[Boatanchors] CFLs

[howard holden]

I've been using CFLs for perhaps 9-10 years now. Replacements are few and far between, no RFI that I can hear, and I have had them in the shack all along. Never had one catch fire, and even use them outdoors. Yes, they take a minute or two to get to decent brilliance, and outdoors even longer if it's cold, but it's a small inconvenience for the money saved on electric bills. And, they can't be used in a dimmer setup. Back in NJ, tracking our electric bills for several years compared to pre-CFL, the CFLs saved an average of $15 per month. They paid for themselves in no time, and lasted about 3 years average, far longer than any incandescent. In our home here in Reno, the kitchen came with 8 in-ceiling flood lamps, each rated at 65 watts. Replaced them all with 15 watt CFLs, and have absolutely no issues with them.  Even though electric is cheaper here in Reno, given that I've installed over 25 of the CFLs (small ones, floods, and even 3-ways) I would estimate the savings about the same, plus the long life factor. We personally find the light from them to be OK.

About the mercury, for those who are concerned, a hefty percentage of the electric in this country is generated from coal, for which mercury is a by-product of combustion. There is less mercury in the small CFLs than the mercury not produced by the lower energy required over their lifetime.  

Certainly some have had bad experiences with them, but for our money the CFLs  just make better sense than incandescents. 

Howie WB2AWQ
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Pete Lancashire<mailto:pete at petelancashire.com> 
  To: Troglodite at aol.com<mailto:Troglodite at aol.com> 
  Cc: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net<mailto:boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> 
  Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 9:13 AM
  Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] CFLs


  not only C as in compact but cheap FL, like the $10 shop ones.

  at my old place, I had about a dozen of them. the only thing that worked
  was since they were between the joists was to cage them in wire cloth
  (Al window screening).

  on the flip side I helped wire a friends shop with commercial fixtures, don't
  know what was different on the inside but they were a lot quieter.

  love to hear from others and their solutions

  -pete

  On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 8:34 AM,  <Troglodite at aol.com<mailto:Troglodite at aol.com>> wrote:
  > One thing no one has mentioned that I have encountered is RFI from CFL's.
  > Perhaps the newer ones are better, but some generate noise all the way up
  > into the GHz region. I cannot use one in the lamp that sits next to my home
  > wireless phone system, as it operates marginally when near the CFL. It runs
  > at 2.4GHz or thereabouts. Now it may be that some lower frequency component
  > is interfering with the phone's processor, I don't know for sure.
  >
  > I also pick up noise on several communications receivers if there are CFL's
  > in the same room. Has anyone else noticed this?
  >
  > Doug Moore kb9tmy
  >
  > ______________________________________________________________
  > Boatanchors mailing list
  > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors>
  > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm<http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm>
  > Post: mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net<mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
  >
  > List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
  > ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
  >
  >
  > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net<http://www.qsl.net/>
  > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html<http://www.qsl.net/donate.html>
  >
  ______________________________________________________________
  Boatanchors mailing list
  Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors>
  Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm<http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm>
  Post: mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net<mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>

  List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
  ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com ** 


  This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net<http://www.qsl.net/>
  Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html<http://www.qsl.net/donate.html>