I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...0&linkCode=asn

DA had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...-s-295739-.htm
:
DerbyDad03 wrote:


I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a
"nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

CFLs slowness is a real PITA in most applications and is really hindering
their acceptance. I'm trying to convert to LED bulbs wherever possible.
But LED prices still hurt and the brightness is not there yet.

Anyways, I am using CFLs throughout the house anyway and found that
over-sizing them (in terms of wattage and light output) appears to help
remedy the slowness.

Of course, oversizing defeats the purpose of having CFLs but in places
like bathroom it's the only way to see anything in dark. If I use 40W
light output CFL, I'll be out of bathroom before it reaches the full
brightness, LOL. So I stepped up to 60W. By the way, Phillips CFLs are not
fast either.

\//.
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In ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...ag=yahoo-tools
06-20&linkCode=asn

This is a CFL with an outer bulb. Those generally start dimmer and take
longer to warm up.

The reason: The fluorescent tubing gets hotter with the outer bulb
around it. Fluorescent lamps only work well over a limited temperature
range, so the ones with outer bulbs are designed to work best at the high
temperature that they achieve.

- Don Klipstein )

On 24 Mar 2008 17:35:40 GMT, (DA)
wrote:

DA had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...-s-295739-.htm
:
DerbyDad03 wrote:


I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a
"nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

CFLs slowness is a real PITA in most applications and is really hindering
their acceptance. I'm trying to convert to LED bulbs wherever possible.
But LED prices still hurt and the brightness is not there yet.

Anyways, I am using CFLs throughout the house anyway and found that
over-sizing them (in terms of wattage and light output) appears to help
remedy the slowness.

Of course, oversizing defeats the purpose of having CFLs but in places
like bathroom it's the only way to see anything in dark. If I use 40W
light output CFL, I'll be out of bathroom before it reaches the full
brightness, LOL. So I stepped up to 60W. By the way, Phillips CFLs are not
fast either.

\//.
-------------------------------------


I use a CFL as well as a string of LED holiday lights in my bathroom.
The LED lights are usually enough.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"DISCLAIMER If you find a posting or message
from me offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive,
please ignore it. If you don't know how to
ignore a posting, complain to me and I will
demonstrate."

I've been using CFL's for a long time now, since they were first readily
available. I've had the best luck with Sylvania. GE performs OK for
me, but the Menard's brand (FEIT?) and the L of A are pretty sad.

I can understand how someone whose first experience with CFL's is with L
of A would have a negative opinion of CFL's in general, because their
products really suck. FEIT isn't much better.

OTOH -- if Sylvania products aren't doing it for you, odds are nobody's
will.

Have you tried maybe using a single 13w Sylvania CFL in there instead of
a spot?



DA wrote:
DA had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...-s-295739-.htm
:
DerbyDad03 wrote:


I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a
"nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

CFLs slowness is a real PITA in most applications and is really hindering
their acceptance. I'm trying to convert to LED bulbs wherever possible.
But LED prices still hurt and the brightness is not there yet.

Anyways, I am using CFLs throughout the house anyway and found that
over-sizing them (in terms of wattage and light output) appears to help
remedy the slowness.

Of course, oversizing defeats the purpose of having CFLs but in places
like bathroom it's the only way to see anything in dark. If I use 40W
light output CFL, I'll be out of bathroom before it reaches the full
brightness, LOL. So I stepped up to 60W. By the way, Phillips CFLs are not
fast either.

\//.
-------------------------------------




##-----------------------------------------------##
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Building Construction and Maintenance Forum
Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup -
alt.home.repair - 280138 messages and counting!
##-----------------------------------------------##

On Mar 24, 3:24*pm, (Don Klipstein) wrote:
In ,

DerbyDad03 wrote:
I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...ag=yahoo-tools
06-20&linkCode=asn

* This is a CFL with an outer bulb. *Those generally start dimmer and take
longer to warm up.

