In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

--
Charles Packer
http://cpacker.org/whatnews
mailboxATcpacker.org

wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

You bought the wrong type. Some of them
will light at nearly full intensity as
soon as you turn them on. Some of them
take minutes to warm up. They will all
take a little longer when it's very cold.

There are no standards so the only way
to tell is to buy one and try it. The
larger bulbs will be more likely to
light slowly. They don't all put out the
same color light either. I prefer the
'cool white' myself but others feel the
light is too blue and prefer something
more orange.

Anthony

wrote in message
oups.com...
In all the praise of compact fluorescent bulbs I've see in the press,
nobody mentions that they take at least a minute to reach full intensity
after they are turned on...Or have I bought the wrong type of bulb?
Charles Packer

All that I have seen have a delay of sorts, but I have found that
different brands have differing delay rates. I have found that the
nvision ones sold at HD had a relatively bright initial intensity, where
the GE ones that I bought at Walmart take much longer (but are cheaper).
Where I want more initial light (kitchen) I use the nvision ones, where is
matters less ( living room) I use the GE ones.

It is something that I have trained myself to tolerate as a trade off to
savings.
Tomes

Thats pretty normal, but I hear some brands are getting
better. Sometimes these bulb are less than $2 apiece
at home depot. Havent had to replace one yet.

In misc.consumers.house wrote:
: In all the praise of compact
: fluorescent bulbs I've see in
: the press, nobody mentions that they
: take at least a minute to reach
: full intensity after they are turned
: on...Or have I bought the wrong type
: of bulb?

I find that the ones that say "quick-start", "instannt-on", etc on the
package have no noticible delay. I use the cheap/slow ones for my
dusk/dawn porch lights, and the fast ones for lights where I flip a
light switch.

I had a light fixture that took 5 60W light bulbs. As the
incandescents light bulbs burned out, I replaced them one at a time
with "quick-start" "warm" "60W equivalent" CFLs. I had a mix of
incandescents and CFLs in the same fixture, and I couldn't see any
difference besides the shape of the bulb. Color, intensity, and start
up were identical as far as I could tell.

--- Chip

On Mar 7, 9:37 am, "Charles Buchholtz"
wrote:
In misc.consumers.house wrote:

: In all the praise of compact
: fluorescent bulbs I've see in
: the press, nobody mentions that they
: take at least a minute to reach
: full intensity after they are turned
: on...Or have I bought the wrong type
: of bulb?

I find that the ones that say "quick-start", "instannt-on", etc on the
package have no noticible delay. I use the cheap/slow ones for my
dusk/dawn porch lights, and the fast ones for lights where I flip a
light switch.

I had a light fixture that took 5 60W light bulbs. As the
incandescents light bulbs burned out, I replaced them one at a time
with "quick-start" "warm" "60W equivalent" CFLs. I had a mix of
incandescents and CFLs in the same fixture, and I couldn't see any
difference besides the shape of the bulb. Color, intensity, and start
up were identical as far as I could tell.

--- Chip


I haven't seen one yet that didn't have a significant difference in
output for many seconds after being turned on, including the ones that
say they are quick start. In my experience, the quick start ones are
better, but there is still a significant delay of maybe 30 secs or
more in reaching full output. And it's worse in cold applications.
It's also possible that people thinking they reach full output right
away just aren't paying close attention. If you turn one on, take a
look at it initially and then again at 2 mins.

I would like to see a spec on the package that says how long it takes
to reach 75% brightness and how long till 100%. Then we could figure
out which is best without having to buy a bunch of crap ones. That
would help get them adopted and save energy.

In article .com,
wrote:
I haven't seen one yet that didn't have a significant difference in
output for many seconds after being turned on, including the ones that
say they are quick start. In my experience, the quick start ones are
better, but there is still a significant delay of maybe 30 secs or
more in reaching full output. And it's worse in cold applications.
It's also possible that people thinking they reach full output right
away just aren't paying close attention. If you turn one on, take a
look at it initially and then again at 2 mins.

