# energy saving flourescent bulbs



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i purchased my first three pack of the flourescent screw-in replacement bulbs today. they are to be the equivilent of 75 watt incandescent bulbs i gather. i was surprised at the amount of heat generated by these bulbs. i expected less heat. they are to consume only 20 watts. 

any thoughts or comments?


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

MELOC said:


> i purchased my first three pack of the flourescent screw-in replacement bulbs today. they are to be the equivilent of 75 watt incandescent bulbs i gather. i was surprised at the amount of heat generated by these bulbs. i expected less heat. they are to consume only 20 watts.
> 
> any thoughts or comments?


It's all I buy now with rare exception.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

it says not to use in totally enclosed fixtures. several of my overheads are old with glass globes. they are not air tight or anything but i was just a tad concerned about the heat. they don't seem any worse than incandescents though.


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## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

i just changed the bulbs that i use the most first, and little by little change the rest as they burn out. saved $15 on my light bill the first month. well worth the money, imo.

hadn't noticed any increased heat from them tho. :shrug:


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

are the ones you bought spiral shaped? 
I use those in all my enclosed fixtures with no problem. I don't notice much heat generated either. I think most of mine were syvania brand.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

mine are the spiral GE brand. supposedly good for 5 years.  
i need to save those receipts, lol.


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

One thing, don't use them in dimmer type lighting fixtures... ask me how I know...

Although I understand there are some new ones that you can get to use in the dimmer fixtures...


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## GeorgiaberryM (Mar 30, 2004)

I also am slowly changing over to these bulbs - they do make some heat but not anything compared to regular bulbs.

But here is something I noticed that may save someone else some $$$ and aggravation. These bulbs (I have the spiral kind) don't do well in cheap lamps or clamp light fixtures. In a good quality wall/ceiling fixture or lamp, I have several bulbs of different wattages that have been fine for at least three years and still going strong. But I have wasted 3 bulbs in little cheap table lamps from the dollar store and clamp lights. After a few weeks, the bulbs burned out. $12.00 down the tubes, so to speak. Now I am saving for good lamps LOL.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

We have some of those. But for the most part we use the presurized-kerosene lantern for evening light.


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## ricky (Jul 31, 2006)

any one notice that some of these bulbs are real dim when you turn them on cold. then they get brighter as they warm? i guess thats the floresent qualities huh?


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

ricky said:


> any one notice that some of these bulbs are real dim when you turn them on cold. then they get brighter as they warm? i guess thats the floresent qualities huh?


Inside they get fully bright quickly,outside they have to warm up.At least here.

BooBoo


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## offGridNorthern (Jan 1, 2006)

ZealYouthGuy said:


> One thing, don't use them in dimmer type lighting fixtures... ask me how I know...
> 
> Although I understand there are some new ones that you can get to use in the dimmer fixtures...


I have ones in a dimmer.... they are marked for dimmer lights but they were really hard to find.


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## Kevingr (Mar 10, 2006)

I stopped buying the off brand lamps because they take time to warm up. I just stick with name brand now. I was told that the bulbs that are bright right way have an electronic ballast. Don't know for sure though, but that's what I was told.


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

Our horse barn has nearly 100 lights so I bought 2 cases of CF off ebay for less than 2$ a bulb if I remember right. Here in Michigan they take a time to warm up in the winter so I put regular bulbs near the doors and such and at least 1 regular bulb every now and then to give instant bright light. They paid for themselves in about 4 months. They all worked thru last winter and are still going strong.

mikell


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## Shinsan (Jul 11, 2006)

The latest generation of 'Energy Saver' bulbs sold here give instant light when they're turned on - there's no warm up period - and we can now buy 100W equivalent globes everywhere. At present Utility companies are giving away packs of six of these energy saving globes, plus a water saving shower head, in return for signing over 'energy credits' for the green-house gasses saved. (Don't ask me how _that_ works.)
So far we've received four of these packs from different sources, saving us around $A65 (retail) per pack. LOL - Who am I to argue with Big Business?


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Thats a whole nother ballgame those "energy credits" for the utility co.
Wow...what a shamm...getting those credits for handing out some CF's.
I don't want to get "typers cramp" pounding this keyboard to try to explaine this issue.............so I wont.

But......enjoy the benefits of the CF's


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## Shinsan (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeh Jim-mi, from what I've learned so far these 'energy credits' are a load of b.s. - especially in a country that refuses to sign the Kyoto accord. Best part is, we'd already outfitted our home completely with c.f. globes and water-saving shower-heads anyway, but now we have a good supply of globes in stock for when one does blow.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Shinsan said:


> Yeh Jim-mi, from what I've learned so far these 'energy credits' are a load of b.s. - especially in a country that refuses to sign the Kyoto accord. Best part is, we'd already outfitted our home completely with c.f. globes and water-saving shower-heads anyway, but now we have a good supply of globes in stock for when one does blow.



I have wondered about those water-saving shower-heads and toilets.

If my water comes from a spring, which flows either down the hill or into my house. Then what am I saving? How much water gets diverted into my house? And why would I care?

I could see if your in a city, where you may have to pay for your potable water usage.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

ET1 SS said:


> I have wondered about those water-saving shower-heads and toilets.
> 
> If my water comes from a spring, which flows either down the hill or into my house. Then what am I saving? How much water gets diverted into my house? And why would I care?
> 
> I could see if your in a city, where you may have to pay for your potable water usage.


i am in a similar situation and agree 100%. i have a gravity fed system from a spring. i am only diverting the water from one path to the large creek to another path.


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

I have run HECF for 9yrs now and the only one's that get hot are the crap from china-look carefully on box...


