Don Klipstein wrote:
In article , Dave Garland
wrote:
Doc wrote:

Just got a 4-pack of the Walmart "Great Value" version of these energy-
saver style fluorescent 23w bulbs which they claim are equivalent to a
100w incandescent bulb. Not even close. It's about like a 40w bulb.

Are the name brand bulbs of this type any better?

Well, they should be brighter than a 40W incandescent. Check the lumens
rating, that gives you a number to compare. A typical 100W incandescent
is around 1600-1700 lumens. Walmart doesn't seem to give the lumen
ratings on theirs but a Sylvania CF23EL is indeed rated for 1600 lumens.

It may take it a few minutes to reach full brightness.

But it seems like all the companies cheat on the "equivalent to" rating,
if they say "equivalent to 100W" I figure it should be a bit brighter
than a 60W.

My experience is that non-dollar-store CFLs marketed as equivalent to
100W significantly outperform 75W "standard" 750 hour incandescents rated
1190-1210 lumens.

- Don Klipstein )

Lumen output drops quite a bit throughout a CFL's life, whereas
filament lamp fall in output is much less. Consequently to get a real
equivalent one needs to start with higher lumen levels than the
equivalent filament lamp.


NT