Nice article from the Daily Mail, it points out that the same paper had a hysterical Headline a few days before reacting to the original Government press release!
There are a good selection of public comments on the article here:
Dimwits: Why ‘green’ lightblubs aren’t answering to global warming
10 Responses
-
-
David
It seems you do agree that CFLi are not as good as incandescent lamps ” 6. Colour rendering qualities and colour temperature variance are greatly improved.”
8 CFLi are typically 6 to 8 times heavier than incandescent lamps
“2. “They won’t work in all your houeshold fittings” – Yes they do. Most homes have some form of Bayonet Cap or Edison Screw lampholder. ” yes but they do not physically fit many fight fittings such as wall lights, recessed fittings and small table lamps
‘7. From experience, the heat given off from a 11 Watt Philips CFL is less than a 60 Watt tungsten equivalent.’ and significantly less light!
“5. Lamp life advertised is average lamp. No doubt some lamps will have a poor lamp life and some will have a much greater lamp life.” except those fitted to enclosed fittings that will overheat, those put in locations where they are switched frequently such as hallways, cupboards, toilets etc. Also the life quoted does not account for lamps that take increasingly long times to reach adequate light output and that the light output falls below acceptable levels in an unfortunately short times.
These lamps are not fit for most peoples purposes and you need to acept the fact
Kevan
-
Kevan,
I’ve not found a domestic application yet, where CFL cannot be used to replace bulbs. The latest Philips CFL lamps, that are on general sale to the public, in places like Homebase, are perfectly adequate. The light output is not appreciably different either, and they come to full brightness immediately. I’m not 100% sure what the lumen output from the Philips 11W lamp is, but if Philips are saying the output is equivalent to a 60W lamp they must be pretty sure. I’ll check what lumen output they are claiming and see if they are telling the truth.
The lamp weight doesn’t seem to be a major issue. It’s not appreciably heavy.
Over time all lamps deteriorate and the fail. Under certain conditions all lamps fail more quickly than they would have under ideal conditions. I’m not sure how much worse CFLs are than bulbs or any other lamps. It would be interesting to know how quickly the CFL lumen output deteriorates over a given time period, under certain conditions (e.g. frequent switching, left on for long period, cold temperatures).
-
I think understanding basic insulation for your geezer and applying that knowledge will outperform green lightbulbs 100fold.
Like David mentions, this is outdated, the bulbs now days have great effeciency levels.
I do believe that having Smart Switches will do a lot more good though. Features like employee detection and automatic lighting saves a lot more, regardless of what bulb you use.
~kelly
-
What do you use in your porch light? I need to replace a 100W BC incandescant in an enclosed outdoor fitting controlled by a photoelectric dusk sensor. I can’t find anyone to specify a suitable bulb, let alone sell me one.
-
stephen
stick with incandescent for sensor circuits for better response (and some can’t/shouldn’t be used with other lighting anyway)
As you probably know halogens are a more light- efficient type of incandescent light.
Sub-100 w halogens with 100 w+ equivalent brightness are still allowed, though you’ll only be allowed to buy a transparent one
Try Osram or Philips halogen lights for example
(obviously we are talking about GLS halogens, not the low voltage types, I use Philips EcoClassic for example)Another advantage is that they are slightly smaller than the ordinary incandescents, once you go above a certain wattage eg EcoClassic 105 (in principle banned but
still being supplied) = 150w equiv
140w = 200w equivalent
– so you can fit a brighter bulb in it if you wantOtherwise it’s a 70w Philips ecoclassic (or Osram etc similarly) as a replacement for your 100w light
-
David,
I don’t want to get into a long answer here but you are welcome to read http://www.ceolas.net/#li1x onwards for replies to your points – or see other comments I have made on this site.Briefly, to some points,
–CFLs should be left on because switching on-off markedly shortens lifespan
ceolas.net/#li15x
— CFLs are thicker in base and candle type lights are a particular problem in fitting to smaller lamps
-also they can’t to my knowledge currently be made to 60w equivalent brightness without really thickening them
— dimmable ones arer available but morer expensive and cant be used innordinary dimmer circuits (and jamming on fixed max setting gives fire hazard)Power factor – are paying twice as much straight off for a typical unbalanced CFL (balanced types are rare and expensive)
There are many reasons including incandescent heat
(usually not a waste) and life cycle factors why savings end up insignificant – or non-existent, dependding on usage and other factors
http://www.ceolas.net/#li13x onwards with official and referenced researchWhile I’m glad for you that you like CFLs,
unfortunately people otherwise do swallow what politicians say,
politicans who along with manufacturers have their agenda
http://www.ceolas.net/#li1ax
— and those with a scientific background who might oppose them, rarely seem to have the time/inclination to involve themselves in public debate. -
Many thanks for posting such a terrific site. this weblog was not just knowledgeable but also very inventive too.
There normally are a limited number of web owners who can create technical things that creatively. I have looked for articles about a subject such as this. I’ve gone in detail through numerous websites to find understanding regarding this!! Its great what you have going on here!
I discovered your site from Bing and have been reading some of the posts and just inquisitive why you chose this platform for the site?
-
Thanks for the comments. This is the second incarnation of the site the first was built in iWeb and became a pain to manage. An associate suggested WordPress and voluntered to rebuild it for me so I said yes and it has been a good move.
Kevan Shaw
-
Hi!
This is a good issue that should be put out in the open. That way, people will be able to look into the advantages and disadvantages of things that are imposed on us. Come to think of it, we all have one goal and that is to live in a clean and green environment. Thank you for posting this, it will definitely tickle the minds of consumers.
Summer
I realise this article was written some time ago, and is a Daily Mail article, therfore facts are never essential. However, addressing his points:
1. “They have to be left on all the time” – No they don’t.
2. “They won’t work in all your houeshold fittings” – Yes they do. Most homes have some form of Bayonet Cap or Edison Screw lampholder.
3. “They’re made from banned toxins” – Mercury is banned is it? My office is full of fluorescent lamps. It can be recycled you know.
4. Dimmable versions are now available.
5. Lamp life advertised is average lamp. No doubt some lamps will have a poor lamp life and some will have a much greater lamp life.
6. Colour rendering qualities and colour temperature variance are greatly improved.
7. From experience, the heat given off from a 11 Watt Philips CFL is less than a 60 Watt tungsten equivalent.
8. CFLs are not appreciabley heavier or larger than standard ‘bulbs’.
9. Even CFLs with a poorer power factor are still using considerably less electricity than standard tungsten lamps, and we only pay for kWh anyway.
This story is garbage. It should be recycled, just like the CFLs.