* The reason: *The fluorescent tubing gets hotter with the outer bulb
around it. *Fluorescent lamps only work well over a limited temperature
range, so the ones with outer bulbs are designed to work best at the high
temperature that they achieve.

*- Don Klipstein )

Don,

Thanks for the reply, but your "reason" doesn't explain *why* they
start dimmer or take longer to warm up.

Your reason states 2 facts, both of which I agree with:

1 - The tubes get hotter due to the outer bulb
2 - They are designed to work best at their final operating
temperature

They are also white, they are also made of glass, they also contain
mercury.

All of these facts are true, but they don't explain *why* they take so
long to warm up and acheive maximum output.

If you said something like "If they started brighter and heated up
quicker then the air inside the outer bulb would expand too quickly
and the bulb would explode" *that* would be a reason for the dim start
and the slow warm up.

Is something like that the case?

On Mar 24, 11:18*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...tag=yahoo-tool....

Cfl spots take a long time to get bright unlike regular cfls, at 0f
its 6 minutes.

On Mar 24, 3:49*pm, Robert Barr wrote:
I've been using CFL's for a long time now, since they were first readily
available. *I've had the best luck with Sylvania. *GE performs OK for
me, but the Menard's brand (FEIT?) and the L of A are pretty sad.

I can understand how someone whose first experience with CFL's is with L
of A would have a negative opinion of CFL's in general, because their
products really suck. *FEIT isn't much better.

OTOH -- if Sylvania products aren't doing it for you, odds are nobody's
will.

Have you tried maybe using a single 13w Sylvania CFL in there instead of
a spot?



DA wrote:
DA had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...west-15W-CFL-s...
*:
DerbyDad03 wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a
"nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

CFLs slowness is a real PITA in most applications and is really hindering
their acceptance. I'm trying to convert to LED bulbs wherever possible.
But LED prices still hurt and the brightness is not there yet.

Anyways, I am using CFLs throughout the house anyway and found that
over-sizing them (in terms of wattage and light output) appears to help
remedy the slowness.

Of course, oversizing defeats the purpose of having CFLs but in places
like bathroom it's the only way to see anything in dark. If I use 40W
light output CFL, I'll be out of bathroom before it reaches the full
brightness, LOL. So I stepped up to 60W. By the way, Phillips CFLs are not
fast either.

\//.
-------------------------------------

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Building Construction and Maintenance Forum
Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup -
alt.home.repair - 280138 messages and counting!
##-----------------------------------------------##- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

if Sylvania products aren't doing it for you, odds are nobody's
will.

I have CFL's in many other fixtures, including ceiling lights on three
stair landings, inside closets, etc. In all other cases, the initial
output is adaquate and full output is achieved in a realtively short
time (30 secs?) My teenagers, who probably never even noticed the
gradual increase in output from those bulbs (or at least never
mentioned it) all bascially said "Hey Dad, what's with the weird
lights in the kitchen? I turned 'em on, couldn't see anything and then
2 minutes later I had to shield my eyes!)

Have you tried maybe using a single 13w Sylvania CFL in there
instead of a spot?

No, I just bought these late last week and haven't done anything about
them yet (except save the package so I can return the spots).

I chose these bulbs because the fixture is a 3-socket unit, with
directional spots. Something like this:

http://www.lightingdirect.com/index....&source=become

The spots look better than conventional bulbs and certainly better
than regular CFL's without the outer bulb.

I may just go back to regular spots and forget the "green" stuff for
this application.

On Mar 24, 4:05*pm, ransley wrote:
On Mar 24, 11:18*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...tag=yahoo-tool....

Cfl spots take a long time to get bright unlike regular cfls, at 0f
its 6 minutes.

I hope it never gets down to 0F in my kitchen! It'll be cold *and*
dark!

In ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Mar 24, 3:24*pm, (Don Klipstein) wrote:
In ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

* This is a CFL with an outer bulb. *Those generally start dimmer and take
longer to warm up.