I don't see a difference, but if I hook up in series some batteries, a
resistor, a photoresistor, and a current meter, and put the
photoresistor under a CFL and turn it on, I can see the current is
indeed going up over 30 secs or so, and so, presumably, the light is
going up.

With one of my lights, the current in the aforementioned circuit started
at 0.36 milliamps, and rose to 0.40. With another light, it started at
0.34, and rose to about 0.38. (The photoresistor was not at the same
distance from the lights, and they were not the same brand of light, nor
the same color, so such variation between the two is not surprising).

--
--Tim Smith

Tim Smith wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

I haven't seen one yet that didn't have a significant difference in
output for many seconds after being turned on, including the ones that
say they are quick start. In my experience, the quick start ones are
better, but there is still a significant delay of maybe 30 secs or
more in reaching full output. And it's worse in cold applications.
It's also possible that people thinking they reach full output right
away just aren't paying close attention. If you turn one on, take a
look at it initially and then again at 2 mins.


I don't see a difference, but if I hook up in series some batteries, a
resistor, a photoresistor, and a current meter, and put the
photoresistor under a CFL and turn it on, I can see the current is
indeed going up over 30 secs or so, and so, presumably, the light is
going up.

The eye is logarithmic. In photography, one stop is twice the light and
the smallest increment that photographers are concerned with is 1/3 of a
stop. That's a much larger change that what you were measuring.

Jeff

With one of my lights, the current in the aforementioned circuit started
at 0.36 milliamps, and rose to 0.40. With another light, it started at
0.34, and rose to about 0.38. (The photoresistor was not at the same
distance from the lights, and they were not the same brand of light, nor
the same color, so such variation between the two is not surprising).

In article et, Jeff wrote:
Tim Smith wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

I haven't seen one yet that didn't have a significant difference in
output for many seconds after being turned on, including the ones that
say they are quick start. In my experience, the quick start ones are
better, but there is still a significant delay of maybe 30 secs or
more in reaching full output. And it's worse in cold applications.
It's also possible that people thinking they reach full output right
away just aren't paying close attention. If you turn one on, take a
look at it initially and then again at 2 mins.


I don't see a difference, but if I hook up in series some batteries, a
resistor, a photoresistor, and a current meter, and put the
photoresistor under a CFL and turn it on, I can see the current is
indeed going up over 30 secs or so, and so, presumably, the light is
going up.

The eye is logarithmic. In photography, one stop is twice the light and
the smallest increment that photographers are concerned with is 1/3 of a
stop. That's a much larger change that what you were measuring.

Jeff

With one of my lights, the current in the aforementioned circuit started
at 0.36 milliamps, and rose to 0.40. With another light, it started at
0.34, and rose to about 0.38. (The photoresistor was not at the same
distance from the lights, and they were not the same brand of light, nor
the same color, so such variation between the two is not surprising).

I think Tim Smith made a poor choice of resistor values. I would have
tried no fixed resistors at all, just the photoresistor. My experience
is that compact fluorescents start with eyeball estimate 20-35% of their
full light output when the arc is first fully established. Ones with 15
mm tubing tend to do better in this area in my experience, starting close
to half brightness. But few CFLs have this, and many that do are by
Lights of America, and I have personally experienced more than a fair
share of problems with that brand. Thankfully CFL torchieres often have
this tubing size.

- Don Klipstein )

On Mar 7, 3:14 am, wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big of a
deal.

In article om,
says...
On Mar 7, 3:14 am, wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big of a
deal.

It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color) that I
won't buy any more CFs.

--
Keith

krw wrote:

In article om,
says...

On Mar 7, 3:14 am, wrote:

In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big of a
deal.


It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color)

You can get CFs with great color. My Photo Club switched from
incandescant photo bulbs (the kind that with a short life, a high K and
color balanced frosting) to a commercial CF. The color balance (you can
really see this on B&W prints) is much better on the CFs. Not all CFs
are created equal.

that I
won't buy any more CFs.

Your call. I like saving electricity.

Jeff

On Mar 8, 7:07 am, krw wrote:
In article om,
says... On Mar 7, 3:14 am, wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big of a
deal.

It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color) that I
won't buy any more CFs.


