Revelation

[martin]

Sounds like a very positive idea to me - I'll start a thread for it!

[Heinz]

Perhaps it's carrot intake, perhaps it's having got used to wandering about in countryside in "the dark" without a torch (it's seldom totally dark), but I'm still baffled - should I wake in the middle of the night and need to visit the loo, I don't bother to put any lights on at all - I know the way, I can see well enough not to trip over anything, where's the need for "instant searchlight" jobs?  - I'm really totally nonplussed at the "need" for them, a little patience is good for the soul..........

I live in the country, nearest house is a couple of miles away in one direction and nothing for many miles in the others. Proper dark with no lights or light pollution to be seen   We're in the Dark Skys Park thingy.... So I'm quite used to the dark, quite happy to go walkabout in the dark at night and agree with you above, but that's no use when I want a light to repair the boys light sabre in the evening.

Heinz

[M]

I'm still baffled - I'm very fussy about light, but perceive no problems whatsoever, being "a bit of a greenie" I'd be prepared to put up with some slight drawback in return for saving a great deal of energy, but I'm stuffed if I can find any "downside" at all..........(I see the slightly slower "on" to be a positive advantage)..

Thank God it's not just me.

I've been baffled for 10 years and started to assume it must be me.

Every mention on the radio (when the 100w went, then the 75's etc) people go on about them giving off less light and taking too long to come on.

Even 10 years ago they came on at about 50% and took less than a minute to warm up. If my living room light is on for 4 hours, I can live with a dull minute to save 75% of the cost.

As for brightness, surely stated light output, is stated light output. Do modern 100mph cars go faster than old 100mph cars or vice versa regardless of which one gets there quicker?

Chatting last week, whilst wandering about, with a 35 year old woman, quite high up in HSBC. Mentioned the 60w's going, she said that that was annoying as both she and her mother were allergic to the CF's and what they give off. Pardon? They are sealed glass containers?

I can't see any drawback to a bulb that does the same job, for 75% less energy, and lasts longer, and doesn't get as hot (remember the spate of house fires a few years ago due to things falling into up lighters). Well actually that's not quite true, I can think of one drawback, my Virgin V box remote won't work for about 5 minutes after bedside bulb is first switched on (V+ box is fine), similar frequency I believe.

Martyn.

[martin]

I've taken things a step further - as I perceive the "slow warm up" to be a positive advantage in certain spots, I've got the slowest ever CFL bulb in my bedside light* -you fire it up and it takes probably at least half a minute to achieve anywhere near brightness, two or three minutes to full power - it's perfect - awake bleary because of something or another, the light comes up with one's consciousness, and is eventually more than adequate for reading by...

*An Asda shaped cfl containing a spiral inside a pearlised glass "candle" shaped bulb

[daftlad]

I'm a bit of a greenie too which is why I've struggled with CF bulbs and LED bulbs in the hope of saving a bit of energy but it just ain't working for me. A CF is perfect for a table lamp or bedside lamp, but useless for anything beyond the 'finding the TV remote' I mentioned earlier. It's weird, the LEDs at my desk look bright, yet when I try and work on anything small,

Why is it that fluorescents are ALWAYS used in workshops and places where light level is important, sounds like you are replacing an old knackered CFL with a nice shiny TF lamp and it is brighter?

On the other hand why are halogens still used in shops? so things are well lit and sell more?

dunno

peas

[brackwell]

Ecogeorge is correct.

I have some GU 10 7w 120 deg "daylight white" 475 lumens and some 5w 60 deg -they are just great. They are FAR brighter than the 50w Halogen they replace and dont mention CFL or tungston.

My wife likes good light and there is no way we would change to anything else if they were free.

They have an advantage of controlling the beam angle so say 7wx120deg for general lighting,5w x60deg for over kitchen working surface.3w or 5w x 30 deg for reading lamp.

You do not get ouwt for nouwt  and the 7w are circa £26 and 5w circa £20  . I consider them worth every penny.

