Sources of good CFL lights

I have become dissillusioned with the philips ones I have been buying up till recently. I have several around the house that are starting to go dim thruout most of the spiral, and it seems that the 2 retailers I usually go to are no longer stocking them in 6500k, just that horrid orange 2700k.

I have tried the generic branded ones from bunnings (pack of 5 for NZ$10) and as expected, they died even quicker then the philips ones, plus they stuck out of the fitting into the room.

So what I am looking for is something not to expensive, 6500k daylight instead of orange, at least 20 watts, and able to go in a GLS downlight without sticking out.

Quite happy to order from aussie if there is somewhere that will ship to NZ, did that with all the cbus kit since noone over here sells it at a realistic price.

 

Hi there, richms !

Well, with CFLs you DEFINITELY get what you pay for. The cheap ones (which is all you can find in supermarkets etc) are absolute crap, with unreliable (short) life.

Getting quality ones in 6500K may be harder than for other colours, because the "normal" sales are for 2700K, 3000K and 4000K so there is a better choice of quality lamps in these colour temperatures - the bluish colours like 6500K tend to be only preferred in Asian countries.

In my experience, the Osram DULUX? EL LONGLIFE are the best - a "commercial grade" product. But they are a "4 loop" design, 20W is 141mm and 23W is 173mm long. Those are the only ones that the companies that I've worked for will use in commercial applications, as most of the others just cannot handle it and there are too many warranty claims.

The Philips Genie is a cheap, asian product (probably the ones you've had problems with). Mirabella and most Nelson are also rubbish. In fact, almost all the ones that "spriral" are crap.

Some of the GE, Sylvania, Luxman and more expensive Nelson products are fairly good. Almost all manufacturers sell 2 or more different "grades" of CFLs but the retailers and wholesalers usually only stock the very cheapest (worst) ones. What you need to do is check the rated lifetimes and ensure that they are testing that life to IEC standards.

Personally, I think that "retrofit" type CFLs are all pretty much rubbish. If you are using CFLs exclusively it'd be better to change the lights to dedicated fluorescent units. That way the reflector is designed for the light distribution of the CFL lamp, which is completely different to that of a GLS lamp. By using a proper downlight and normal TCD or TCT lamp, in most cases you will be able to at least HALVE the wattage and still acheive the same amount of light. Suitable reasonable quality downlights are made in NZ by DOT (sold in Australia by Pierlite/Philips).

I'll leave it to others to respond re: experiences with other brands of CFLs, as there may be some out there that have given good service.

Cheers, John

 

4000k would probarbly be ok, should be able to slip that by, but there is no way that 2700 or 3000 would fly at all. The whole reason that we went to CFL was to get a better colour. I know what you are saying by asians liking the bluer ones, but it seems that everyone that comes over likes it after a while.

I just end up feeling tired if I sit under crappy incandesent lights for any length of time. Swapping the tubes in my office out for some 965 ones has really reduced my lack of motivation at 10 at night to do any work, and I find that walking into the rest of the house is a real downer with low temperature lights there. Its just its about the 8th time I have had to change dead lights in the house since swapping to the CFLs, and as always its one over furniture that dies. Always looks ghetto when people come over and there are lights out so I get the hard word to replace them, which seems to be more often even with the philips energy savers then it was with 100 watt gls.

I did look into getting some dedicated CFL downlights, but it looked like electronically ballasted ones were as rare as hens teeth, and the flicker starting is totally unacceptable, and the possibility of running flicker make me hesitant to even use them where they are on constantly. The big ones in my office are magnetic and they are always noticable out of the corner of my eye when using the computer.

 

LOL - yeah, the bluish colour definitely creates a "motivational" mood. What is interesting is that the human eye "adjusts itself" and only notices the colour difference when there is something to compare to... in other words, a 4000K will look really "blue" compared to a 2700K, but will look distinctly "yellow" when in the same area as a 6500K. We often trick people using this demonstration in lighting training courses.

Another point is that the higher colour temperature lamps have LOWER light output than the 4000K - for example, Osram 840 (4000K) is 3350lm, 865 (6500K) is 3250lm. The 90 series tubes are even lower (only 2350lm for a 36W 950).