This raises an intersting questions: What if California and Australia
succeed with their ban on incadecents?
What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly? LEDs? Do they
have LED clusters that can screw into
a normal socket and deliver the kind of light needed?




--
Keith

zeez wrote:
On Mar 8, 7:07 am, krw wrote:
In article om,
says... On Mar 7, 3:14 am,
wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big
of a deal.

It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color) that I
won't buy any more CFs.

This raises an intersting questions: What if California
and Australia succeed with their ban on incadecents?

Australia wont be having a mindless blanket ban on incandescents.

What would happen to things such as flashing marquees
on signs and carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly?

Those and a raft of other stuff like fridge and oven
lights will certainly have an exemption in Australia.

LEDs? Do they have LED clusters that can screw into
a normal socket and deliver the kind of light needed?

Yes, thats already available for car lights and its perfectly
possible to do that with mains voltage bulbs too.

They're already widely used for traffic lights etc too.

On Mar 8, 3:28 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
zeez wrote:
On Mar 8, 7:07 am, krw wrote:
In article om,
says... On Mar 7, 3:14 am,
wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big
of a deal.

It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color) that I
won't buy any more CFs.
This raises an intersting questions: What if California
and Australia succeed with their ban on incadecents?

Australia wont be having a mindless blanket ban on incandescents.

What would happen to things such as flashing marquees
on signs and carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly?

Those and a raft of other stuff like fridge and oven
lights will certainly have an exemption in Australia.

LEDs? Do they have LED clusters that can screw into
a normal socket and deliver the kind of light needed?


I would love to have R/G/B clusters that can be individualy dimmed
via sliders.
Not hard/expensive to do at all, and you could have just about any
kind of lighting
you want.


Yes, thats already available for car lights and its perfectly
possible to do that with mains voltage bulbs too.

They're already widely used for traffic lights etc too.

Most railroad gates seem to be switching over to LEDs and electronic
(synthesized) bells.

- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I highly doubt such a ban would extend to this type of application,
but cold cathode CFLs would be a good alternative.

See:
http://www.tcpi.com/PDF/494_01112%20...ors%20SS.pd f

Cheers,
Paul

On 8 Mar 2007 14:59:37 -0800, "zeez" wrote:

This raises an intersting questions: What if California and Australia
succeed with their ban on incadecents?
What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly? LEDs? Do they
have LED clusters that can screw into
a normal socket and deliver the kind of light needed?

In article .com,
says...
On Mar 8, 7:07 am, krw wrote:
In article om,
says... On Mar 7, 3:14 am, wrote:
In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

it's not mentioned because it's common knowledge and not that big of a
deal.

It's a big enough of a deal (along with the crappy color) that I
won't buy any more CFs.


This raises an intersting questions: What if California and Australia
succeed with their ban on incadecents?
What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly? LEDs? Do they
have LED clusters that can screw into
a normal socket and deliver the kind of light needed?

Yes, they do:

http://www.ledtronics.com/markets/25mm_med_index.htm

--Gene

On Mar 8, 2:59 pm, "zeez" wrote:
What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly?

that would be great, I absolutely loathe vegas-style lights, they're
so tacky

Bucky wrote:
On Mar 8, 2:59 pm, "zeez" wrote:
What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly?

that would be great, I absolutely loathe vegas-style lights, they're
so tacky

As opposed to other vegas-style things which aren't tacky?

- Logan

On Mar 9, 1:48 am, "Bucky" wrote:
On Mar 8, 2:59 pm, "zeez" wrote:

What would happen to things such as flashing marquees on signs and
carnival rides, or any application that
requires lights to be able to flash on and off quickly?

that would be great, I absolutely loathe vegas-style lights, they're
so tacky


For me, it depends on the venue. If it's a carnival or a movie
theatre sign, I don't
have a problem, but if they start sticking them everywhere
(convienence stores,
wedding chapels, etc) then yes, that does go well beyond good taste
and looks
horrable. Then too, those looking to get married in vegas by Elvis
don't seem to
have much class to begin with. ;-)

In misc.consumers.house wrote:
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

For me, I find that an extra benefit first thing in
the morning to not have *bright* light all at once
in the kitchen is kind of nice. There's plenty of
light to see, but it's not annoyingly bright and you
get some time for your eyes to adjust.