If i was in government i would be seriously thinking of handing out LED bulbs (at the power co expense) as they could seriously reduce the winter 17.00 peak electricity.

Ken

[Robl]

Shops and restaurants use spot halogens as they have tiny emitters, thus the reflections they make on glassware & cutlery sparkles.  CFL's light may be as bright, but the spread out light source won't give the twinkling reflections.  The expensive single LED's should be good for this too.

[spluger]

just bought some GU10 4w Leds 3000K 125lm from Ikea for just over £5 each to replace some 7w CFL's i had in an En-suite which took 5mins to warm up -
start up is about 0.5secs to full power
colour looks the same as the 30w halogen in the shower extractor and brightness on the floor is the same. beam angle is less though
id rate them 10 /10

1st report from wife "a bit bright aren't they" and good for me to shave with too

like Martin We don't use lights at night as we can see our way around the whole house thanks to the glow from street lights.

David

[ddf]

I bought a couple of these a while back and so far I am very pleased with them.They are bright from turn on and produce almost no wasted heat.Hopefully they will last longer than cfl bulbs which burn out at about the same rate as tungsten used to here.As my numerous cfl bulbs give up the ghost I shall substitute them with these.I have replaced a few GU10's with 48 smd equivalents and again I am delighted with the results. Regards David.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300573169877?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[pj]

Heinz,
For a good quality CFL, I think you need to look at not only the 'colour temperature', but also the "Colour Rendition Index" (CRI), a value between 0 and 100 that indicates the spectrum quality of the light.
Early CFLs in my house met with strong resistance from SWMBO. I've since found if I can get a CFL with the right colour temperature (warm, not too cold), together with a high CRI, it can pass muster. She still prefers the old bulbs though

[biff]

hi ddf.
       on the strength of your praise for the 24smd x 6watts ,my wife and i decided to give them a try so we bought six.i get the feeling they will be good.
                                       thanks,   biff

[Ivan]

If we disregard the people who hate 'new-fangled devices' and those who think they are superior if they can detect annoying differences between CFL and tungsten light, I believe the remainder must surely have some kind of problem with their eyesight - so might be worth getting that checked out. Might be a form of night-blindness (maybe night blindness worse under CFL light spectrum?).

I have some CFLs that are instant full brightness - so you can't complain about warm-up time if that's what's important. Some flicker to start, modern ones are usually instant-on. I've noticed that the instant full brightness types seem to fail much sooner than a traditional CFL. I've also noticed that the 25p CFLs sold in supermarkets tend to be slow warm-up types (try spending a bit more on your CFLs if you're fussy).

Finally, if you're stuggling to see under a 20W CFL (and that means your eyes definitely need a check-up), then try a 26W CFL or two. It's rather like having a flood-light in the room. My grandmother suffered from cataracts a few years ago, and was struggling to read - even under a pair of 100W tungstens. She didn't like new-fangled devices like CFLs, and wasn't persuaded by the fact that she would save a lot of energy compared to her 6 x 100W tungstens that lit her small living room, nor was she persuaded by the fact that most weeks, she had to replace one of her tungsten bulbs, which failed so regularly due to heavy vehicles on the road a few yards from her front door. BUT, she was instantly converted to CFLs, when I replaced one of her 100W tungsten reading lights with the 26W CFL.

[spaces]

Unlike well designed and plenty of modern cars, which can genuinely give the same performance for less energy requirement, LED and CFL lightbulbs don't. Ignoring the large cost and requirement for an in-depth knowledge of lighting science to give the required results - if you need to do real work - from modern lighting, a simple tungsten element will also heat a house. With a contemporary amount of air-tightness and thermal insulation, this can make quite a difference. Plus I prefer the quality of light.

But I must admit hypocrisy in the matter. Our lights are LED, CFL and 20W halogen. And my parents would crucify me if they read this post! The power of 'green'! (Personally, I find the answer to green living is work by daylight, relax in the darkness and dry your washing on a breezy day!)