Compact Fluorescent Lifetime report #4

As previously mentioned, I've tried to keep track of CFL bulbs I used and how long they have lasted. Some have outlived some of the newer LED lights I now buy, which is related to the reduction of manufacturing cost by the makers of them. My early LEDs are still running from 2011, including the famous L-prize bulb won by Philips, in a torchiere conversion I did a long time ago and still use. This bulb was used for a several hours each day from 2008-2011, pretty much not used for two years, then was used for a short time daily and at most an hour or two weekly from 2013-2021 in the laundry room in a horizontal position. So, it probably lasted about 5000 hours. The bulb warranty was set as "guaranteed for 5 years at 4 hours each day" and labeled as 8000hrs.

CFL lifetime report #3

As seen previously, a series of CFLs I used starting around 2008 onwards failed at varying lifetimes. I report a third failure, of a Nvision 14W installed in June of 2011. It failed in May of 2018. That's just about 7 years of roughly 3-4 hrs of use daily. The lifetime estimate ranges around 8000 hours for that one.

CFL lifetime report #2

A third CFL failed in my torchiere conversion I did back in the winter of 2008. I used this light about 7 hours a day consistently until mid 2011, then for about 4 hours daily since then, which gave a lifetime of this compact fluorescent bulb from n:vision of about 11000 hours. I'm starting to evaluate and switch to LED bulbs as circumstances warrant--I went out and bought the Philips L-prize winning 10W EnduraLED bulb as a birthday present for myself. Whether to get more is a good question given its cost of $40 (it currently is cheaper to buy them at a big box store like Home Depot than online). I really do like the 92 CRI; the question is it that sufficient enough reason to buy it versus the previous generation of 80 CRI AmbientLED? The cost of electricity isn't a reason: 10W for the Endura versus 12.5W for the Ambient means a couple of dollars a year if left on 24/7. The lumen ouput might be--only 800 for the AmbientLED versus a bountiful 930 lumens for the EnduraLED. If I went by cost only for 80-ish CRI the CFLs still win for the short-term. But I am tempted by color accuracy, which is somewhat important for me, at least in food prep and photography viewing. None of this moves into the realm of other home lighting, which I'm running into the questions of dimmers, recessed cans, appliance bulbs, and the aesthetics of bathroom fixtures. And not to mention essentially lighting doesn't really cost that much for me annually, compared to other costs.

CFL lifetime report

I just noticed that a second CFL failed in my torchiere conversion I did back in the winter of 2008. I use this light about 7 hours a day consistently. That makes it just under 8000 hours. The first CFL failure I seem to have not mentioned; I think it happened about a year ago.

Halogen resistance

If you are curious, the resistance of a 300W type J halogen bulb, the ones you would find in those halogen torchiere lamps, is 3.3 ohms when cold. When it's hot it is 48 ohms, but that's a calculation only based on the wattage.


A warm halogen bulb in the near infrared

Since converting such a torchiere to CFL (but not in this project), I had an extra halogen bulb and debated throwing it out, but I figured they might make a decent power resistor. I used it in a project converting a PC ATX power supply to a benchtop 12V source. It works--but the hassle of cleaning the contacts for soldering, soldering, and placing such a large object in the case was enough to decide buying a power resistor in the first place is probably easier.

Stanley Fish doesn't get it on lighting

Stanley Fish writes in the NYTimes:

But my house is now full of environmentally approved lightbulbs. They are dim, ugly and expensive, but I am told that they will last beyond my lifetime. (That’s supposed to be reassuring?) A neighbor told me today that he is planning to stockpile incandescent bulbs in the face of a prediction that they will be phased out by 2012.

Meanwhile, by the weak light shed by the virtuous bulbs, ...

Clearly he didn't read the article in his own newspaper about the importance of choosing the right CFL for each location.

Buy a higher rated CF wattage than the so-called equivalent, pick the right color, and don't give up. There are acceptable CFLs for high-usage, non-wet, non-dimmable locations. You've got to get the right one for each situation and not give up because one "cheap" size does not fit all.

CF Torchiere replacement

Compact Fluorescents are all hot right now. And it's Earth Week.

I bought a floor lamp from Home Depot that used a single standard bulb and didn't have any fancy dimmer system: it just had a hi/lo switch (I'm still not sure what it does with it--the CFLs flicker on the low setting, so I quickly turn the lamp to high when flipping the switch. It could be a simple rectifier to provide 50% of the power). I then bought three lamp socket splitters. These screw into a standard lamp socket and provide two sockets. So, with three splitters, a single socket becomes four. This is OK because the CFLs use so much less power--with four of them, I'm only using 100W, and the floor lamp suggests using a 150W standard bulb. The sockets themselves are rated higher, so I think the 150W max is for thermal/fire issues (high wattage bulbs can start fires if drapery or other flammables fall on them).



Taking pictures of lighting fixtures is hard--either the fixture looks dim and the room dark, or the fixture is overexposed.



If you think the color temperature is off, you can adjust by using different color CF bulbs. Here was an experiment with a 2:1 warm:daylight ratio.


an even ratio between warm and daylight. This was too cool for evening use. The color is way exaggerated here--the yellow bulbs are nearly white to the eye.


