high failure rate of compact fluorescent lights
Hi all,
I'm starting to loose faith in the virtues of compact fluorescent light globes. I've purchased more than 20 of them in the last 12 months as normal incandescent globes have blown around the home. Nearly half of these compact fluorescents have died within a week or two of them being fitted - and it doesn't seem to matter if they have been purchased at the local $2 shop from the 'budget' range, or more expensive known brands from specialist lighting shops.
Has anyone else had similar experiences, or anyone know what might be the cause of such a high failure rate of the compact fluorescents?
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Same problem but with smaller 11 watt GU10 ( downlight type ) globes. I have gone through 3 in 18 months.
I was at a mates yesterday and he had a 20 watt one go. It dimmed a bit for a few minutes and as it was raining we thought the power might be about to go out but the globe did.
will agree, the downlight ones in particular are a real pain, sometimes we get a 20% failure rate out of the box.............arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
They are definitely not worth it.
When you add up the total costs of ownership it is a dubious saving.
I am looking at an alternative to these from Korea....
And they will never fail.....just need a bayonet fitting supplier.
I usually buy phillips in a 3pk and recently bunnings had ran out. I grabbed these cheap ones in a 4pk for $14.95. I noticed at night the odd flash from my bedroom and thought it must of been lightning. After a few weeks I thought that's a lot of lightening. They would flash randomly. I took them back to bunnings wondering how am I going to explain this that they flash intermitantly when the switch is off. The bloke in front of me in the queue at bunnings said I bet they flash with the switch off....I just laughed.
Leroy
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We have a few around the place and are yet to have one blow, they've been going for about 2 years.
I also use a number of 54 watt (long) PC tubes in my aquariums - these actually have a separate ballast unit (normal house ones have the ballast built into the bottom of the bulb), so they are actually cheaper watt for watt, and i'm yet to have one of these go - and they're bight as ****.
Our house is quite dark and incandescent bulbs really don't do the job, even if the PC did blow, i would still buy them again just for their brightness.
Cheers, RHCP.
Democracy: Three wolves and a sheep voting on what's for lunch.
i purchased 2 phillips 18w ones 4 years ago and still going today with no problems.
a normal bulb here only lasts 2 weeks (260Vac).
This brings joy to my heart as I know they are releasing lots of mercury into the environment instead of using incandescents and coal power.
I've found comfort in the discovery that the Greens are helping destroy the environment !
Originally Posted by trash
yeah...they taste awful unless you put heaps of salt on them....
i use a philips 5w cf as a nightlight for the kids. Twice they have failed well before the "hours" were up. (i date the globe on install).
anyway my point is that after doing the sums on costs of power usage and initial cost, just running a 25w incandesant is cheaper by a fair bit.
@RHCP, i agree that the best light for the $$ is a 3' long fluro tube, but they just dont look so good stuck on the ceiling, and they seem to last for ever.
There was an article in SiliconChip mag last year about CFL's that raised some interesting points. Of most interest I thought was the fact that the load on our generators is at its lowest at night time (ie when you switch on your lights) and falls within what they call the "Minimum Base Load". So at night, you could switch off all the lights in the world and our generators would continue to churn out the same amount of power.
So if you're installing CFL's so you can feel all warm and fuzzing about saving the enviroment, for get it!
I had couple of phillips ones in my old home... i remember the day when i could smell plastic in my room... went down the the lounge and the plastic part of the light (not the holder) was melted and black...
anyways.. Got all my light bulbs replaced with those energy savers by one of the guys that came knocking on my door... it was free of charge, apparently the govt has paid a company called lowenergy or something to install free GE brand energy saver lights... pretty good when they are free
Most CF globes have an internal (small) fuse this is usually o/c in the case of a dead globe (you have to destroy the base to find it
I've come across the same problem, it depends on how long & where the cables are laid that go to the light in question - they build up a charge via induction then when it gets to a certain voltage the light blinks - some blink faster than others - first one I came across really pissed me up the wall!!!
I have used these CFLs for a few years and have seen a few failures. They really hate being in any kind of lighting fixture which does not allow unobstructed airflow, even fixtures which are completely open at the bottom but have no airvent holes level with the CFL base allows the internals to cook.
Upon failure I crack the things open and have found the component quality pretty shabby for even the low (!?) price you pay for the things.
The lamp in this room is a 22W CFL which is supposed to have the Lumen equivalent of a 100W incandescent lamp....it isn't nearly as bright in here as it is when using a 100w incandescent bulb, but the colour temperature is pretty good on the eyes.
With the mercury content problem along with the complete absence of any in-place recycling or disposal program, I am not sure the gummint has made an informed or correct decision on the incandescent lamp ban.
What is it that induces this charge?
maybe we should have a cooling fan on each one ?
It doesn't quite work like that. The world isn't one big grid.
If say you own a 5kVA generator and you run it light, there's a good chance your glaze over the brushes and ruin the generator. They like to be run at load.
In the case of very large grids, there are multiple generators on a very big fluctuating load. The power companies bring generators on and off line all the time in order to keep the suppy a certain percentage above the load demand.
If they fail to do this, then the load pulls down the line voltage and we have a brown out. If there is not enough load, then they risk damaging the generators and over voltage the light load.
The power companies can predict the load with a certain degree of accuracy, so they know exactly how much power they need to produce and when it needs to be online. Hydroelectric generators of course can come online fast and they are small in comparison to the larger base load generators.
Same for the gas and oil generators.
So the generators always follow the load and the power companies minimise waste and maximise profit. If you use less power, they will produce less power, but the load needs to convince the source that it's not going to overload the grid by constantly setting lower trends.
Fvck the Greens, I want me some nuclear power !
the other live wires that are laid alongside the light wires induce a small voltage, that why I never run my network/telephone cables along side power cables - can induce noise.
ever made an electro magnet?? wrap a coil of insulated wire around a piece of magnetic metal(copper/aluminium are non magnetic) apply voltage an heh presto you have a magnet
Always buy the cork screw type globes as they last the longest. I have used the cheaper and named branded right angled ones and they don't last as long as they claim.
But the corkscrew ones are the best. I use osram (Daylight) and they are bright as bright can get (white light). They come with 3 year guarantee.
Their has been a influx of many types and brands of these globes all pretty much crap. The manufactures know this hence why you see plenty of them.
I get mine from a electrical wholesaler and I had to wait almost 3 months for a new shipment. I could of got other brands they had, all right angle bend ones though.
But, the guy behind the counter said to me that they had a big number of failures with these ones because of their design. He suggested to keep to the corkscrew types as they last longer and give off a better light.
And I can agree with him. There are many around so don't think all are the same and that named brands are better. I have used mirabella which I got from the supermarket and they are still going (1 year) Corkscrew type (daylight)
There are many types, here r just some of the most common, Warm white, Cool White and Daylight.
I try always to get Daylight. These r the hardest to find. Cool white if I'm desperate.
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