light bulb life extenders- do they really work?

[Ken Weitzel]

Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> writes:


James Sweet wrote:


They'll significantly extend the life of the lamp, but you lose a
lot more
light output than you do electrical consumption. Back before compact
fluorescents I'd have considered using one of those devices for a very hard
to change bulb, but it's certainly not a way to save money. The cost of
electricity to run a bulb over it's lifespan exceeds the cost of the bulb
itself by at least 10 times. Long life bulbs are available as well which do
the same thing, they're a higher voltage bulb which runs cooler and less
efficiently on 120v, because of this they last longer but put out
significantly fewer lumens per watt.
These days CFL's have matured to the point where there's very little
attraction to long life incandescents.


And to ever so slightly modify the subject, if I may?


My house is full of 'em, has been for years... but I
just noticed last time I handled one that the numbers
don't add up...
Either Ohm's law is wrong, or the label on the packages is


What are you referring to? CFLs? It's because the input is AC and
the power factor is significantly less than 1.

Hi...

Yep, GE branded CFL's. Package marked 15 watts, but
bulb base says 225 mil's at 120.

15 watts is not the same as 27 watts

Ken

 

[H. R. Bob Hofmann]

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<6VZ9c.44489$li5.24116@pd7tw3no>...

Sam Goldwasser wrote:
Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> writes:


James Sweet wrote:


They'll significantly extend the life of the lamp, but you lose a
lot more
light output than you do electrical consumption. Back before compact
fluorescents I'd have considered using one of those devices for a very hard
to change bulb, but it's certainly not a way to save money. The cost of
electricity to run a bulb over it's lifespan exceeds the cost of the bulb
itself by at least 10 times. Long life bulbs are available as well which do
the same thing, they're a higher voltage bulb which runs cooler and less
efficiently on 120v, because of this they last longer but put out
significantly fewer lumens per watt.
These days CFL's have matured to the point where there's very little
attraction to long life incandescents.


And to ever so slightly modify the subject, if I may?


My house is full of 'em, has been for years... but I
just noticed last time I handled one that the numbers
don't add up...
Either Ohm's law is wrong, or the label on the packages is


What are you referring to? CFLs? It's because the input is AC and
the power factor is significantly less than 1.


Hi...

Yep, GE branded CFL's. Package marked 15 watts, but
bulb base says 225 mil's at 120.

15 watts is not the same as 27 watts

Ken

Maybe the voltage and current are somewhat out of phase, then you
would have the lower wattage number. Obne reason for as lamps having
shorter life than dc lamps is the vibration of the filament. Anyone
remember the flicker bulbs that had an internal magnet to exaggerate
the vibration.

H. R. Hofmann

 

[Ken Weitzel]

H. R. Bob Hofmann wrote:

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<6VZ9c.44489$li5.24116@pd7tw3no>...

Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> writes:



James Sweet wrote:


They'll significantly extend the life of the lamp, but you lose a
lot more
light output than you do electrical consumption. Back before compact
fluorescents I'd have considered using one of those devices for a very hard
to change bulb, but it's certainly not a way to save money. The cost of
electricity to run a bulb over it's lifespan exceeds the cost of the bulb
itself by at least 10 times. Long life bulbs are available as well which do
the same thing, they're a higher voltage bulb which runs cooler and less
efficiently on 120v, because of this they last longer but put out
significantly fewer lumens per watt.
These days CFL's have matured to the point where there's very little
attraction to long life incandescents.


And to ever so slightly modify the subject, if I may?


My house is full of 'em, has been for years... but I
just noticed last time I handled one that the numbers
don't add up...
Either Ohm's law is wrong, or the label on the packages is


What are you referring to? CFLs? It's because the input is AC and
the power factor is significantly less than 1.


Hi...

Yep, GE branded CFL's. Package marked 15 watts, but
bulb base says 225 mil's at 120.

15 watts is not the same as 27 watts

Ken



Maybe the voltage and current are somewhat out of phase, then you
would have the lower wattage number. Obne reason for as lamps having
shorter life than dc lamps is the vibration of the filament. Anyone
remember the flicker bulbs that had an internal magnet to exaggerate
the vibration.

H. R. Hofmann

Hi...

Perhaps. The concept really got my attention, though.
(old, retired, waaaay to much time on my hands
So, I proofed their claims of savings, using each
of the samples they provided. And their energy
savings claim work out to be the 15 watt rating,
rather than 27 watts.

Can't see GE taking a chance on mis-leading
advertising, so I guess the utility meter will
have to be recording the 15 watt number.
Otherwise, the class action suit would be
horrendous!

Remember flicker; hey I moved to Toronto to
study back in the 50's - when they still had
25 cycle AC. You could watch the filaments
vibrate! And, perhaps coincidence, I had
terrible headaches for the first few months.

Take care.

Ken

 

[Richard Freeman]

"Jon Shudderston" <shutters56812rt@email.net> wrote in message
news:YhE9c.3404$yN6.466@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

"Sam Goldwasser" <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:6woeqglvoa.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu...
"Jon Shudderston" <shutters56812rt@email.net> writes:

Thanks to all for your comments. I guess I'll save the $2.?? on such
a
device and use a lower wattage bulb.

As others have noted, use a compact fluorescent if the fixture can hold
it. They are about 4 times the efficiency of incandescent lamps and
last
5,000 to 10,000 hours. The bulb cost is more than made up in power
savings
during the first 750 to 1,000 hours - the life of a typical
incandescent.

