The short version: I’ve got some really crappy CFLs that take a long time to produce a decent level of light. The manufacturer says, that’s how CFLs are, what did you expect? But they start out at what is (to my eye) a much lower output of light than the other CFLs around the house.
What I’d like is a way of quantifying this.
The slightly longer version: these are replacements for globe-shaped vanity lightbulbs that go above the bathroom sink, so they’re each a smallish CFL inside a glass globe. Incandescent replacements seem to be going the way of the dodo, but I’ve been OK with the CFLs we’ve got elsewhere in the house, so when I saw a 3-pack of 10-year CFL bulbs by a reputable manufacturer that would work as replacement bulbs, I was OK with that, even though they cost $20. I figured they didn’t have to last 10 years to be worth that much.
What I didn’t figure was that when I turn on the bathroom light, I start off with the bulbs being incredibly dim, like maybe 20-25% of full brightness, and staying pretty dim for the first 30-40 seconds, after which they get to full brightness by about the 1 minute mark. But most of the time, I’m just about done with whatever I’m doing in there by that time. So they may last for 10 years, but I’m ready to throw them out now.
But I really would like to quantify how badly they suck before I do so. I really want to make sure I can warn people in a non-subjective way, just why they shouldn’t buy these bulbs, and to be able to tell the manufacturer in a quantitative way why it should refund my money.
So: is there anything I can cheaply buy or rent that will measure the light output of a light bulb?
Could you take a video of them with your phone? Maybe with an incandescent light turned on at the same time, so they can see the crappy amount of light they produce relative to it.
For anything that quantitatively measures lumens or whatever, what are the odds that the people you talk to will have any feel for what the numbners mean in terms of how bright a light is?
There are different types of CFL bulbs. Some claim to be “instant on” but if you put them next to an incandescent you’ll usually find that they aren’t. They are faster than other types of CFL bulbs, though. Your typical CFL will take up to a minute or so to reach full brightness, which is right about in line with the OP’s timing. Some can take even longer, requiring a good three to five minutes before achieving full brightness.
The warmup time is longer if the bulbs are in a cold environment. Is there a cold air vent near the fixture?
CFL bulbs also have a dramatically reduced lifespan if you often turn them on and off quickly, as the OP seems to be doing. Maybe it’s time to consider a different type of lighting for these particular fixtures.
As Turble said, your typical local garden shop will have nice el-cheapo light meters. Something like this will run you about twenty bucks or so:
Note - I have absolutely no experience at all with this particular meter. I’m just posting it as an example of the type of meter you can get inexpensively.
How long ago did you get them? Over the years I’ve replaced my older ones that took 2 or 3 minutes to warm up with newer “instant on” bulbs. I hate to get rid of good CFLs, but as you said, in some locations they’re next to useless.
When they first came out, I believe the warm up time was one of the reasons against going all CFL. The warm up time makes them pointless in closets or storage areas or other places where you’re in and out before they’re up to full brightness.
If I were you, I’d just pick up some new ones. Most newer ones are either instant on or they start pretty close to full brightness (maybe 90% instead of 40%).
Also, I don’t know what brand you have, but I try to stick to the ‘name’ brands. Usually Sylvania or GE.
Get a yard stick or meter stick. Take a piece of paper and smear some oil on it in a spot so that it is translucent. Afix it to the center of your meter stick. Place a light bulb of known output on one end of the stick. (Let’s assume it puts out more light than you test bulb) Put your test bulb on the other end. Move your test bulb closer to the center until the oil smear seems to disappear. This is where the light intensities of the two bulbs are the same at the paper. The ratio of the distances between the two bulbs to the oiled paper is the same as the ratio of the light energies. You can calculate the unknown light energy.
Small CFLs suck. You don’t need a meter to tell you that.
Because of the nature of the tech, they are unlikely to ever get better. The tiny transformers and drive circuitry that can be fitted into their bases and the very small fluorescing area inside those tubes makes it difficult to get even light, long lifespan, instant start AND full brightness even at the same time-ramp as bigger CFLs.