* The reason: *The fluorescent tubing gets hotter with the outer bulb
around it. *Fluorescent lamps only work well over a limited temperature
range, so the ones with outer bulbs are designed to work best at the high
temperature that they achieve.

Don,

Thanks for the reply, but your "reason" doesn't explain *why* they
start dimmer or take longer to warm up.

Your reason states 2 facts, both of which I agree with:

1 - The tubes get hotter due to the outer bulb
2 - They are designed to work best at their final operating
temperature

They are also white, they are also made of glass, they also contain
mercury.

All of these facts are true, but they don't explain *why* they take so
long to warm up and acheive maximum output.

If you said something like "If they started brighter and heated up
quicker then the air inside the outer bulb would expand too quickly
and the bulb would explode" *that* would be a reason for the dim start
and the slow warm up.

Is something like that the case?

The problem is that 15 watts only produces about 51 BTU/hour of heat,
minus whatever fraction of the electricity becomes light instead.

It takes a couple of minutes for 40-50 BTU/hour to get the tubing up to
the temperature it works best at. It's not just the tubing - the tubing
won't fully warm up until the outer bulb and the air in it also have an
increase in temperature.

What could be done to speed this up:

1. Have the ballast circuitry provide increased power during warmup.
This will both increase light output and speed up the warmup process.

One problem with this is that the filaments at the ends of the tubing
only work properly in a certain power range, and otherwise wear out
quickly. Another is the cost of such a feature, including detection of
need for increased power, and smoothly reducing the power to normal as the
bulb warms up.

2. Make the tubing of thinner glass and the bulb out of thinner material.
However, that would make them break more easily.

- Don Klipstein )

In ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Mar 24, 4:05*pm, ransley wrote:
On Mar 24, 11:18*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! *They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

Cfl spots take a long time to get bright unlike regular cfls, at 0f
its 6 minutes.

I hope it never gets down to 0F in my kitchen! It'll be cold *and* dark!

See what outdoor CFLs do outdoors when it's cold! I have seen Philips
SL/O ones take 5-10 minutes to reach full brightness at 5-10 degrees F.
Some CFLs also start with a very reddish color of a neon-argon mixture
that is mostly neon when they are very cold.

- Don Klipstein )

On Mar 24, 2:55*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Mar 24, 3:24*pm, (Don Klipstein) wrote:
* The reason: *The fluorescent tubing gets hotter with the outer bulb
around it. *Fluorescent lamps only work well over a limited temperature
range, so the ones with outer bulbs are designed to work best at the high
temperature that they achieve.


Thanks for the reply, but your "reason" doesn't explain *why* they
start dimmer or take longer to warm up.

Your reason states 2 facts, both of which I agree with:

If you said something like "If they started brighter and heated up
quicker then the air inside the outer bulb would expand too quickly
and the bulb would explode" *that* would be a reason for the dim start
and the slow warm up.

I believe what he meant was that if they were designed to work
efficiently when cold, then when they heated up to the higher
temperatures caused by being enclosed, they would operate
inefficiently and herhaps burn out prematurely due to excess heat.

I use a defferent brand (what the local HD carries) and have replaced
every light in the house, inside and out, with various wattages and
colors of the same brand. I'm guestimating that they reach 90% of full
brightness within a fraction of a second...except for the two enclosed
floods I just recently bought (same brand), which take quite a while
to warm up. It's the type of bulb you bought, not the manufacturer.
They are working as expected.

On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:18:17 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

I just bought a 3 pack of Sylvania 15W CFL spot lights for my kitchen
fixture.

I know that CFL's take a little while to reach full brightness, but
these take over 2 minutes! They'd barely be called a "nightlight"
when they first come on.

I include one real light bulb so I can see until the others warm up.
It seems to be about 30 seconds, but i haven't measured all of them.

My first CFL burned out a couple weeks ago. I'm going to call the
Canadian Football League and complain.

It's not bad in the morning since it's gentle on the eyes, but at
night it's pretty annoying.

Gotta call Sylvania and see what they say.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V83WAG?...0&linkCode=asn