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## ericjeeper (Feb 25, 2006)

The flourescent in my bathroom ceiling light fixture went up in smoke today. I honestly think it was close to flash point. It was literally arching at the base where the glass enters the porcelain base. and yeah it was an off brand..


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## YoungOne (Aug 22, 2006)

They also have "grow lights" in flourescent now. They consume a little more than the standard flouencent (standard `20W vs 35W). but better than other grow lights that can pull as much as 800W!!


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## Trixie (Aug 25, 2006)

These are the little twisted type bulbs, right?

We were in Lowe's buying some other stuff and they had a pack of 6 - 60W of these bulbs for $10. We bought one pack and liked them. My husband wanted larger wattage - but the special was only for 60W.

I am going to see if they really work.


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## Ozarkguy (Aug 13, 2003)

.



"they are to be the equivilent of 75 watt incandescent bulbs ...they are to consume only 20 watts. 



any thoughts or comments?"





Switched to low flow shower and sink heads. Have a brick in my toilet tank to conserve water. GREAT savings in water consumption.



Switched to the flourescent screw-in replacement bulbs years ago. You might want to even downgrade a tad. 75 watt = 20 watts, so I switched to the 60 watt = 14 watts and like them. Again, GREAT savings on electric along with the low flow water stuff = money in your pocket! 



*Might also check your whole house for "phantom" loads that drain electric even when they're off. Like the VCR or other things like that. Many draw a trickle charge 24 hours unless turned off at an electric strip or unplugged. Do you really need a clock in every room? Could that outside porch light use a fluorescent bulb instead? Do you really need 75 or 100 watts everywhere? I seldom use my basement, so all the outlets now have the 14 watts in them. Anyhewwwww.... lots of little stuff around the house can add up big when trying to save energy! 







Just my "any thoughts or comments?" FYI





gotta love those hills.....



Ozarkguy


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

I have to admit,CF bulbs outdoors in motion lights arent all that great longevity wise,but if you can get em for around a buck,still is a good deal.
I think its the on off cycles that kill em,I have a small 11 watter I think going 24/7 for about 10 years now? Got it when they first came out.

BooBoo


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## TheBlueOne (Jul 2, 2004)

When CF bulbs came out I was constantly asked about them because they were the new "wonder bulb". Here's what I told (and still tell) people.
1. You save energy but not as much as they claim. I grabbed one out of the basement, a 42 watt model that is equivalent to a 150 watt incandescent. Doing the math: 150-42= 108 watts saved? Not exactly. Reading the ballast compartment of the bulb it draws 0.570 amps at 120 volts. Using Ohm's law that equals 68.4 watts. Substituting in the original equation: 150-68.4= a savings of 81.6 watts. Not bad by any means but not what we're told on the package.
2. Enclosed fixtures *significantly* reduce CF bulb life due to heat buildup. The newer bulbs are better than the first models but heat is still a problem.
3. If you want the best color rendition spend a little extra for the "Daylight" bulbs as opposed to the standard "Warm White" units. The light is "crisper" and closer to sunlight, which will seem brighter but still consume the same amount of energy.
4. As always, keep in mind, "watts" is a unit of heat measurement and "lumens" is a measure of light output. Ninety percent (90%) of an incandescent bulbs energy used is given off as heat leaving 10% to do the illuminating.


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## midkiffsjoy (Sep 29, 2005)

ricky said:


> any one notice that some of these bulbs are real dim when you turn them on cold. then they get brighter as they warm? i guess thats the floresent qualities huh?



Giggle. We replaced half the light bulbs in the house with these (cause that's what we could afford at the time) and cut our light bill in half!! And EVERY night we turn on the recessed lights in the livingroom (cathedral ceiling) and laughingly joke, "LOVE that INSTANT light!!!!". giggle. Oh well....wait a FULL MINUTE for light or pay double the light bill....hummmmmm. grin. I HATE the ones in my bedroom though. I have a ceiling fan and it had 4 bulbs in it's fixture. It orignaly had 75 watt bulbs in it. I've replaced them with the smallest bulbs I can find and if I leave them on for ANY amount of time they get SO darn bright it hurts my eyes. grin. But I'll tell you, they are AWESOME to sew by!!! (Anyone whose tried sewing in the dark will agree it's the pits!)

In all, we LOVE ours and wont go back!!!!

Joy


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## jesset (Sep 6, 2006)

We've been running flourescents for about 8yrs. now, and the lights we leave burning the longest do seem to last the longest - 5yrs, at last count. Though buying the bargain flourescents at Sam's Club have been disappointing, the life of the bulbs were only a little longer than incandescent bulbs under the same conditions our longest burning flourescents are running. From China maybe? I'll have to take a closer look.

Jesse
www.homesteadarticles.com


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

ET1 SS said:


> I have wondered about those water-saving shower-heads and toilets.
> 
> If my water comes from a spring, which flows either down the hill or into my house. Then what am I saving? How much water gets diverted into my house? And why would I care?
> 
> I could see if your in a city, where you may have to pay for your potable water usage.


Hi,
For the shower you save the cost and green house gases involved in heating the water (unless you already use solar water heating).

If a low flow shower head saves 10 gallons a shower, thats about 5000 BTU per shower, or 1.5 KWH for electric water heating. Thats 550 KWH per year, worth about $55, and 1100 lbs of CO2. Seems worthwhile?

Gary


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

except that using a low-flow shower head may caus efolks to stay in the shower longer to get wet, thus using more water.

My DW has thick long hair, and a terrible time trying to get it all wet and shampooed, when there is not enough flow.

Right now we are using hydro-electric to heat our water. Though by November we should be running with wood-fire heated hot-water. [well really a mixture of wood, coal and peat]. That mixture is what I am heating our house with tonight. But I hope to have the rest of the heat-plumbing completed by then.


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