Osram have just released a "skywhite" linear lamp, with 8000K colour temp. Only 2900lm from a 36W but it would definitely not be a lamp that would make you feel relaxed or sleepy

Anyway, I just checked the catalogues here at work...

The Philips Genie is rated at 6000 hours. They don't actively promote a "commercial quality" CFL here in Australia, although they do make them overseas (the so called "Master" range).

The Osram EL Longlife is rated 15,000hrs but seems it's only available in 2700K here in Australia. The Osram Mini Twist is their cheapy chinese domestic lamp, rated 6000 hrs and avail in 2700, 4000 and 6500K.
http://www.osram.com.au/pdf/MiniTwist_Brochure.pdf (almost 2MB).

Cosmoluce sell the well regarded Megaman range - made in China but we've had good results with them. Distributed by Impel, 4 Henderson Place, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand
The Liliput have a rated life of 12,000hrs (lower wattages are longer), and have 2700, 4000 and 6500K. The Liliput PLUS have 15,000hr life (these are the premium models). Watch out, Megaman have 3 completely different quality rangfes in CFLs.
http://www.megaman.cc/global/products/product.php?sid=3

Sylvania "Mini Lynx Economy" is 6000hrs, 2700 / 4000 / 6000K
http://www.sla.net.au/product.php?p=308

Sylvania LYNX ENERY SAVER - QUAD is the commercial qulaity lamp - 2700 or 4000K only, rated 10,000 hrs
http://www.sla.net.au/product.php?p=310

Luxman is distributed by Compact Lamps Australia (CLA) - or LightENZ Ltd
PO Box 177, Kumeu, New Zealand
Most models available in warm, cool and daylight colours
ELT and ELQ are the best one - rated 12,000hrs,
http://www.lightsofaustralia.com/PDF/elt.pdf
http://www.lightsofaustralia.com/PDF/elq.pdf (higher wattages)
and some spiral shaped 12,000 hr ones here :
http://www.lightsofaustralia.com/PDF/ESL ESS.pdf

Mirabella don't even have a website, but as far as I know they only sell cheap domestic-orientated products.

Nelson have a "premium range" - 8000 hrs, 3000 or 5000 hrs
http://www.nelsonlamps.com.au/products page/PDF Files/Lamps CFL PRemium 8000hr.pdf
Most Nelson lamps sold through retailers and hardware stores (eg: Bunnings) are cheap, nasty domestic units. For example, their "Economy" range is only rated at 3,000hrs which is less than many halogen lamps ! ! !

Well, that's enough for now... the main thing to note is that any of the "domestic" CFL products will tend to have short life. That is simply due to price pressures. You need to find "commercial quality" units, which will not be particularly easy. I would thing that you'd need to special order them from an electrical wholesaler (not a retail shop).

Also be careful due to what I mentioned above - that most manufacturers have three price points, and the lower the price the lower the quality. Just because it's made in China doesn't mean it's rubbish... but as pre my first post "ya get wot ya pay for"

Cheers, John

 

Oh - and for dedicated CFL downlights - you will not find electronically ballasted ones in retail stores. They will almost always need to be ordered specially from a project lighting supplier (via electrical wholesaler). All good brands will have them available.

You should expect 12,000 hrs life for TC-DE and TC-TE lamps on electronic gear.

The flicker starting is totally unacceptable - yes, the normal ones TC-D and TC-T with inbuilt glow starter blink like mad when they start.

You could use TC-DE and TC-TE lamps which have 4 pins, then use a magnetic ballast and external electronic starter. That'd offer flicker-free starting and is quite commonly used in commercial premises, especially where the lamps are on motion detectors **

possibility of running flicker make me hesitant to even use them where they are on constantly. Yes, some people can notice it... although please note that it's 100 Hz flicker, which is what the "new technology" TV's are now using !

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BTW - the life of fluoro lamps with small filaments (T5, CFLs, etc) is greatly affected by the nmumber and method of starting them. Cheap CFL lamps and electronic ballasts are instant start, which great because the lamps start immediately but it blasts the f*** out of the filaments and hugely reduces their life. This will be the main factor affecting the life of the CFLs - the good quality commercial lamps will have a long filament preheat (and corresponding 1 to 2 second starting delay). So, to get longer life from those CFLs will definitely mean a delay when they first are switched on.