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Sylvania 29733 (CF4EL/SUPER/827/RP)
Tiny, and puts out the equivalent of a 25W light bulb - and only burns 4W of power! |
This is my little light bulb power conservation rant.
Domestic incandescent light bulbs range from the low end of ~40W to the high end of 150W, more or less. There are higher and lower, but with little effort you can find 40-150W sizes, and lots of them in between, on the shelf at grocery stores and hardware stores. Clearly using that much power to produce light is wasteful, in light (har har) of new technological advances.
Compact Florescent light bulbs use a fraction of the power their incandescent cousins use, and can usually be found in 60W equivalent and 100W equivalent sizes - I presume this is becase people know how bright a 60W and 100W bulb is, and there is a retail demand for them.
Well here's the thing; there are CFLs which come in smaller sizes - not as many, but they're there if you look! I get the impression 60W equivalent CFL bulbs are being used, and only burning up ~15W, where even less could be used. If you want to be dramatic, you could say "SAVE 50%" and it would be true, but it's less of a drop in energy use from switching to CFLs from incandescents to start with.
CFLs are not "new" anymore, but this post was triggered by finding something new-to-me. I found 25W equivalent and 40W equivalent Sylvania CFL bulbs at Canada's
Superstore today, and after installing them, I'm quite pleased. Their
temperature is 2700K, and the light output is enough to provide a
significant amount of light for the space which I am lighting. I am
going to make an effort to get more 40W and 25W equivalent bulbs since
60W and 100W equivalent light outputs are sometimes too much for a
hallway or other confined space - especially if the fixture takes
multiple bulbs.
To give you some quick numbers;
a 60W incandescent bulb can be replaced by a 13W-15W CFL with equivalent lumen output
a 40W incandescent bulb can be replaced by a ~10W CFL with equivalent lumen output
a 25W incandescent bulb can be replaced by a ~4W CFL with equivalent lumen output
How much light do you need? Re-evaluate how much light is necessary in multiple bulb light
fixtures in (for example) your TV room; you could save a significant
amount of power. In our living room we have two
table-standing lamps, and one fixture suspended from the ceiling.
That's 5 bulbs; 4 60W bulbs and one 40W bulb. We're now using 3 40W
equivalents, 1 25W equivalent, and 1 60W equivalent. The best part is,
because the bulb's light is outputted at ~2700K, they look "warm" and not
the cold green colour that 3100K lights put out.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a new found love affair in CFLs, I still think they're terrible - but this is a bridge until LED light bulbs become popular.
There are two problems I have with CFLs;
- The colour temperature on so many is green, and looks terrible.
- They have mercury, which if you weren't paying attention is bad for everything and everyone if the mercury escapes... which it will if you break one.
Why do we have light bulbs being sold on the shelf that require a HAZMAT team to clean up if they break?
I think CFLs are an environmental disaster as the minority of people properly dispose of them. I'm eagerly awaiting LED light bulbs to get the bugs worked out and take over from he CFL market. Until then, I'll use CFLs and dispose of them properly. I can only hope they really DO get disposed of properly; after all, all I can do is drop them at the right location for recycling!
If you see a "25W" or "40W" compact florescent, I encourage you to give them a try somewhere you have a 60W or 100W bulb now; you might save a few bucks off your electric bill, and add better ambiance to the room at the same time. They're much better than the CFLs from a decade ago, and if you haven't tried them in that long - you should!
Model Number: Sylvania 29733 (CF4EL/SUPER/827/RP)
Lamp Category: CFL Spiral
Energy Used: 4 watt
Light Output: 250 lumens
Volts: 120
Bulb Base: Medium Screw (E26)
Bulb Shape: n/a
Color/Finish: Warm White
Average Life: 8,000 hours
Color Temp: (kelvin) 2,700K
CRI: 82
Dimensions: 3.1 In. Length x 1.6 In. Width
http://www.superiorlighting.com/Sylvania_29733_CF4EL_SUPER_827_RP_Bulb_p/29733-syl.htm
Picture Credit: http://www.rona.ca/images/11275089_L.jpg
Model Number: Sylvania 29401 (CF10EL/MICRO/827/RP2)
Lamp Category: CFL Spiral
Energy Used: 10 watt
Light Output: 600 lumens
Volts: 120
Bulb Base: Medium Screw (E26)
Bulb Shape: n/a
Color/Finish: Warm White
Average Life: 12,000 hours
Color Temp: (kelvin) 2,700K
CRI: 82
Dimensions: 3.5 In. Length x 1.5 In. Width
Case Pack: (price per bulb not case:) 12
http://www.superiorlighting.com/Sylvania_29401_CF10EL_MICRO_827_RP2_Bulb_p/29401-syl.htm
Photo Credit: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31q90f5dLaL._SL500_SS500_.jpg
