Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps that
start quickly and are readily available?

David

I think a twenty watt version of one of those is quite high energy.
They are supposed give an equivalent light output of 100 watts from an
ordinary bulb. Apparently they last a lot longer than ordinary bulbs
especially if you leave them on rather than switch them off.

You can get them everywhere. You might even get them subsidised from
the local council. They are -or were, pretty expensive when I had some.
I didn't like them though. Too dull.

If you bought a light in the USA you might have a little more trouble
as they use a different fitting.

On 13 Dec 2004 06:44:52 -0800, Weatherlawyer wrote:

You can get them everywhere. You might even get them subsidised from
the local council.

Most available in this country aren't "quick start" though they aren't
as bad as traditional tube florries. They do how ever start at about
50% light output and build up over a few minutes, this can be
advantage in the dead of night as you don't get blinded...

They are -or were, pretty expensive when I had some. I didn't like
them though. Too dull.

They have improved a great deal over the last few years. We have 6 x
9W SES in the lounge instead of 40W filament. They actually produce
more light than the filament jobbies, the quality is very similar to
tungsten and of course consume vastly less power. Even costing =A39 each=

I reckon that pay back would be inside 2 quarters. These are on for a
long time though, 18+ hrs day.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article .com,
"Weatherlawyer" writes:
I think a twenty watt version of one of those is quite high energy.
They are supposed give an equivalent light output of 100 watts from an
ordinary bulb.

Apparently they last a lot longer than ordinary bulbs
especially if you leave them on rather than switch them off.

You can get them everywhere. You might even get them subsidised from
the local council. They are -or were, pretty expensive when I had some.
I didn't like them though. Too dull.

Assume light equivalent of 4 times and ignore claims on the
packaging which exceed this. It seems this this over-selling
of their light output is a factor which puts some people off
them the first time they use them.

If you bought a light in the USA you might have a little more trouble
as they use a different fitting.

It's near enough the lamps are normally interchangable in it.
However, I'll leave you to guess what happens when you try
running a 120V lamp from a 240V supply...

--
Andrew Gabriel

"vortex2" wrote in message
...
Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps that
start quickly and are readily available?

Philips from ASDA or Tesco at 2 pounds each.

(I've been disappointed in the past with CFL bulbs, and whilst these
18w or 20w ones aren't really equivalent to 100w incandescent,
they are definitely brighter than 60w, and the colour is acceptable.
At 2 pound each they only have to last 1000 hours to save money)

"vortex2" wrote in message
...
Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps
that
start quickly and are readily available?

I think you'll find the quick start ones are dying out as the latest ST
Microelectronics chip takes over from the previous most popular
implementation. The original was quick start but burnt the bulb more
whereas the STM version soft-starts and makes it last longer.

As a possible rule of thumb though, cheaper ones seem to start faster than
more expensive ones.

In article ,
"vortex2" writes:
Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps that
start quickly and are readily available?

Well, how about making your own, since this is a DIY newsgroup?
I have converted a number of luminares to take compact fluorescents.
If you do this, you can choose what type of control gear and what
type of lamps you want. I had a requirement for instant on, and at
a higher initial brightness percentage than is common with the
self-ballasted compact fluorescent retrofits. In my experience,
the 2D lamps seem to do well in terms of initial light output
percentage -- pretty similar to a conventional fluorescent -- and
instant start control gear is available (although finding control
gear designed for 2D lamps is difficult, so you need a near match).

I dumped some more information and some pictures on a web page:
http://www.cucumber.demon.co.uk/lights/diy2/

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
"Mike" writes:

"vortex2" wrote in message
...
Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps
that
start quickly and are readily available?

I think you'll find the quick start ones are dying out as the latest ST
Microelectronics chip takes over from the previous most popular
implementation. The original was quick start but burnt the bulb more
whereas the STM version soft-starts and makes it last longer.

I've dissected a number of compact fluorescents
and never found a single one using ST's chips.
Same is true of a number of separate electronic
control gear modules I've opened up. They're all
100% discrete components. ST's MOSFETs are often
used in control gear though.

As a possible rule of thumb though, cheaper ones seem to start faster than
more expensive ones.

I think it's more random that that ;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" writes:

"vortex2" wrote in message
...
Last year I was staying in a hotel abroad (USA). ****ty hotel. The
only
redeeming feature was that the (low energy) bedroom lamps "started"
instantly. No 2-3 seconds delay! I recall they were very bright with
"spiral" tubes.

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....) lamps
that
start quickly and are readily available?

I think you'll find the quick start ones are dying out as the latest ST
Microelectronics chip takes over from the previous most popular
implementation. The original was quick start but burnt the bulb more
whereas the STM version soft-starts and makes it last longer.

I've dissected a number of compact fluorescents
and never found a single one using ST's chips.
Same is true of a number of separate electronic
control gear modules I've opened up. They're all
100% discrete components. ST's MOSFETs are often

I've got and Osram one here. It uses ST L6572E. MOSFET is Fairchild.

The discrete solution is usually the self-oscillating one you find on the IR
site though even they have now introduced a control IC as well. It's
actually cheaper as you save a winding as well as being able to claim longer
life.



As a possible rule of thumb though, cheaper ones seem to start faster
than
more expensive ones.

I think it's more random that that ;-)

Quite possibly :-)

Well, how about making your own, since this is a DIY newsgroup?

How about someone designs a CFL soft start bulb with a small additional
incandescent element that fades out as the CFL comes up to temperature?

Christian.

"vortex2" wrote in
:

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....)
lamps that start quickly and are readily available?


Spiral - yes. Quick start - yes. Daylight - yes (well, the 6400 are a touch
towards the blue-white). Expensive - well, yes, they are rather. Delivery -
two days (a couple of weeks ago). And I just noticed the 85 watt behemoth -
supposedly equivalent to 465 W of incandescent.

http://www.bltdirect.co.uk/cat33_1.htm

--
Rod

www.annalaurie.co.uk

Rod Hewitt wrote:
"vortex2" wrote in
:

Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....)
lamps that start quickly and are readily available?


Spiral - yes. Quick start - yes. Daylight - yes (well, the 6400 are a
touch towards the blue-white). Expensive - well, yes, they are
rather. Delivery - two days (a couple of weeks ago). And I just
noticed the 85 watt behemoth - supposedly equivalent to 465 W of
incandescent.

http://www.bltdirect.co.uk/cat33_1.htm

That'd brighten up the khazi first thing in the morning.
Stumble out of bed bleary eyed, stagger to the little room, flick the light
switch and sit there in amazement as the curly wurly slowly creeps up to
full brightness.

--
James...
www.jameshart.co.uk

"vortex2" wrote in
:


Can anybody recommend a brand of BNC Low Energy (20 watt-ish....)
lamps that start quickly and are readily available?

I've just taken delivery of ten of these from TLC:

http://www.tlc-
direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Lamps_and_Tubes_Index/Low_Energ
y_GLS_Lamp/index.html

OR

http://tinyurl.com/67rpt

Only £1.50 each, bargain. They start absolutely instantly. They do seem to
be on the blueish side though, I don't think I'd want them in living rooms.
Fine for the staircase, cellar and downstairs loo though.