The color of the photographs is too strong--your eye does not see such strong color in the fixture.

In any case, I made this fixture 100% n:vision 100W soft white bulbs, and use it all the time. I have a second fixture where I replaced the dimmer switch with a standard push switch (it's tough to find a switch that fits in small diameter torchieres) so I could use compact fluorescents in it. I put 3 GE 100W daylight bulbs in the latter fixture and use it only during the day.

Now the caveat: the splitters stick the bulbs higher than where an incandescent would be in the fixture. Ideally the rim of the lamp shade would be a touch higher, but I've yet experimented with the right material to make one. Doing so would improve the fixture and reduce glare from it.

The end result is I've increased the lighting in my otherwise dark apartment (north facing windows on the first floor) and decreased my lighting energy usage by 50%, even more on average since I don't use the second fixture at night. I'm already being paid back on my electricity bill: some $10 a month less.

Compact Fluorescents

Compact fluorescent lighting is a hot topic in the media right now. Repeated utility and environmental group campaigns have encouraged people to switch to them, and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will phase out the sale of incandescents in 2012. Economically speaking, there are real incentives for consumers to switch to them. But... people who have done so often come right back to incandescents. Why is that?

1. Quantity of light. CF manufacturers are blatantly over-reporting the luminosity of the CFs. This will probably not be resolved until a lawsuit occurs over the false advertising. To get an equivalent amount of light I always recommend getting the CFL that is a step-up: so if you are replacing a 60W incandescent, buy a "75W" CF. You'll be much happier, and don't fret the increase in energy use, since you are still using less energy than before (60W vs 20W for a "75W" CF), it's still a win.

2. Quality of light. This is the most legitimate complaint, and most of it stems from failure of manufacturers to label the color temperature of their bulbs. For most consumer applications, getting the color to match tungsten (2700K) is critical for acceptance. Some of the cheaper CFs have poor color rendition: they are too pink or too green and it turns off people. This is the fault of using the wrong phosphor blends. Take a gander at this quote from yesterday's NYTimes article on CFs:

In the living room, for example, where there are four recessed lights along one wall, Mr. Chipman tested six dimmable bulbs and determined that one made by Greenlite with the same hue as incandescents worked best in certain spots, attractively lighting an exposed brick wall and maple bookshelves. A Satco brand bulb with a slightly whiter hue made a limestone-tiled fireplace in the middle of the wall look best, so he installed one above it. Mr. Chipman’s wife, Liz Diamond, 53, a theater director who considers herself even more particular about aesthetics than her husband, said investing time in trying multiple bulbs made a big difference. “There was one bulb that made the limestone look really freaky, ugly and moldy,” she said, but the Satco bulb now in place makes the space look “fabulous.” “I was amazed at how much variation there was, but you can really get a color that you like,” she said. Mr. Chipman agreed. “You really have to experiment with different bulbs to find the ones that work for you,” he said. “But they exist.”

Get the right color for your application. I use GE 6500K daylight bulbs during the day to completely match outside light--you would be hard pressed to figure out if the light from the other room was from a window or the bulb. I also have some old tube "full-spectrum" fluorescents to wake up to in the morning in my bedroom. Again, these have fantastic matching color rendition to daylight.

For nighttime, it's best to limit your exposure to blue light, as it disrupts the production of melatonin and hence your sleepiness. I switch to tungsten matching lights at night as much as possible. For matching incandescents, both the n:vision soft white and GE series match the color. The n:vision lights instantaneously, whereas the the GE takes too long to light (and has other objections below).

3. Noise. A false objection is the claim that compact fluorescents buzz like old magnetic ballast fluorescent tubes. This is just wrong--CFs haven't used magnetic ballasts for a long time. Electronic ballasts, as used in CFs, can make noise if components in them aren't physically attached as well as they can be, and if certain cheaper circuits are used. The fundamental switching frequencies are ultrasonic, so you can't hear the old buzz that magnetics do. But with the design issues mentioned you can have a variety of whines and higher frequency buzzes.

4. Time to light
Many CF bulbs take a delay to light. This is annoying and a common complaint for many brands of bulbs. I've found that GE's Soft White 20W(75W) has a 1/2 second light time that drives me insane.

In addition, every CF I've ever owned takes time to warm to full brightness. I don't mind a short delay. I've had no problem with the the warm-up time, but in hotels I've seen lights that have taken literally minutes to light up to full brightness.

5. Short lifetimes
A lot of people have reported the CFs aren't lasting as long as claimed. I can believe this, especially if they bought by price. The compact fluorescents also are very intolerant of cycling--don't use them in closets and places you don't need the lights on for hours at a time. The lights are also sensitive to overheating--so don't stick them in unventilated fixtures, or recessed ceiling cans, or in general any upside-down fixture.

Now for long life. In 1991 or so I bought a very early CF. It was underpowered--I think it's a 7W. I used it for a few years and then went to college. It's still sitting in my old room at my parent's place, and I use it whenever I visit. Granted, this means it doesn't have many hours on it, but that CF bulb is older than many people I know.


My own specific recommendations are to get N:Vision soft white CFs for general use. I can say they are as close to an incandescent as I've seen in CFs.

I built an awesome "halogen torchiere killer" that I'll describe in another post.