Facts you should know about Compact Fluorescent Lamps
By Richard Mead.
This article appeared in Electrical Gems Issue 78, April—May 2007
"Assuming Fluorescent Technologies take over the position of the Incandescent lamp, there will be some technical issues that should be understood, particularly for the commercial and industrial sectors."
Mark West — National Sales and Marketing Manager Sylvania Lighting Australasia.
Dimming.
Availability of CFLs that will satisfactorily dim on a range of domestic dimmers is limited both in options and dimming range.
Switching.
The life of a Fluorescent Lamp is inversely proportional to the number of times it is switched, i.e. the more times a fluorescent is switched in a day, the shorter the life.
Temperature Co-efficient.
Fluorescents are sensitive to temperature. The rated output is quoted at an optimum temperature such as 25 deg C. Ambient temperatures either side of this will have an impact on output whilst drawing the rated power.
Start up time.
With fluorescents a small delay is present. This depends on whether the lamp is soft or hard started. Hard starting strips emitter off the cathodes, reducing the number of starts the lamp is capable of. Soft starting provides a longer life, but at the expense of start up time.
Size.
Whilst Compact Fluorescents have become increasingly smaller, not all incandescent lamps can be replaced by a CFL, eg. an oven lamp.
Disposal.
Fluorescents contain Phosphor coating, Mercury, Alkaline Earth Oxides, Plastic control gear and electronic control gear, all of which are not conducive to land fill.
Power Factor.
Most Compact Fluorescents are Low power Factor. Sylvania can provide High Power Factor Fluorescent lamps where demand management is important.
Professional Advice.
It is true the benefits of long life and energy reduction far outweigh the above issues for most applications, however, in commercial and industrial applications a lighting professional such as Sylvania should be consulted.
GE
Technical innovation is bringing the CFL closer, in terms of user-friendliness, to the incandescent lamp every day. Two examples from GE are a CFL that's as compact as equivalent incandescent lamps, and another that can be dimmed using an incandescent dimmer.
GETiny Small enough to directly replace both standard and decorative incandescent bulbs but with greater energy efficiency, GE Tiny is the slimmest tube in the history of GE compact fluorescent bulbs. This extra mini design can directly replace both standard and decorative bulbs (such as candles or small rounds), plus other small fixture types.
The spiral design delivers approximately 20% more light. Generally speaking, spiral shaped CFLs are more efficient than other shapes and therefore produce more light per watt of power used (excluding the influence of the luminaire used). Tiny is approximately 20% brighter than standard CFLs of the same wattage.
Tiny is currently available in 8 & 12 watt, warm white, cool white and daylight colours, as well as four bases including B22, E27, B15 and E14. Soon to be released are 15 and 20 watt varieties. New rated life is 8,000 hours.
GE's super slim spiral tube technology makes Tiny (above) up to 50% smaller in size than regular compact fluorescent bulbs. Dimmable (below) features a wide dimming range of 20-100% and operates in the same way as standard incandescent lamps.
GE Dimmable The first continuously dimming compact fluorescent, Dimmable can create your desired atmosphere and save energy at the same time! Designed to work on standard incandescent dimming switches, Dimmable allows hassle-free replacement, so there is no need to replace existing circuits and dimmers.
GE Dimmable can save around 80% on electricity costs when compared to incandescent bulbs, but it will also use less energy than normal compact fluorescents when dimmed below full light output. This is because normal compact fluorescents cannot be used with dimming switches.
Philips
Philips Energy Saver Changing just one 60W incandescent light bulb to an 11W energy saver will save 279kg of greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the light bulb. For added visual comfort, Philips energy savers have a flicker free instant start, and are available in either warm white, for a warm, cosy atmosphere similar to that of a standard incandescent light bulb, or cool daylight, for a crisper, cooler atmosphere.
Philips energy savers last up to six times as long as standard incandescent bulbs, making them ideal for lights located in hard to reach places. They are also perfect for places where lighting is used for long periods.
*Based on an average of 5.5 hours use per day.
Nelson
T8 — T5 adaptor.
Soon to be released, the Nelson T5 to T8 adaptor simply installs into a T8 36W existing fixture to convert the T8 Fluorescent Fixture to a T5 Fixture. The result is a energy saving of up to 39% when installed into a LPF (Low Power Factor Fixture). Not only does it improve efficiency by up to 39% but it also improves the power factor in LPF fixtures, therefore improving magnetic power efficiency as well.
