Energy Saving Lightbulbs

sunbeam

Does anyone else find that the light emitted by these is less than that of the normal bulbs they are supposed to replace?

I've tried an 18W normal Philips CFL and a 20W round one, both of which are supposed to be equivalent to 100W bulbs. They seem considerably darker ( and yes I've waited a while for them to light up fully).

Anyone know where I might find CFLs with a higher wattage? I've tried the ESB shop and Roches Stores.

Capt'n Midnight

Yeah and the colour is different - in daylight you can't see the touch up white paint on the doors/ skirting - but under the Fluorescent it appears a more yellow colour.

PS. they are called fluorescent cos' it is actually a mercury vapour lamp with nasty-toxic fluorescent berillium compounds converting UV to visible light (in fact 30% of the output is UV)

You could try a fitting that takes two or more bulbs ..
Alternatively - get some fluorescent wall panels - they will brighten the room...

sunbeam

PS. they are called fluorescent cos' it is actually a mercury vapour lamp with nasty-toxic fluorescent berillium compounds converting UV to visible light (in fact 30% of the output is UV)

Hmm, interesting. How much UV radiation do they release in comparison to the amount we receive by daylight?

I've found some scary figures on fluorescent lighting and UV emissions on Google, but they seem to all be from companies selling filters....

Capt'n Midnight

Not much - 11W bulb and they get warm - so not all the energy gets converted to photons and the Glass would also block some UV - at a guess I'd say no more than 3W

From the Sun there is about 1Kw per meter at the earths surface and a lot of this will be infra-red and near UV

Put it this way you need special taning bulbs to get a tan - never heard of anyone getting a tan of a fluorescent...

Plan B - Uplighters - like those upside down chineese coolie type hats.

BTW I hate those low voltage halogen lights they use in pubs etc. - they run hotter and so chuck out more UV than normal bulbs and I think they are too bright for any sort of ambiance - great for operating theatre though...

bonkey

A quick google produced this link which would seem to suggest that you may not be getting 100W-equivalent from 12W or 20W bulbs :

http://www.bulbs.com/products/product.asp?page=products&class=600

In general, there seems to be a 4x conversion, implying you'd need a 25W.

jc

sunbeam

Hmm yes, just as I suspected. Now to find somewhere that sells 25W bulbs...