Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Shock When Unplugged

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Sun, 29 May 2011 13:08:46 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 02:46:06 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?
?"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:
??
?? Stock up! I am.
?
? How many? Or are you afraid Dimbulb will try to steal them?

Couple hundred, now. I buy a few packs when I'm in Lowes. DimBulb isn't
bright enough.


He's low enough to take them, though.

How many DimBulbs does it take...

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

Specialty bulbs are not *supposed* on the banned list. We have something like
50 bulbs in various fixtures in the house. All of the bulbs are part of the
look of the fixture (visible from anywhere in the room) so CFLs or LEDs aren't
going to work. They're not on much (have only blown a couple in the ceiling
fan on the back porch) so there is nothing to "save" by using more efficient
lights. CLFs are ugly, too.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Sun, 29 May 2011 14:05:25 -0400, Phil Hobbs
<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

Bret Cahill wrote:
I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged.

CFLs are just a transitional device. In a few short years LED bulbs
will be cheaper, safer and more energy efficient than CFLs.


Bret Cahill


Looked at the price of europium lately?

Is that the Europeon version of the Hopeium the Democrats have been smoking?

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 13:08:46 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 02:46:06 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?
?"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:
??
?? Stock up! I am.
?
? How many? Or are you afraid Dimbulb will try to steal them?

Couple hundred, now. I buy a few packs when I'm in Lowes. DimBulb isn't
bright enough.


He's low enough to take them, though.

How many DimBulbs does it take...

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

Specialty bulbs are not *supposed* on the banned list. We have something like
50 bulbs in various fixtures in the house. All of the bulbs are part of the
look of the fixture (visible from anywhere in the room) so CFLs or LEDs aren't
going to work. They're not on much (have only blown a couple in the ceiling
fan on the back porch) so there is nothing to "save" by using more efficient
lights. CLFs are ugly, too.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

They are almost as useless as the dimmie types screaming for the
change to CFL, when I'm already using regular fluorescent lights.


--
It's easy to think outside the box, when you have a cutting torch.

 

[Ecnerwal]

In article <ufi5u6ht8r8pu4j4hiuv4ccibc3q2stmi0@4ax.com>,
"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote:

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

Change the ballast once, and T-8's work perfectly well (better than the
T-12's they replaced in every fixture I've done so far.) You can get a
decent ballast while you are at it, which is nearly impossible with new
fixtures short of severely overpriced ones.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

 

[Baron]

Ecnerwal Inscribed thus:

In article <ufi5u6ht8r8pu4j4hiuv4ccibc3q2stmi0@4ax.com>,
"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote:

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have
a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a
couple of
times. No joy.

Change the ballast once, and T-8's work perfectly well (better than
the T-12's they replaced in every fixture I've done so far.) You can
get a decent ballast while you are at it, which is nearly impossible
with new fixtures short of severely overpriced ones.

I've just installed four 5" T8 fittings ! One is visibly much dimmer
than the other three. Its also much heavier !

It didn't dawn on me at first, but the dim fitting has a conventional
ballast choke, capacitor and starter, whilst the other three have
electronic ballasts and a plastic cap over where the starter should be.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Mon, 30 May 2011 13:59:30 -0400, Ecnerwal
<MyNameForward@ReplaceWithMyVices.Com.invalid> wrote:

In article <ufi5u6ht8r8pu4j4hiuv4ccibc3q2stmi0@4ax.com>,
"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote:

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

Change the ballast once, and T-8's work perfectly well (better than the
T-12's they replaced in every fixture I've done so far.) You can get a
decent ballast while you are at it, which is nearly impossible with new
fixtures short of severely overpriced ones.

If I have to replace the ballasts in new fixtures, they *are* crap. Sorry.

 

[Ecnerwal]

In article <is0oqo$had$1@dont-email.me>, Baron <baron@linuxmaniac.net>
wrote:

I've just installed four 5" T8 fittings ! One is visibly much dimmer
than the other three. Its also much heavier !