Actually, I'm sort of annoyed that my kitchen fixture
seems to burn out CFLs. I need to find some that are
more tolerant of being mounted "upside down."

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

Hi Bill,

Heat is the killer of all things electronic and CFLs are no exception;
base up or base down operation will make little difference.

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

See:
http://www.nam.lighting.philips.com/...pdf/p-3754.pdf

Cheers,
Paul

On Fri, 9 Mar 2007 15:02:48 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

Actually, I'm sort of annoyed that my kitchen fixture
seems to burn out CFLs. I need to find some that are
more tolerant of being mounted "upside down."

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

In , Paul M. Eldridge wrote:

Heat is the killer of all things electronic and CFLs are no exception;
base up or base down operation will make little difference.

The ballast is what typically gets outright killed by heat, and that
part of ballast-included CFLs will usually get hotter in base-up
situations.

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

The 15, 20 and 23 watt non-dimmable SLS ones are even specifcally rated
for use in recessed ceiling fixtures, which are heat hellholes for CFLs.

- Don Klipstein )

Hi Don,

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 05:15:13 +0000 (UTC), (Don
Klipstein) wrote:

In , Paul M. Eldridge wrote:

Heat is the killer of all things electronic and CFLs are no exception;
base up or base down operation will make little difference.

The ballast is what typically gets outright killed by heat, and that
part of ballast-included CFLs will usually get hotter in base-up
situations.

I agree that it's the ballast that's at risk, but within the confines
of a small, fully enclosed fixture, I suspect the operating
temperature, base up or base down, is not likely to be significantly
different either way; it's going to be hot not matter how you slice
it.

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

The 15, 20 and 23 watt non-dimmable SLS ones are even specifcally rated
for use in recessed ceiling fixtures, which are heat hellholes for CFLs.

I fully agree with you on this. The Philips SL CFLs are some of the
most rugged and dependable CFLs out there and are an excellent choice
in applications where heat can be a problem. I have five SL lamps in
my home that have now clocked well over 15,000 hours of use and they
show no sign of quitting. They're a little more expensive than some
of the other brands, but they offer exceptional value and I consider
them to be worth every penny.

Cheers,
Paul

"Don Klipstein" wrote in message ...
In , Paul M. Eldridge wrote:

Heat is the killer of all things electronic and CFLs are no exception;
base up or base down operation will make little difference.

The ballast is what typically gets outright killed by heat, and that
part of ballast-included CFLs will usually get hotter in base-up
situations.

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

The 15, 20 and 23 watt non-dimmable SLS ones are even specifcally rated
for use in recessed ceiling fixtures, which are heat hellholes for CFLs.

- Don Klipstein )

15 to 23 Watts could still be quite a lot of heat to dissipate, depending
on efficiency.

I wonder how much of that power comes out as visible light,
how much is radiated non-visible, and how much power ends up
heating the fixture?

Don

In article , Don K wrote:
"Don Klipstein" wrote in message ...
In , Paul M. Eldridge wrote:

Heat is the killer of all things electronic and CFLs are no exception;
base up or base down operation will make little difference.

The ballast is what typically gets outright killed by heat, and that
part of ballast-included CFLs will usually get hotter in base-up
situations.

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

The 15, 20 and 23 watt non-dimmable SLS ones are even specifcally rated
for use in recessed ceiling fixtures, which are heat hellholes for CFLs.

- Don Klipstein )

15 to 23 Watts could still be quite a lot of heat to dissipate, depending
on efficiency.

I wonder how much of that power comes out as visible light,
how much is radiated non-visible, and how much power ends up
heating the fixture?

Roughly 18-20% becomes visible with a compact fluorescent, and roughly
5-6.5% becomes visible light with an incandescent. 1 watt of optical
output from a compact fluorescent has more lumens than one watt of optical
output from an incandescent. A compact fluorescent may have 3 times the
radiometric efficiency of an incandescent at producing visible light, but
closer to 4 times the overall luminous efficacy.

