under practical conditions are really meaningful.

[KD5NRH]

Oh, great. Another Philips lamp they're only selling to Home Depot. Impressive, actually, if it's really equivalent to a 100W incandescent at just 14.5W, especially at 2700K.

What I want to see is 60W (and daylight balance) bulbs.  Not 60W equivalent, 60W.

I have at least a couple of fixtures with the "nothing over 60W" labels on them, and I want to get every damn bit of light possible from them.  If that's a 400W equivalent, great.

[Brad Johnson]

A car left un-wrecked will have a perfect safety record too.  Only measurements under practical conditions are really meaningful.

Okay Cap'n Practical Pants. Ever hear of "for comparative purposes"?

Brad

[roo_ster]

What I want to see is 60W (and daylight balance) bulbs.  Not 60W equivalent, 60W.

I have at least a couple of fixtures with the "nothing over 60W" labels on them, and I want to get every damn bit of light possible from them.  If that's a 400W equivalent, great.

Have a blindingly blue/white 300W equivalent CFL in the garage.  Got it on clearance from Home Depot, as it is so huge, hideously ugly, and produces such harsh light that no one wanted to buy them.  Good for the garage, though.  Spendy at full price, though.

My recessed lighting boxes in the bathroom and over the kitchen sink have dual incandescent fixtures in them rated for 60W or so, each.  I bought two of the light bulb Y-adapters and placed two 100W equivalents in the each of the resulting four sockets.  I think they pull 14W or 24W each.  Brightened their spaces up, sure enough.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-300W-Equivalent-Soft-White-Spiral-CFL-Light-Bulb-12-Pack-ESL65TN-12/100653127



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-660-Watt-Keyless-Twin-Socket-Lamp-Holder-Adapter-R52-00128-00W/100356967?keyword=y+splitter+light+socket

Two letters: GE

One name: Wal-Mart

[K Frame]

"I have at least a couple of fixtures with the "nothing over 60W" labels on them, and I want to get every damn bit of light possible from them.  If that's a 400W equivalent, great."

That means 60 watt incandescent.

Because of the much lower heat loading and lower power draw of either CFLs or LEDs you can go to much higher light levels in fixtures so marked.

[K Frame]

Hum.... I should try those splitters in a couple of lamps I have...

[Kingcreek]

After my CFL fire failure I eventually had a phone conversation with the owner of the light bulb mfg firm that imported the CFLs sold by his company. He told me that the Chinese would label thier CFL bulbs with any hour life the customer wanted and therefore the rated hours on chinese bulbs mean nothing at all. He was very nice after I told him there was no fire damage except for the bulb itself and no personal injury and I wasn't even looking for money. After I sent him my bulbs for forensic analysis, he sent me a free case of made in the usa incandescents with actual and according to him honest 20,000 hour life rating!

My bulb failure was not the somewhat notorious Globe brand and I had just switched on the light and walked past it as it burst into 10" flames from the base. I switched it off and only sooted the fixture but the thought of it happening when not in close attendance was enough for me. We even had a couple on timers to come on before we got home, thanks be to Allah it wasn't one of those!
Casa Kingcreek is a No CFL zone.