It didn't dawn on me at first, but the dim fitting has a conventional
ballast choke, capacitor and starter, whilst the other three have
electronic ballasts and a plastic cap over where the starter should be.

While you seem to have tripped across crappy old .vs. new tech
differences in ballasts, you can also get identical size/shape/weight
electronic ballasts that will put out more or less light from the same
bulb (using more or less watts to do so, which is part of why they are
offered.) There will be a difference in the label, typically something
like H-N-L for high/normal/low light output. Typically 115/100/77% of
rated output. It only gets annoying when you find that it's easy to find
(say) a 4-bulb low ballast at a reasonable price, and the same ballast
in high (not to be confused with the HO ballasts/bulbs that are more
like twice the wattage and output and need different bulbs) is hard to
find and twice the price when you do find it. Been there, done that.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Mon, 30 May 2011 23:45:27 +0000 (UTC), don@manx.misty.com (Don Klipstein)
wrote:

In <ufi5u6ht8r8pu4j4hiuv4ccibc3q2stmi0@4ax.com>, krw@att.bizzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 May 2011 13:08:46 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 02:46:06 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?
?"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:
??
?? Stock up! I am.
?
? How many? Or are you afraid Dimbulb will try to steal them?

Couple hundred, now. I buy a few packs when I'm in Lowes. DimBulb isn't
bright enough.


He's low enough to take them, though.

How many DimBulbs does it take...

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

Specialty bulbs are not *supposed* on the banned list. We have something like
50 bulbs in various fixtures in the house. All of the bulbs are part of the
look of the fixture (visible from anywhere in the room) so CFLs or LEDs aren't
going to work. They're not on much (have only blown a couple in the ceiling
fan on the back porch) so there is nothing to "save" by using more efficient
lights. CLFs are ugly, too.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

My experience is that T12 fixtures with "residential grade" ballasts are
crappier than any T8 fixture I ever saw with a ballast made after 1998 or
2000 or so.

I've never had an issue with a T12, though likely haven't bought more than one
or two since 2000.

 

[Don Klipstein]

In <7tudnRgYxqc04H_QnZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Michael A. Terrell
wrote mostly:

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

The incandescents that I saw at Dollar Tree are of the Sunbeam brand.
The 100 watt ones only produce 11 something hundred lumens. 75 watt 750
hour ones made by GE, Philips or Sylvania, even if store brand ones,
produce 1170-1210 lumens, as low as 1150 for soft white.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

Home Depot has true 40 watt Philips Ultralume fluorescents. The cool
white color is referred to by its nominal color temperature in Kelvin,
4100. Its color rendering index is 82. Light output is not compromised
in comparison to old tech cool white. They cost a few dollars, though.

--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

[Don Klipstein]

In <ufi5u6ht8r8pu4j4hiuv4ccibc3q2stmi0@4ax.com>, krw@att.bizzzz wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 13:08:46 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2011 02:46:06 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?
?"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:
??
?? Stock up! I am.
?
? How many? Or are you afraid Dimbulb will try to steal them?

Couple hundred, now. I buy a few packs when I'm in Lowes. DimBulb isn't
bright enough.


He's low enough to take them, though.

How many DimBulbs does it take...

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

Specialty bulbs are not *supposed* on the banned list. We have something like
50 bulbs in various fixtures in the house. All of the bulbs are part of the
look of the fixture (visible from anywhere in the room) so CFLs or LEDs aren't
going to work. They're not on much (have only blown a couple in the ceiling
fan on the back porch) so there is nothing to "save" by using more efficient
lights. CLFs are ugly, too.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

I can still find T-12 bulbs but you're right, T-8s are crap. I have a couple
of new fixtures that won't light reliably. I've changed tubes a couple of
times. No joy.

My experience is that T12 fixtures with "residential grade" ballasts are
crappier than any T8 fixture I ever saw with a ballast made after 1998 or
2000 or so.
--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

[Don Klipstein]

In <8125e3be-b329-4724-a9cb-37f97695d2cd@l14g2000pro.googlegroups.com>,
Bret Cahill wrote:

I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged.