As for the remainder: With an incandescent, this can break down roughly
50-50 between convected/conducted heat and infrared, but this varies.
Heat conduction by the fill gas is highest in moderately low wattages,
with roughly 25 watts per inch of visibly apparent filament length. With
less than that, they use a vacuum. UV accounts for maybe .1-.15% of the
input power.
With a compact fluorescent, UV may be up to half a percent of the input
power. Most of the other 80 or so percent becomes convected and conducted
heat. A 42 watt spiral produces slightly more convected and conducted
heat than a 60 watt 120V incandescent.

- Don Klipstein )

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:28:45 GMT, Paul M. Eldridge
wrote:

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

See:
http://www.nam.lighting.philips.com/...pdf/p-3754.pdf

This is exactly what that older 15W Philips CFL in my foyer fixture
looks like! Works great, gives good light.

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:11:53 GMT, KLS wrote:

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:28:45 GMT, Paul M. Eldridge
wrote:

The Philips Marathon Universal (available at Home Depot) has an
operating range of -30C through to +60C (-22F to +140F). If any CFL
is likely to provide long service life within an enclosed fixture,
this is the one.

See:
http://www.nam.lighting.philips.com/...pdf/p-3754.pdf

This is exactly what that older 15W Philips CFL in my foyer fixture
looks like! Works great, gives good light.

Technically speaking, if it's 15-watts it would be its predecessor,
the SLS15, but you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Its
closest match today is the 14-watt Marathon and although I can't
confirm this, the new base (ballast enclosure) may be slightly
smaller. Again, it's an amazing performer.

Cheers,
Paul

wrote:
In misc.consumers.house wrote:
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

For me, I find that an extra benefit first thing in
the morning to not have *bright* light all at once
in the kitchen is kind of nice.

Not just in the kitchen either, I have the bedroom light programmed
to dimmed after I go to bed, so when I turn it on manually in the
morning when its still dark, I dont get dazzled. I then tell the system
to turn the house lights on before I leave the bedroom and they are
turned off auto once the sun comes up etc.

There's plenty of light to see, but it's not annoyingly
bright and you get some time for your eyes to adjust.

Yeah, only way to go IMO.

Actually, I'm sort of annoyed that my kitchen fixture
seems to burn out CFLs. I need to find some that
are more tolerant of being mounted "upside down."

I still use an incandescent in the bedroom, its not on for long enough
to matter electricity cost wise, lasts for years and years fine.

Say, has anyone seen the dimmable CFLs anywhere? I've looked at all
the big and small stores around where I live and none carry any.

Hi Bill,

They're out there, but the selection is limited and you'll pay a
considerable premium for this feature. I do know Home Depot stocks
the dimmable and three-way versions of Philip's Marathon.

Cheers,
Paul

On 9 Mar 2007 13:40:15 -0800, "WDS" wrote:

Say, has anyone seen the dimmable CFLs anywhere? I've looked at all
the big and small stores around where I live and none carry any.

And here's another way to get bit in the ass with CFL. I just bought
a 3 pack of Feit CFL 120W floodlights at Costco. Was going to try
them in some of my recessed indoor ceiling fixtures. Well, guess
what? They don't fit. Even though a regular flood light, either
interior or exterior will go in, these won't. The problem is that
the base gets too wide too close to the metal screw in base. These
fixtures use metal clips on each side of the socket assembly to hold
it to the rest of the fixture. The CFL bulb hits these clips, so the
bulb won't screw in.

And here's another way to get bit in the ass with CFL. I just bought
a 3 pack of Feit CFL 120W floodlights at Costco. Was going to try
them in some of my recessed indoor ceiling fixtures.
Well, guess what? They don't fit.

That's one reason there are bulb extenders:
a socket that extends the bulb up an inch or so.
I understand that they're an additional cost
but it's a one time expense.
--

-- mejeep deMeep ferret!

On Mar 9, 5:21 pm, wrote:
...They don't fit. Even though a regular flood light, either
interior or exterior will go in, these won't.

Isn't that what the code on the packages is for? I know I've gotten
the wrong size floods before with incadescents, too.

