In , Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00
wrote:

Don Klipstein wrote:
In ,
N8N wrote:

On Feb 18, 9:08 am, "Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 "
wrote:

Get rid of all that hardware and install some sockets with compact
fluorescents.
I'd rather not do that; this is a basement with a low (7 foot or
thereabouts) ceiling with a drop ceiling below it. Any decrease in
headroom will be an invitation to bonk your head, and I don't want to
go to can lights because they'd probably be less efficient.

Can lights are definitely less efficient. Also, keep in mind that
compact fluorescents tend to overheat in can lights, unless you get ones
that are known to be good for such heat hellholes.

In general, compact fluorescents have about 2/3 the efficiency of T8
4-footers, don't last as long as 4-footers, and cost more than 4-footers.
Use T8 when you can.

- Don Klipstein )

But you can replace the compact fluorescents with Super Bright LED's as
the price comes down without rewiring. They run cold and can give you 40
incandescent watts at 7 watts usage and last 20,000 hours.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

Are you talking about the E27-CW8?

I don't see a 7 watt one, and this one is closest at 8 watts. Claimed
light output is 385 lumens for the cool white, 365 lumens for the warm
white. Color rendering index is 77 for the cool white and 76 for the warm
white. Price is $49.95.
And that one is some sort of floodlight or spotlight.

Compare to a 9 watt CFL, which produces 440 lumens, has CRI of 82,
is rated to last 7,500-10,000 hours nowadays, and costs about $4.

Meanwhile, a T8 32 watt fluorescent produces about 2500 lumens, even in
"average age and condition" when used with a ballast with ballast factor
of .9, with power input to the ballast typically 28-30 watts. Color
rendering index is 84-86 for the higher of the two common color rendition
grades, average life expectancy is 20,000 hours, 24,000 for longlife ones,
and they cost about $2-$3 apiece.

It's going to be quite a while before LEDs make T8 fluorescents
obsolete. It looks like a few years before they get competitive with
compact fluorescents even.

- Don Klipstein )