Has anybody got any recommendations for CFL's?

[bhm1712]

As in the topic title-

Ive had the energy saving CFLs in my house for over 5 years now. Apart from one which i dropped when cleaning a lamp shade ive never replaced one. They are all 11 watt, 590 lumen, warm white units made by Phillips.

As i understand, CFL technology has come along way since 5 years ago in terms of colour of light and warm up time etc.

Does anybody have any recommendations for manufacturer and lamp model from todays CFL technology? Im getting fed up of the missus moaning about the slow warmup and perceived yellowness of light and think maybe its time to renew them all.

Wouldnt want to go for high powered 20+ watts, just something reasonable around the 11-15 watt mark.

Thanks

 

[winston1]

They have not changed that much in five years. The CFL's in the shops are still mostly warm white. Warm up on some maybe slightly quicker but not worth replacing them all for.

Maybe you could look at LED technology.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You can find whiter ones online, and some are marketed as being rapid start.

Really there is no excuse for having ones which are so slow to start that it's a genuine issue - almost all of them are fast enough if you are rational in your judgement.

If you have ones which are really slow, replace them as they fail with different ones - get a selection of makes in so that you can see which ones you like best.

If you have ones which aren't so slow that it's a real problem, and your wife is just whining because she cannot or will not think rationally and just doesn't like change then that's what you need to address, not the lamp type.

 

[JohnD]

The Osram Dulux are good.

11W is quite weak, only enough for a bedside lamp or a supplementary table lamp.

I use 22W Philips Globe lamps in ceiling pendants.

The hall landing and porch lamps are on timers so warm up time us of no consequence. Running costs are so low there is no point in switching them on and off.

 

[ericmark]

I bought some expensive bulbs with a well known label when I changed all my fittings and they all have a soft start. However with quite a short time a few failed and my wife picked up some cheap replacements slightly bigger globe but still 8 watt so I moved all the old ones to living room and put all new ones in dinning room so they would match.

The cheaper replacements are faster starting than the old ones and higher colour temperature in the living room I like the soft start does not wake my wife sleeping in front of TV. But in dining room would like slightly faster start.

What I see as more of a problem is the distance the light will go. The orignal 100W bulb was very bright and all corners of the room were lit from two bulbs but the CFU are dimmer and having 5 x 8W all in the same area does not really light the corners of the room. However 5 x 8W spread around the room would do a far better job than the orignal 100W tungsten.

So our move to LED and discharge lighting means we also have to increase the number of fittings per room. Go to hotter countries like Turkey where they have used CFU for years and it is common to find 9 lights in a room often switched by two switches 3 on one 6 on the other so also giving 3 levels of light. I note the people using them often leave the 3 lights on when leaving the room so as they walk around the house they do not have to switch lights on and off when passing through a room.

Up stairs in the bedrooms I have added extra lights but in living room, dinning room and kitchen to alter ceiling lights is a big job. I have considered the radio controlled switches and remote controls. But not go around to doing it. With LED lighting there may be now some better options but don't really think CFU have changed much.

 

[bhm1712]

It's a genuine slow start issue. We have been using energy savers for years. The ones we have take about 1-2 mins to get to an acceptable level of brightness and a good 5 mins to get to full brightness. Just lately they have begun to strike up even slower so that when we switch them on they will be very bright for a split second but they go very very dim the next split second only to the. Slowly warm up. I will investigate some higher powered lamps!

 

[JohnD]

put the slow ones in places where they will be left switched on for long periods, like hall, landing, porch, living room. Put fast-starters in the loo where they may be switched on for short periods many times a day

What is the cost of running a 11W bulb for an hour? 0.15pence.
It would run for 90 hours on 14p of electricity.