Switch to LEDs as soon as they’re cost-effective for you, and be sure to read reviews on the exact model and size you’re buying to get good ones.
bathroom mirror/sink use is not the best for CFL. you would likely use these with lots of on/off cycles and short run times which are bad for CFL. also waiting for full brightness would be annoying.
there are other task lighting uses that those bulbs would work better for.
I could do that, but who’s gonna take the time to watch it?
The people at the hardware store would take it seriously when I explain why I think they shouldn’t carry this bulb. And the customer service people at GE had better pay attention to hard measurements, but I sure can’t get them to watch a video.
I don’t think I have any ‘instant on’ CFLs in the house. And the problem isn’t the minute they take to get to full brightness; it’s the time they take to get to, say, 60% of full brightness. All the other CFLs I have clear that hurdle right away; these take ~40 seconds to get there, and are way under even that low standard for most of that time.
Nope. Also, it’s just as true now that we’re in heating season as it was a month ago when we were still occasionally running the A/C.
The problem is, it’s getting hard to find incandescents for this use anymore, and LEDs aren’t there yet.
September. And they’re GEs, and not some no-name brand.
They’ve got the same size of base (if by that you mean the part that screws into the fixture) as a standard light bulb, but I can see that they’d have to have less fluorescing area, fitting the standard coils inside a globe like that.
I’ve not seen any LED light bulbs for regular home light fixtures of any kind. I’ll be glad when they get here, because the LED flashlights, stick-on closet lights, etc. that I have really kick ass.
I don’t know what just happened to your post but Home Depot and Lowes are filled with LEDs that fit right into regular light fixtures. The problem is that they’re still expensive. You’re looking at anywhere from $5 to $40 depending on the bulb.
But that’s what you paid for CFLs when they first came out too. The LED prices are coming down pretty quickly and I’m sure the quality will go up as well.
I have a small fluorescent tube over the mirror in my bathroom. I have those coiled up tubes in the fittings on the stairs and landing too. This is because I want instant light for short periods in those places. In places like the sitting room, where lights are on for hours, I have CFLs. Horses for courses comes to mind.
Electricity is getting ever more expensive, so I have ordered a replacement LED spot lamp from Hong Kong to see how good it is. If it’s any good, I will use them in the eight lams that are frequently on.
I don’t mean the screw-in base, although that’s the same term. I mean the cylindrical module between the threads and the light tube, which has to hold a high-voltage transformer and some other electronic components to start and drive a fluorescent tube. 100W equivalents have just enough space - and look at the 200-300W equivalents some time, the circuitry base is huge - but for vanity-size bulbs, the components have to be tiny and are thus less efficient and good at driving the tube to full brightness.
You can get an LED - actually, you can usually choose from several different light outputs and spectrums - for any standard home lamp from bitty C9s to huge outdoor floodlights. Some are going down in price faster than others, so you have to be selective about the need and value return.
Supposedly Cree has a new LED has better color rending (93) than the regular ones, the TW series available at Home Depot. I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet but it might be something to look at.
As noted, they’re out there. I don’t know if you’ve got access to a smart phone but I ended up doing some calculations in the store to figure out what exactly I was getting and what I wanted. Don’t trust the stuff on the packaging about how this piece is a “60 watt replacement”-- they’ll lie to you, and if you take it home and put it somewhere you’d had a 60 incandescent, you’ll be unhappy. Pay attention to the output in lumens and the color temperature. 2700 K is about the same color temperature as an incandescent. 3000 K is less yellow, closer to blue, but still pretty acceptable for a home. Anything higher is pretty blue; it’ll make a room feel a little cold and sterile. Personally, I wouldn’t put those into anything but my kitchen, bathroom, or a closet. However, the higher color temperature that you’re willing to tolerate, the better lumens-per-dollar ratio you’ll get. For a floodlight outdoors or something in a closet, get the very blue, maximum brightness stuff.
Also, some LED fixtures are not instant-on-to-full, though they’re all worlds better than the CFLs. The worst LED time-to-full I’ve ever seen is about 20 seconds, and it snaps on to at least 75% right off the bat. I don’t think they’re affected by temperature, either.