I've been happy with the spiral CFLs from GE and their clones. I have
a dozen or so places that see a lot of use. The color is close enough
to an incandescent as not to be an issue.

That's what just burned out after only 3 months! I had one of the spiral
ones. Last night, before I posted about the incandescent life extenders,
the fluorescent started flickering. Before long, it became dim. I turned
the light off and then back on, heard a burnout sound and that was the end
of the bulb. When I shake the burned out lamp, I can hear rattling inside
probably in the base assembly. So, I don't know if the bulb itself burned
out, or just something in the base. I've since replaced it with a 100 w
incandescent.

It's a shame because that's what I understood- that they were supposed to
last much longer than incandescent.

I have changed almost all the bulbs in my house over to CFL and found that
Cheaper CFLs tend to fail after a short period of Time. I now buy either
Philips or Mirabella (although I have had the odd Mirabella fail
prematurely) and have replaced one bulb in the last 12 Months or so.
OTOH My Father bought a Bunch of cheap CFLs from some $2 type shop and had
the whole lot fail inside of two months.

CFLs do tend to get slightly dimmer after a while though so you need to use
slightly more powerful ones to start with and as I am sure you have noticed
they take a few minutes to warm up and get brighter. As for colour I cannot
really notice any difference between an Incandescant and a reasonable CFL.

I guess I factor in a power saving of around a third by the time I allow for
the CFL to fade but this is actually still more than enough to pay for the
bulb - especially if you wait until they are on special to stock up ;-)

Regards
Richard Freeman

 

[Asimov]

"Ken Weitzel" bravely wrote to "All" (29 Mar 04 18:28:18)
--- on the heady topic of "Re: light bulb life extenders- do they really work?"

KW> From: Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
KW> Hi...

KW> Yep, GE branded CFL's. Package marked 15 watts, but
KW> bulb base says 225 mil's at 120.

KW> 15 watts is not the same as 27 watts

Could be some of the 225 mil's is reactive? Meaning the rated 15 watts
would be true rms and the 27 watts is the apparent power by simply
multiplying absolute current with absolute voltage. That difference is
why the current's phase angle is an important measurement to know.
For instance a power transformer may draw 1 amp at 120 V but only
consume 5 watts unloaded.

Asimov
******

.... You mean 15" sparks are SUPPOSED to come out of this thing?!?

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> writes:

H. R. Bob Hofmann wrote:
Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<6VZ9c.44489$li5.24116@pd7tw3no>...

Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca> writes:



James Sweet wrote:


They'll significantly extend the life of the lamp, but you lose a
lot more
light output than you do electrical consumption. Back before compact
fluorescents I'd have considered using one of those devices for a very hard
to change bulb, but it's certainly not a way to save money. The cost of
electricity to run a bulb over it's lifespan exceeds the cost of the bulb
itself by at least 10 times. Long life bulbs are available as well which do
the same thing, they're a higher voltage bulb which runs cooler and less
efficiently on 120v, because of this they last longer but put out
significantly fewer lumens per watt.
These days CFL's have matured to the point where there's very little
attraction to long life incandescents.


And to ever so slightly modify the subject, if I may?


My house is full of 'em, has been for years... but I
just noticed last time I handled one that the numbers
don't add up...
Either Ohm's law is wrong, or the label on the packages is


What are you referring to? CFLs? It's because the input is AC and
the power factor is significantly less than 1.


Hi...

Yep, GE branded CFL's. Package marked 15 watts, but
bulb base says 225 mil's at 120.

15 watts is not the same as 27 watts

Ken
Maybe the voltage and current are somewhat out of phase, then you
would have the lower wattage number. Obne reason for as lamps having
shorter life than dc lamps is the vibration of the filament. Anyone
remember the flicker bulbs that had an internal magnet to exaggerate
the vibration.
H. R. Hofmann

Hi...

Perhaps. The concept really got my attention, though.
(old, retired, waaaay to much time on my hands
So, I proofed their claims of savings, using each
of the samples they provided. And their energy
savings claim work out to be the 15 watt rating,
rather than 27 watts.

Can't see GE taking a chance on mis-leading
advertising, so I guess the utility meter will
have to be recording the 15 watt number.
Otherwise, the class action suit would be
horrendous!

These are switching power supplies with poor power factor. Since
your power meter reads true power, it doesn't much matter to
the consumer.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
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[ajb]

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 00:22:20 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
<newsgroups1@idontwantjunqueemail.walshcomptech.com> wrote:

[....]

If you really want bulbs that last a long time and can deal with slightly
lower light output, try 130V bulbs. These seem to last a very long time and
are fairly inexpensive if you can find them.

William

Here in England when the supply was at 240V I used high-reliability
traffic-signal bulbs which were 260V and last for ever. Unfortunately,
these days Nanny Europe has made us drop the supply to 230V and the
old bulbs are a shade on the dim side now.

Since traffic signals are all LED now you can't seem to get the
ordinary 260V bulbs anyway - the only ones I could find were old
ex-ministry 260V carbon-filament lamps....
--

ajb

My hovercraft is full of eels

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

"James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> writes:

While on the subject, is the wattage ratings on CFL's that of the lamp
itself, or does it include ballast losses (as it should)?

The packaging will state something like "uses the equivalent wattage of a 15 W
incandescent...." so must be include both.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.