News article about CFL's

[Carld]

In the Wall Street Journal is an article by Kathryn Kranhold. In it she interviewed a Ellis Yan, major owner of TCP, the largest manufacturer of CFL's sold in the USA. His product is under most if not all major names in the lighting industry. TCP makes 70% of the CFL's sold in the USA.

One thing that caught my eye was, "When a bulb burns out before it's projected 10,000-hour life, TCP replaces it".

I don't use them but my wife has one in her reading lamp. Everyone concerned about CFL's needs to look the article up and read it. It was in the Business section of the Courier-Journal in Louisville Ky. but I am not sure if it was the full length article and I don't know which issue of the Wall Street it appeared in.

[dp]

I have a galvanized 40 gallon yard waste can in my basement that i s stocked to the gunnels with emergency supplies. My intention is to get a second can and start stocking it with various incandescent bulbs. That would include bulbs for the fridge and oven, chandaliers, spots for the kitchen where every cfl ever installed has died, and of course, general ceiling lighting and lamps. Then there's the halogen lamps, and bulbs used where dimmers are installed

I may hord even more and sell the excess on ebay

For the near future I'm done experimenting with cfl's - they are utter crap.

[Randolph]

I don't understand why you would say that. I have several CFL bulbs in both my shop and my house and they seem to be doing exactly as they are advertised.

[nheng]

Ellis Yan says he is producing 800,000 CFLs per day for the US. Included in that is product he has made for guess who ... Home Depot.

And one thing that caught my eye was his comment: "He applauded the U.S. House and Senate for working on legislation that would change lighting standards and lead to the phasing out of the conventional light bulb by the year 2014"

I'd like to know who the driving forces are behind this legislative push. Big business applauding our politicians is a recipe for ...

Randolph: Enjoy your long lived CFLs. I've had some that have lasted too but more have died a premature death either by loss of brightness, non-starting, overheating or ... the one that I have right now, 3 week old Sylvania, that sounds like a house-fly that has been hit off center by a fly-swatter, just before the light kicks on, and then there are several of the Home Depot "Commercial" brand name that have overheated producing a burning odor and/or lightly charred around the top of the base. These latter Home Depot lamps are the ones discussed in other threads here that have gone up in smoke for some.

[tmarks11]

...spots for the kitchen where every cfl ever installed has died

that's funny; in my last house too, one of the sockets in the kitchen fixture would burn out a CFL within 24-48 hours of installation. Very strange.

[J Tiers]

that's funny; in my last house too, one of the sockets in the kitchen fixture would burn out a CFL within 24-48 hours of installation. Very strange.

Any such behavior is cause to take a VERY good look at the neutral connections for that outlet, and possibly for the whole house.

A bad neutral can lead to the voltage being inversely proportional to load, light loads will get a "ton" of voltage, while the loaded ones will go down....... Just depends on where the bad connection is.

Obviously, a marginally rated CFL (they ALL are now) might easily fail if it gets 160VAC even for a short time.

I had a totally OPEN neutral after a storm 18 mos ago, open at the pole. Everything worked OK, because the water pipes here are steel, and interconnected. But it STILL caused some blinking lights etc.

My neutral returned thru the local equipment ground bond to the waterpipe and through my neighbor's houses and their neutrals to the pole. I know, I put a clamp-on on the pipe, and read 6 or 7 A. Normally it only reads about 1 A on the pipe.

I didn't "push" the matter, though, I wouldn't use any high draw equipment until it was fixed.

[dp]

that's funny; in my last house too, one of the sockets in the kitchen fixture would burn out a CFL within 24-48 hours of installation. Very strange.

I still have all four incandescent spots I removed to install the cfl's and they're still good after 4 years. I have been putting them back in as my supply of cfl's disappears.

[Mad Scientist]

Ellis Yan says he is producing 800,000 CFLs per day for the US. Included in that is product he has made for guess who ... Home Depot.

When they are manufacturing 800,000 per day you can be sure of one thing, and that is absolutely no expense was spared in finding ways to cut cost. So the failures are not all that surprising. However as long as they are operated within their design parameters they will generally give good service. But they do run warm and if they are placed in a fixture that does not provide good ventilation they will overheat and have a shortened life. I have also found that they do not like to be burned with the base up. As this also causes them to overheat.

And one thing that caught my eye was his comment: "He applauded the U.S. House and Senate for working on legislation that would change lighting standards and lead to the phasing out of the conventional light bulb by the year 2014"

This of course is pure male bovine manure. It is simply a means of trying to get a monopoly in the market. There are many applications where the conventional lamp is the only way to go, such as extremely hot of cold environments or where the lamp is going to be turn on and off frequently. Unfortunately many of our politicians are not smart enough to realize that.

[J Tiers]

There are many applications where the conventional lamp is the only way to go, such as extremely hot of cold environments or where the lamp is going to be turn on and off frequently. Unfortunately many of our politicians are not smart enough to realize that.

How about the light in the 'fridge? Ours has a light in the freezer. I am NOT waiting 3 minutes for it to light up......... An LED light would probably work OK, if it weren't that intense blue that so many "LED lights" are.

Or the one in the oven? How's the CFL or an LED going to like 450 deg F nearby?

I'd like to see if those applications are preserved OK for incandescent in the legislation. Might be they are not, simply due to oversight.

But I suspect it does not matter. If the bulk of apps are made illegal, then those niche areas that used to "ride the coat-tails" of the bulk production will suddenly start to cost $35 each, if anyone even will make them at all.

They may end up being simply unavailable at any price. "You can always buy a new oven"...........

[tony ennis]

There is plenty of time for congress to amend the law to make it reasonable. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

There is no doubt, however, that the legislation was inserted into the law by a lobbyist.