CFLs are just a transitional device. In a few short years LED bulbs
will be cheaper, safer and more energy efficient than CFLs.

My bet is that it will take a lot more than a few years for LED bulbs to
be cheaper than CFLs.
--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

[Don Klipstein]

On May 28, 5:41 am, Globemaker ?alanfolms...@cabanova.com? wrote:

I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged. The lamp fell to the floor and broke. I unplugged it before
cleaning up the broken glass. When I tried to unscrew the bulb base
from the socket, a high voltage shocking pain made me jump away.
WARNING! Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are dangerous when not plugged
in . Tell the world, tell the department stores. Not Safe to Use. They
cause radio interference. They buzz in the audio spectrum using air
waves to send sound to peoples' ears. Do not buy them. 2000 volts are
stored in a capacitor.

The 2000 volt figure is wrong. It's about 170 volts for the filter
capacitor. The rectifier won't let it shock through the base contacts.
And, in usual CFL electronic ballasts, the ends of the tubing
are not across it. Otherwise, the tubing would get DC, which CFL ballast
design avoids. Passing DC through a CFL would cause one end to be
depleted of mercury and go dim.

There may be a ballast capacitor in CFLs with electronic ballasts, and
it may have a couple or few hundred volts across it if the tubing breaks
during operation, but its capacitance is only nanofarads - minor shock
possible if you touch both electrodes of the tube without the unit being
powered.
--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

[Phil Allison]

"Globemaker = RABID IMBECILE "

The 2000 volt figure is wrong.

** Absolutely wrong.

It relates to the ignition voltage of CCFLs.


but what is the actual capacitance in CFL?

** The only capacitor sometimes fitted to the base connections of a CFL is a
suppression cap of about 47nF.

After a CFL is removed from its socket, it may have a residual charge
voltage up to 175 volts ( USA ) and 345 volts in most of the world.

Gives one a nip like a pin prick.

Shame about the GREAT BIG PRICK who is wasting our time here.



..... Phil

 

[Globemaker]

On May 30, 7:59 pm, d...@manx.misty.com (Don Klipstein) wrote:

On May 28, 5:41 am, Globemaker ?alanfolms...@cabanova.com? wrote:

I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged. The lamp fell to the floor and broke. I unplugged it before
cleaning up the broken glass. When I tried to unscrew the bulb base
from the socket, a high voltage shocking pain made me jump away.
WARNING! Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are dangerous when not plugged
in . Tell the world, tell the department stores. Not Safe to Use. They
cause radio interference. They buzz in the audio spectrum using air
waves to send sound to peoples' ears. Do not buy them. 2000 volts are
stored in a capacitor.

  The 2000 volt figure is wrong.  It's about 170 volts for the filter
capacitor.  The rectifier won't let it shock through the base contacts.
  And, in usual CFL electronic ballasts, the ends of the tubing
are not across it.  Otherwise, the tubing would get DC, which CFL ballast
design avoids.  Passing DC through a CFL would cause one end to be
depleted of mercury and go dim.

  There may be a ballast capacitor in CFLs with electronic ballasts, and
it may have a couple or few hundred volts across it if the tubing breaks
during operation, but its capacitance is only nanofarads - minor shock
possible if you touch both electrodes of the tube without the unit being
powered.
--
 - Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)

example calculations show 1.4 microfarads at 700 volts is allowable
for human safety:
..5 c v v = energy
..5 20 nf 700v 700v = 49 e-4 j = 5mJ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity
IEC 479-2:1987 states that a discharge with energy greater than 5000
mJ is a direct serious risk to human health. IEC 60065 states that
consumer products cannot discharge more than 350 mJ into a person.
therefore the example maximum allowed can be:
..5 x 1.4uf x 700v x 700v = 343 mJ = energy limit situation
but what is the actual capacitance in CFL?

