On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 13:39:20 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Firth wrote:
One advantage seems to be that they produce less heat. I've used CFL
replacements for R25 spots in fittings at Mrs F's shop and also in the
house. The only headache IMO is that despite the claims, a 14W CFL does
not provide as much light as a 25W incandescent bulb.

In theory it should produce more light - as less than double isn't one of
the extravagant claims.

These claims are always made for CFL and I have yet to find one that is as
bright as the incandescent it is claimed to replace. The 25W CFL Globes
that I have in my wife's shop are dimmer than 40W incandescent bulbs.

It isn't IMO possible to save 50% of the electricity using CFLs unless one
is willing to accept sitting in the gloom.

We converted to CFL because in a shop one needs a huge number of spots. The
best solution was 50W halogen lighting but we can't tolerate either the
bills or the heat output. Replacing throughout with (more) 14W R25s was the
only way to go but it isn't a patch on the halogen lamps for light quality.