Recommend a GOOD CFL

Any old CFL that fits the space, go up a notch in power and buy some permanent felt tip pens and get colouring.

"Joe"

** They exist.

Look for 32 watt spirals in warm white.

** They do not exist.

High powered CFLs ( 22 watt rated or more) need good ventilation or they fail rather quickly from over heating.

.... Phil

25 Watt warm white. I get mine at Home Depot (4 pack). Not Philips nor GE brand.

I use the Home Despot-brand lamps. They're a little larger than a standard bulb, though. But they're cheap and have a reasonable life span.

Just remeber, as I understand it, most CFL's are not made to be run upside down. I bought a Cree LED bulb 2700K color temp very similar to an incandescent. 800 lumens, probably lower than a 100 watt incandescent. Bought at Home Depot. Mikek

BULLSHIT! Most light bulbs are installed upside down, maybe you need a good whack upside the head!!

Shaun

I bought a Cree LED bulb 2700K color temp very similar to an incandescent. 800 lumens, probably lower than a 100 watt incandescent. Bought at Home Depot. Mikek

"Shaun"

** Some CFLs are alleged to have a shorter life if run bulb upwards.

So bulb down is the norm.

.... Phil

Having some problems with civility there Shaun? Or do you think you can convince people you are right, by being aggressive in you response? btw, you didn't convince me. Mikek

Whether CFLs have any particular issues being used base-up or base-down seems to depend on the specific manufacturer.

According to one U.S. Government document I read yesterday, CFLs which have the Energy Star labeling are required to work equally well in any orientation, *unless* the manufacturer specifically labels them otherwise.

Wouldn't surprise me if this isn't very well enforced, though. I've had some fairly poor-lifetime results from some of the cheapie CFLs, no matter what orientation we use them in. And, it's quite disconcerting when their failure mode involves a hot base and nasty-smelling smoke. :-(

Has anybody come across a good source for good LED-based ceiling fixtures? Seems to me that the real "win" for LED lighting isn't in "screw-in" replacement for existing incandescent bulbs (heat build-up, less-than-wonderful light dispersion) but for ceiling-mountable fixtures with a broader array of LEDs and a diffuser. This would spread out the heat of the LEDs into a much larger radiating/convection area and reduce the "bright points of light" effect.

If I could find a nice-looking panel 18"-24" square, which could radiate the equivalent of 5000+ lumens of warm-white (e.g. three

100-watt incandescent bulbs or more) I'd replace the old three-bulb ceiling fixture in our family room like a shot. We've got CFLs in it, but they're so bulky I had to remove the diffuser... doesn't look wonderful.

Yes, this is why I made my own fixture. I just didn't see anything that was suitable at a decent price. It was still pretty expensive to buy 10 Cree LEDs and put together a constant current power supply.

To make a standard fluorescent replacement, I'd use 20 of these 1 W LEDs, I think that is 4000 lumens, and use an off the shelf LED power supply. That would run almost $60 total parts, but should run a long time without maintenance. (I hope!) It should replace two 48" tubes. I have the parts, just haven't getten around to building it.

Jon

TCP is the company that manufactures CFls for American shops including home Depot Walmart etc. There shold be no difference in private label amongst the bigger shops as they are made in the same plant.

I'm not American so I could care less, but it looks like some of you are so I will say this. Nobody makes CFL bulbs in America so don't look for American made CFL, because they do no exist.

I'd been using them about two years before Consumer Reports rated them among the best CFLs. I don't see how you could go wrong with them.

And if they did they would probably suck.

"Joe"

** Bulb down IS the norm for incandescent lamps and in most case CFLs too.

For lamps used in open fittings, there is no significant difference in temp rise.

Fittings that trap air around the base of a CFL will cause the electronics to overheat whatever way up the are.

So the allegation is meaningless.

... Phil

I think that appeared about 8-10 years ago, when someone figured out how to equally distribute the mercury in the bulb. Prior to that, the orientation had a big effect on output and color:

Agreed. I've also done a post mortem on the CFL base and found fried components, mostly bulging electrolytic caps, and overheated PCB's. However, I've only torn apart a few, all of which came from the same source (dollar store).

You might be able to build something out of LED lighting strips. Glue them to an aluminum plate. Add a diffuser and dimmer. One of my neighbors built one for a customer and made a few big mistakes. LED's are more efficient, but they still put out plenty of heat. There's a fairly large air gap between a CFL or incandescent bulb and anything that might catch fire. Not so with the stick on LED lights. The ceiling (material unknown) got rather toasty hot. You'll need an air gap, and some air flow between the heatsink and ceiling.

Time for some math. Skimming through the available white LED strips, and picking this one as a likely candidate (because they have specs): For warm white (3000K), one foot of LED's produces 115 lm/ft, and burns 1.1 watts of power. To obtain 5000 lumens, you'll need 5000 lm / 115 lm/ft = 44 ft of LED strips. LED's per foot is: 12 in / 0.651 inch_spacing = 18.4 LED's/ft for a total of: 18.4 LED's/ft * 44ft = 811 LED's Power consumption would be: 1.1 watts/ft * 44ft = 48.4 watts Assuming staggered adjacent rows and 0.5" spacing between strips, and

0.651" between LED's along each strip, the size of the array would be roughly 18" x 15" or 30 strips, 18" long, spaced 1/2" apart. Yeah, it would fit and probably work.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Perhaps assembled in America?

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

"Joe"

** The one with the word "alleged " in front it - f****it.

Rest of your trolling bullshit flushed where it deserves.

FOAD

.... Phil

No.

This whole discussion was quite enlightening, and makes me conclude that CFLs may just be a temporary stop on the way from tungsten-incandescent to LED lighting.

I have received several kinds of CFL freebies in the last 5 or 10 years. The latest batch of freebies is so bad, I probably will trash them. They put out such an eerie blue light, and dim at that, it seems like it ought to be used for the lighting of a morgue set in a Friday the 13th movie.

Fortunately I still have some time before my supply of 100 Watt tungsten-incandescents disappears.

I DO want to avoid buying a really trashy CFL, and want to buy a good one while I still have some time left on the tungsten-incandescent supply.

--- Joe

Didn't we already conclude that the in-house brand at Lowes or Home Depot are good bulbs? I use the 100W warm white which is an equivalent to a 100W incandescent (which are still available, you just have to buy clear ones). Mine are in Ceramic light sockets on the ceiling and they point down.