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Don Klipstein wrote:

In <7tudnRgYxqc04H_QnZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Michael A. Terrell
wrote mostly:

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

The incandescents that I saw at Dollar Tree are of the Sunbeam brand.
The 100 watt ones only produce 11 something hundred lumens. 75 watt 750
hour ones made by GE, Philips or Sylvania, even if store brand ones,
produce 1170-1210 lumens, as low as 1150 for soft white.

The 100W are only used in clip on work lites in the shop where they
get banged around a lot. The lower output lamps are a bit more rugged
and don't burn out when you bump the lamp holder as fast as some other
brands. I use mostly 60 or 75 W bulbs in incandescent.

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

Home Depot has true 40 watt Philips Ultralume fluorescents. The cool
white color is referred to by its nominal color temperature in Kelvin,
4100. Its color rendering index is 82. Light output is not compromised
in comparison to old tech cool white. They cost a few dollars, though.

Most of the time I don't find what i need at Home Depot. Their
inventory is usually low, or stuck up on a top shelf that requires a
forklift to get down, which results in an hour or two wait. I have
found what I was after exactly once at HD in the last two years.


--
It's easy to think outside the box, when you have a cutting torch.

 

[Baron]

Ecnerwal Inscribed thus:

In article <is0oqo$had$1@dont-email.me>, Baron <baron@linuxmaniac.net
wrote:

I've just installed four 5" T8 fittings ! One is visibly much dimmer
than the other three. Its also much heavier !

It didn't dawn on me at first, but the dim fitting has a conventional
ballast choke, capacitor and starter, whilst the other three have
electronic ballasts and a plastic cap over where the starter should
be.

While you seem to have tripped across crappy old .vs. new tech
differences in ballasts, you can also get identical size/shape/weight
electronic ballasts that will put out more or less light from the same
bulb (using more or less watts to do so, which is part of why they are
offered.) There will be a difference in the label, typically something
like H-N-L for high/normal/low light output. Typically 115/100/77% of
rated output. It only gets annoying when you find that it's easy to
find (say) a 4-bulb low ballast at a reasonable price, and the same
ballast in high (not to be confused with the HO ballasts/bulbs that
are more like twice the wattage and output and need different bulbs)
is hard to find and twice the price when you do find it. Been there,
done that.

I complained to the distributor today about the dim fitting !
They have, grudgingly, agreed to replace it.
Result (*)

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Tim Wescott]

On 05/28/2011 05:41 AM, Globemaker wrote:

I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged. The lamp fell to the floor and broke. I unplugged it before
cleaning up the broken glass. When I tried to unscrew the bulb base
from the socket, a high voltage shocking pain made me jump away.
WARNING! Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are dangerous when not plugged
in . Tell the world, tell the department stores. Not Safe to Use. They
cause radio interference. They buzz in the audio spectrum using air
waves to send sound to peoples' ears. Do not buy them. 2000 volts are
stored in a capacitor.

I got a burn from an incandescent light bulb when I unscrewed it. When
I tried to unscrew the bulb base from the socket a high temperature
burning pain made me jump away. WARNING! Incandescent lightbulbs are
dangerous when not plugged in. Tell the world, tell the department
stores. Not Safe to Use. They cause radio interference. They buzz in
the audio spectrum using air waves to send sound to peoples' ears. Do
not buy them. 2000 degrees Fahrenheit are stored in a filament.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

 

[Don Klipstein]

In <8794c50f-fbe1-42db-9a13-276b0ea9fd8c@16g2000yqy.googlegroups.com>,
Globemaker wrote:

On May 30, 7:59 pm, d...@manx.misty.com (Don Klipstein) wrote:
On May 28, 5:41 am, Globemaker ?alanfolms...@cabanova.com? wrote:

I got a shock from a compact fluorescent light bulb when it was
unplugged. The lamp fell to the floor and broke. I unplugged it before
cleaning up the broken glass. When I tried to unscrew the bulb base
from the socket, a high voltage shocking pain made me jump away.
WARNING! Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are dangerous when not plugged
in . Tell the world, tell the department stores. Not Safe to Use. They
cause radio interference. They buzz in the audio spectrum using air
waves to send sound to peoples' ears. Do not buy them. 2000 volts are
stored in a capacitor.