On Mar 10, 2:26 am, "WDS" wrote:
On Mar 9, 5:21 pm, wrote:

...They don't fit. Even though a regular flood light, either
interior or exterior will go in, these won't.

Isn't that what the code on the packages is for? I know I've gotten
the wrong size floods before with incadescents, too.

No, it's not a bulb size issue. The bulbs are the same size. So
are the sockets. If you look at them side by side, they look almost
identical. It's the fact that this CFL gets wider closer to the base
than a similar regular floodlight, (probably for the electronics),
thereby hitting the 2 small clips which hold the fixture together.

Jeff's idea of a bulb extender won't work either. The flood light
bulbs come to within about 3/4 of an inch of the bottom of the
recessed fixture without one. With an extender they will stick out.

It's kind of a bummer too, as I have 20 or so recessed fixtures and
they are all the same, so I don't know where I'm going to use these
CFLs. I'll take a look at other ones and see if I can find a brand
that has a thinner design near the base.

wrote:

In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

--




In response to this thread, I bought several of the fluorescent (soft
light) flood lights yesterday for the kitchen.

In addition to the claimed longer life & 1/4 wattage, I prefer its
somewhat less yellow light.

Glad I read this thread.

"gamer" wrote in message
...
wrote:

In all the praise of compact
fluorescent bulbs I've see in
the press, nobody mentions that they
take at least a minute to reach
full intensity after they are turned
on...Or have I bought the wrong type
of bulb?

--



In response to this thread, I bought several of the fluorescent (soft
light) flood lights yesterday for the kitchen.

In addition to the claimed longer life & 1/4 wattage, I prefer its
somewhat less yellow light.

Glad I read this thread.

Great. Hope they were marked "Energy Star" though (if bought in the U.S.).
Energy Star tests for life, light output, color and other performance
factors. The criteria are on the E* site.

A warm-up period is normal for any fluorescent lamp. It's a bit longer and
more noticeable in some CFLs.

TKM

"TKM" wrote in message
...
It's a bit longer and more noticeable in some CFLs.

I bought some new CFL floods from Walmart and the warm-up time for these is
significantly longer. On the order of 2 to 3 minutes before full intensity.
The packaging says 100W equivalent, but when they first go on, they're about
as bright as a 25W bulb for the first minute. I've had much better
experience with the "Lights of America" brand where you barely noticed the
startup time.

-al sung
Rapid Realm Technology, Inc.
Hopkinton, MA

"Alan Sung" wrote...

I bought some new CFL floods from Walmart and the warm-up time for these
is
significantly longer. On the order of 2 to 3 minutes before full
intensity.
The packaging says 100W equivalent, but when they first go on, they're
about
as bright as a 25W bulb for the first minute. I've had much better
experience with the "Lights of America" brand where you barely noticed the
startup time.

I have replaced over half the most-used lights in my house with CFLs. In
most cases the warmup time doesn't bother me. In fact, I welcome the fact
that when I turn on a bathroom or kitchen light first thing in the morning,
I am not blinded by an immediate 100W arc!

In the kitchen I have 2 recessed floods over the sink and 4 over the stove.
In each I have left a single incandescent flood, and replaced the others
with CFLs. I get immediate, bright light from the single light, and the
rest come up to speed in a few minutes, giving my eyes time to adjust.

"Alan Sung" wrote in message
. ..
"TKM" wrote in message
...
It's a bit longer and more noticeable in some CFLs.

I bought some new CFL floods from Walmart and the warm-up time for these
is
significantly longer. On the order of 2 to 3 minutes before full
intensity.
The packaging says 100W equivalent, but when they first go on, they're
about
as bright as a 25W bulb for the first minute. I've had much better
experience with the "Lights of America" brand where you barely noticed the
startup time.

-al sung
Rapid Realm Technology, Inc.
Hopkinton, MA


Chances are you have an "amalgam" CFL. Manufacturers don't distinguish
between amalgam and non-amalgam lamps; but the amalgam designs are generally
superior because they maintain maximum light output over a wider range of
ambient temperatures. The downside is that they take several minutes more
to warm up to full output.

TKM