CFL Bulbs from Hell

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Hi peoples

In February this year my house got rewired and as it was part of a Home Appreciation Loan programme of works, we had little to no choice in fittings.

One of the fittings we are now less than happy with is the bathroom light, which takes a 4-pin 2D bulb - odd race car steering wheel kind of shape.

Apparently these bulbs are meant to have a 15-year life span? Then how come we've burnt out 2 in the space of 9 months? I read a few reviews after searching for one on the B&Q website (sorry), and after a couple of complaints about shortness of life a rather more informed response came up, but it didn't surprise me. I already knew CFL bulbs operated more efficiently if left on for longer periods rather than being switched on and off frequently; this person went on to argue that therefore to fit such a fitting in a bathroom where frequent switching is inevitable would be a stupid idea.

So while we rely on LED battery lights and hope to head out to get another bulb for less than £15, I am wondering if any of you guys can offer an opinion, or indeed suggest a replacement type of single light fitting for our bathroom, before I ring the council up!

Thanks!
 
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Apparently these bulbs are meant to have a 15-year life span? Then how come we've burnt out 2 in the space of 9 months?
Poor quality bulbs, poor quality fitting, moisture getting inside, all of those things.
15 years is optimistic, general lifespan is 10000 hours. However should be many years even if switched often.

So while we rely on LED battery lights and hope to head out to get another bulb for less than £15,
£5 for Sylvania: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p90564
Less for some other brand: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p90031
 
Hmm thanks.

Poor quality fitting and the first supposedly poor quality lamp were courtesy of the electricians whom as pertaining to the HAL, were not chosen by us.

Second lamp was purchased by myself at Wilko's and whilst naturally one would expect it to be less reliable, it lasted longer than the previous one.

As for moisture, well it is a bathroom, but the aforementioned electricians did install the extractor fan below the level of the shower curtain rail.... :confused:

Any thoughts on Crabtree accessories? That's what we were given, I think they're fookin ugly....
 
Crabtree is a decent brand.

CFL lamps are now old hat. LED is far better. In a bathroom, a drum type fitting with built in LED would be my choice, and if you go for pro brands, you will have a ten year warranty.

Regularly switching CFLs causes them to fail.
 
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I had a 2D lamp fitted in mothers kitchen and it's been fine. We were also limited as no earth on lights so had to be marked as a Class II fitting.

The lamp does have two very different types of control gear it can be the old choke starter or the new HF type and although the same bulb is used the performance is very different.

With the old choke the voltage was really important. Too high and used too much power with short bulb life and too low and they fail to start. As a result the same fitting may work A1 in one house but is useless in another.

As to LED v CFL it differs lamp to lamp. I have a 11W folded tube lamp in my office where the rated output per watt is as high as most LED lamps and not electronic control gear. There are good and bad with both types.
 
I've got an outside 2D light on a pir. It's on and off all night, and the lamps last about 2 years on average.
 
What do you hate about them which you think LEDs will address?
I have some LEDs and they give instant light rather than the long slow wait for CFLs. The LEDs I have are not direct replacements for the type of CFLs that the Op mentioned so I's welcome advice about replacements for them.
 
I have some LEDs and they give instant light rather than the long slow wait for CFLs.
I've got quite a lot of different CFLs, and have had even more different ones in the past. Only one, a Kosnic R80, has ever exhibited any long slow waits.

If you are experiencing long slow waits then you have the wrong CFLs, not the wrong lamp type.
 
Crabtree and mk were the market leaders for years, though crabtree tended to be bigger up North, B+Q trialled crabtree in all its stores round here but it never took off and they reverted to MK.

I use a lot of crabtree gridstuff and Crabtree seem to have retained there build quality, whereas Mk seem a lot plasticky now.

As for the 2D lamp one of the best lamps about.
I would be incined to stick with a "branded" lamp as there was a spate of cheap unreliable lamps about.
Also ensure you are using the correct "Wattage" lamp for your fitting

I assume theres no "starter" in the fitting
Frequent switching shouldnt do much damage as your using HF control gear i assume
With switch start 2d you might get a slightly shorter life due to premature wear caused by the flicker at the start, but i would have thought thats negligible.
 
Hi, have a look at TLC electrical's 'Rondo' led bathroom light.

Regards,

DS
 

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