Low energy light bulbs or WATT?

[shafey]

My economy-conscious other half has invested in a bulk buy of low energy bulbs. The box describes them as 11w, and a suitable alternative for regular 60w bulbs, but most of our ceiling light fittings take two 40w bulbs. My partner says its OK to use the ones he has bought as they are in fact only 11w bulbs, but surely we should use ones which are designed to replace 40w bulbs. Any bright ideas

 

[davelx]

The 40W liimit is to prevent the fitting overheating due to the heat given out by an indcandescent bulb, so 11W CFLs are fine from that point of view. Whether they look OK in your fitting, or are too big or too bright, are different questions.

 

[shafey]

Yes, as I have discovered, they are too big for some of our globe-style wall lights, but they are OK for the ceiling domes which completely hide the bulbs. Apart from the brightness factor, I was just a bit concerned about having the equivalent of two 60w bulbs in fittings that are designed for two 40w bulbs, but presumably it's OK if they are the energy saving kind. I find that some of these new bulbs take a while to reach their full light potential, so I'm going back to the traditional ones for the bathroom (but I'm not telling other half!).

 

[big-all]

yep davelx is spot on
its because of the heat output not the light output

i personaly think the output of low energy bulbs is nearer 4.5 times the rated output and after around 6 months they loose around 10% of light [try an 6 months old bulb and new bulb side by side]

so if you say 4.5 x 11w thats 50w and if you accept my observations thats 44w after 6 months so spot on

 

[sm1thson]

i personaly think the output of low energy bulbs is nearer 4.5 times the rated output

maybe on cheapo ones.

 

[big-all]

i personaly think the output of low energy bulbs is nearer 4.5 times the rated output

maybe on cheapo ones.

mmmm possibly philips genie 6 yr 11w energy saver !!!!

 

[shafey]

Some are better than others, and the Phillips ones are definitely nearer 50w than 60w in terms of brightness, and there are also some variations with the time they take to come on, with some taking a minute or two to achieve full brightness. I can't say I'm impressed, but if they save me money in the long term then I guess they will be worth it.

 

[Steve]

Fluorescent tubes deteriorate over time. Fact. You can see this when tubes are changed in shops, the new tubes always look brighter. CFLs are simply long tubes curled up into a little ball.

 

[Lectrician]

Tubes have a stated working life, and should be changed BEFORE they expire - but rarely are.

There a few shops that do do this - changing a row at a time weather or not the lamps are not working.

 

[r.bartlett]

My 11w Megaman's are way brighter than the 50w halogens that they replaced.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Steve]

My 11w Megaman's are way brighter than the 50w halogens that they replaced.

Cheers

Richard

Even the 9 watt ones are brighter

 

[shafey]

Sorry to go back over old stuff, but just to clarify, is it definitely OK to replace a standard 40w bulb with Philips energy saver 11w, which is designed to give out equivalent of 60w light, as opposed to the 9w/40 one????

 

[Chri5]

Yes- work on the bulb rating not the effect the bulb has.

An 11w bulb is 11w, even if it gives the light of a 50-60w bulb

So if you had a dark area, and had a 60w standard bulb limit fot the lamp fitting you could supply a 20w LE which has the lighting potential of a 100w standard bulb.


You should also note that LE bulbs will not work with a dimmer swicth, should you have any.

 

[big-all]

Sorry to go back over old stuff, but just to clarify, is it definitely OK to replace a standard 40w bulb with Philips energy saver 11w, which is designed to give out equivalent of 60w light, as opposed to the 9w/40 one????

yes as all low energy bulbs are less than a normal 40w heat output

you can put any low energy light bulb in your light 7/9/11/13/15/18/20/22w take your pick and any size i missed out in between

 

[shafey]

Thanks for all the advice - and sorry to be a bit 'blonde' (which I am!), but I wanted to make sure that I didn't cause any damage to my light fittings. I will now go and put back all the energy saving bulbs that I have removed in panic!