  The 2000 volt figure is wrong.  It's about 170 volts for the filter
capacitor.  The rectifier won't let it shock through the base contacts.
  And, in usual CFL electronic ballasts, the ends of the tubing
are not across it.  Otherwise, the tubing would get DC, which CFL ballast
design avoids.  Passing DC through a CFL would cause one end to be
depleted of mercury and go dim.

  There may be a ballast capacitor in CFLs with electronic ballasts, and
it may have a couple or few hundred volts across it if the tubing breaks
during operation, but its capacitance is only nanofarads - minor shock
possible if you touch both electrodes of the tube without the unit being
powered.
--
 - Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)

example calculations show 1.4 microfarads at 700 volts is allowable
for human safety:

I SNIP from here on basis of capacitor values and voltages that I did
not find among the many dissected CFLs that I have experienced.

Enough said?

--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

[Globemaker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

Since introduction in the 1990s, high frequency ballasts have been
used in general lighting fixtures with either rapid start or pre-heat
lamps. These ballasts convert the incoming power to an output
frequency in excess of 20 kHz. This increases lamp efficiency. These
are used in several applications, including new generation tanning
lamp systems, whereby a 100 watt lamp (e.g., F71T12BP) can be lit
using 65 to 70 watts of actual power while obtaining the same luminous
flux (measured in lumens) as magnetic ballasts. These ballasts operate
with voltages that can be almost 600 volts, requiring some
consideration in housing design, and can cause a minor limitation in
the length of the wire leads from the ballast to the lamp ends.

schematic using 6.8nf capacitors rated for voltages up to 1000v in CFL
http://www.pavouk.org/hw/lamp/en_index.html#sinecan5

 

[Don Klipstein]

In <qeSdncoKTrL1oHjQnZ2dnUVZ_qudnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Michael A. Terrell
wrote:

Don Klipstein wrote:

In <7tudnRgYxqc04H_QnZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Michael A. Terrell
wrote mostly:

I have over 100, not counting the 25 W Halogen and some specialty
bulbs for things like the lights at my gate and some in ceiling fans.
Walmart & Dollar Tree have them for a good price, too. With my current
health, I should have enough for the rest of my life.

The incandescents that I saw at Dollar Tree are of the Sunbeam brand.
The 100 watt ones only produce 11 something hundred lumens. 75 watt 750
hour ones made by GE, Philips or Sylvania, even if store brand ones,
produce 1170-1210 lumens, as low as 1150 for soft white.

The 100W are only used in clip on work lites in the shop where they
get banged around a lot. The lower output lamps are a bit more rugged
and don't burn out when you bump the lamp holder as fast as some other
brands. I use mostly 60 or 75 W bulbs in incandescent.

So, you are not disputing my claim of fact that there are available
100W incandescents (such as dollar store ones) that fail to outshine 75W
ones available from Lowes. ???

BTW, it pisses me off that you can't find decent 4' 40W tubes
anymore. They used to be 99 cents anywhere you looked. Now all you can
find are those crappy 32W bulbs that don't work in a lot of fixtures.

Home Depot has true 40 watt Philips Ultralume fluorescents. The cool
white color is referred to by its nominal color temperature in Kelvin,
4100. Its color rendering index is 82. Light output is not compromised
in comparison to old tech cool white. They cost a few dollars, though.

Most of the time I don't find what i need at Home Depot. Their
inventory is usually low, or stuck up on a top shelf that requires a
forklift to get down, which results in an hour or two wait. I have
found what I was after exactly once at HD in the last two years.

This is contrary to my usual experiences at Home Depot, though there are
a few lightbulbs that I like Lowes better for.

--
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)