Lighting-Gallery.net
Lamps => Modern => Topic started by: AngryHorse on March 21, 2022, 06:29:08 AM
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So, Saturday morning I dug out my big box of CFLs, and got all nostalgic about them! ::)
And as a result I’ve started to re-fit them again around the house! ;D, I now have my original Philips 18 watt Genie that was on the landing before I tested the 20 watt CMH back in, the exact same lamp!
I’ve removed both the 10 watt Megaman LED in the bathroom for two 11 watt RING twin tube CFL, and as I’ve got boxes of 20 watt versions of Osram, Status and GE, I may reinstate those back into the kitchen lights!
It kind of cool to see the pre-heat starts and the tiny banding on the tubes again, and the after glow of them when they turn off! 8)
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And so he returns from the Dark Side, there is hope yet :mrg:
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Not fully! ;D, I’m keeping all LED outside as their on for longer hours, but funny enough, the 18 watt Genie on the landing is better than the LED that was there! :cfl1: :cfl1:, better colour and as it’s not just downward directed light, the walls and ceiling get lit again!
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Remember back when everyone on L-G hated CFLs in the early 2010s? Now they are collectors items. Personally I’d like to get my hands on those old GE Compax lamps.
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@Econolite03:
And at the same time mused about how "LED's are much better"... :-D
And the same with the HPS (replacing the MV's at that time) in streetlights...
The life is just funny... :lol:
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I have always preferred sodium light (LPS or HPS) to MV or MH, I just don't like white(ish) light for street lighting. Also, Sammi has night blindness, which means she can hardly see at all under the infernal LED's we are now stuck with. But with sodium light, she can actually read without changing from distance to reading glasses..!
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So are you gonna convert your whole dwelling to SOX lamps, so when you walk into the bathroom and it’s just pure sodium? A 180W hung from the ceiling should do the trick.
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It's an idea :lol:
We already mainly light the living room with SOX and HPS Gamma 6's, and our alarm clock is a 35W SOX in a Beta 5 so that's the bedroom covered..! The other rooms (bathroom, kitchen and hallway) aren't occupied for long enough, so we'll stick with 2D CFL and incandescents for those.
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Back when I was a child, circline adapters and spiral shaped self ballasted CFL lamps fascinated me in such a way that I often enjoyed running spiral self ballasted CFl lamps side by side with A19 incandescent bulbs. In some cases, I even had some permanent installations with spiral CFL lamps and incandescent bulbs installed side by side. When I was a child, I even dreamed about lighting my house with circline adapters all over the place. Because of my fascination with CFL lamps, I ended up having a 22w preheat circline adapter installed in the attic of my parents’ house. In addition, I also freaked out whenever I saw fluorescent light bulbs flickering when I was young and sometimes, I even made CFL lamps flicker intentionally by using installing them on incandescent fixtures controlled by dimmer switches.
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Remember back when everyone on L-G hated CFLs in the early 2010s? Now they are collectors items. Personally I’d like to get my hands on those old GE Compax lamps.
Doesn’t seem that long ago does it?, I have loads of GEs Biax lamps with GEs unique ‘M’ shape at the bends, and carrying the Made in Hungary print when that actually meant something special! 8)
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I even dreamed about lighting my house with circline adapters all over the place.
Had that dream many times. Even got to experience someone else living it. The brother-in-law of a friend from high school had his "man cave" down in his unfinished basement lit with something like 8 porcelain fixtures holding those LOA 9" 30-watt circline adapters.
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I have only one CFL to hand but I've used it in every fixture it fits in. It's the go-to when a lamp burns out and I don't have another replacement. I also use it in my SOX street light fittings when I first get them and can't be bothered to wire the gear. I just stick a 2-core cable into the lamp holder. It even found a home in my MA50 when I didn't have a lamp for it. Yes, an 11 watt CFL looks utterly pathetic inside the geared MA50, but comically pathetic ;D. It's currently in a heavy duty bulkhead that I use as a desk lamp. It's at least 7 years old and still going strong. I need to look for more, I love those things :cflhd:.
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I really like fluorescent lights because I am attracted to his unique light color, but in order to save energy, our home CFL :cfl1: is gradually replaced by LEDs :led2:
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To be honest, there’s little difference in light output between a 13 watt LED and a 20 watt CFL ;), on paper yes the LED is 300 odd lumens brighter, but as the LED I had in the kitchen was SMT with only downward directed light, and the old CFL is 360 degrees light, you really can’t tell any different!
Also at the time I was using CFL a few years ago I didn’t notice, but a 2700K CFL seems to have more red in its spectrum than the average 2700K LED when put next to each other?
I’ve got all LED in my outside lighting as their on all night, but it’s nice to have CFL back in use inside the house again 8)
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The light color of the CFL is very attractive to me.
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I definitely find CFLs collectible. Once CFLs were mostly homogenized to spiral instant-start form, I took my older CFLs largely out of regular service to display the various tube designs that were used throughout the years. It's quite fascinating the various designs of U-tube, twin tube, tri-tube and quad tubes used over the years....even the spiral designs could be different, and there were unique designs like the Hitachi, Megaman, Plumen, the lotus shape, the MaxLite "filament" spiral, circline, 2-D, cold cathode, hybrid with LED or halogen, and electrodeless designs....magnetic preheat, electronic and program start ballasts, and adapters with replaceable tubes. I have one of almost every style now and they rotate use in my display weekly.
Diversity is what makes life on this planet interesting, even though we each have our preferences. I would get very irritated if I only could use one or two lamp types, even if they were my most favourite lamps. To me it's like having to wear the same uniform every day vs. having a closet of clothes. I don't know how I survived childhood since my home basically had soft white incandescents in every fixture...I guess it was the one halogen, the pair of clear incandescents and the two F6T5s I had that kept me sane, plus a good variety of classic T12 fluorescents, mercury streetlights and HPS out in the world. My interest in collecting light bulbs began when I bought my first CFL, a GE Compax, in 1990, so CFLs have special meaning.
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Sure, CFL nostalgia exists. My CFL collection is satisfied when I got a pair of early 1980s Westinghouse Econ-Novas. :)
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I definitely find CFLs collectible. Once CFLs were mostly homogenized to spiral instant-start form, I took my older CFLs largely out of regular service to display the various tube designs that were used throughout the years. It's quite fascinating the various designs of U-tube, twin tube, tri-tube and quad tubes used over the years....even the spiral designs could be different, and there were unique designs like the Hitachi, Megaman, Plumen, the lotus shape, the MaxLite "filament" spiral, circline, 2-D, cold cathode, hybrid with LED or halogen, and electrodeless designs....magnetic preheat, electronic and program start ballasts, and adapters with replaceable tubes. I have one of almost every style now and they rotate use in my display weekly.
Diversity is what makes life on this planet interesting, even though we each have our preferences. I would get very irritated if I only could use one or two lamp types, even if they were my most favourite lamps. To me it's like having to wear the same uniform every day vs. having a closet of clothes. I don't know how I survived childhood since my home basically had soft white incandescents in every fixture...I guess it was the one halogen, the pair of clear incandescents and the two F6T5s I had that kept me sane, plus a good variety of classic T12 fluorescents, mercury streetlights and HPS out in the world. My interest in collecting light bulbs began when I bought my first CFL, a GE Compax, in 1990, so CFLs have special meaning.
I agree with you on the spirals! ;D , we did have them here but they were not as mainstream as they were in the US, our most common ones were the twin U tube and Philips’s Genie, I only ever had one spiral in use, even when CFL was the main choice for domestic lighting!
It would have been sad if all you could get were the spirals, given they were not even the most efficient design!, I can understand why Ed Hammer went with the spirals, as you could indeed get a lot of tube into such a small area, but I wonder if he ever realised how hard they would be to phosphor coat?
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Interesting! CFL are not an old technology, however I assume your nostalgia depends on your own experiences and age. If your parents or grand parents used CFLs, or if you used them when you were a student, or if they are part of your lighting enthusiasm, then they probably carry good memories.
Personally I've always hated them, because their light has a poor colour rendering compared to the linear tubes. Home CFLs became popular when I started working, no I have no emotion related to them. I only like the first magnetic ballast CFLs, and I think their light is better.
I also remember the first industrial/commercial CFLs (with an external ballast) when I was a teen, their thin and straight shape was a novelty, but once again I didn't like the light very much.
However I have a strong nostalgia regarding the first Nichia 5mm leds (around 2000-2001) and still have some headlamps that use them. They had a blue centre spot, but the overall CRI were quite cool, around 80, and the warm materials (wood, skin, etc.) render very well.
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For me, when I moved into my own house in 1995, I first fitted 2 foot fluorescent battens in every room, however back then the fittings I bought only came with standard halophosphate tubes (white 35), a colour that I think looks awful for domestic use!
The electronic CFL were already established, and given the poor power factor with fluorescent battens on wire wound gear, I did a mass change over to them two years later.
I’ve always liked the complete package of the CFL, as your still getting the benefits of fluorescent but contained in one unit with tri-phosphor tube and on board HF efficient running gear, in various compact sizes and wattages.
I have had all LED fitted in the house, but although the LED lamps are more efficient at producing light, I always missed the nostalgic side of the CFL, the gradual warm up, the visible wear marks you get on the tube and the long thin shape of them, I guess that’s what I find nostalgic about them?
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My favourites are the American coloured spirals, where the base of the lamp is the same colour as the tube. Here, they tended to use white bases irrespective of the tube colour, which weren't nearly as good to look at when unlit.
:cfl3: :redcfl: :pinkcfl: :ycfl: :gcfl: :Bluecfl: :blbcfl:
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My favourites are the American coloured spirals, where the base of the lamp is the same colour as the tube. Here, they tended to use white bases irrespective of the tube colour, which weren't nearly as good to look at when unlit.
:cfl3: :redcfl: :pinkcfl: :ycfl: :gcfl: :Bluecfl: :blbcfl:
I have a green CFL whose tube is the same as a normal CFL when it's not on, but when it's on, it emits a beautiful green light. :greencflhd: