CFLs and power factor?

[cujet]

I am 100% convinced that the lumen output of CF bulbs is not as easily harnessed. I use the 800 lumen, Sylvania 23W 2700K in the kitchen "high hats" in my house, even with a chrome reflector, the realistic output is lower than the 65 watt, 650 lumen PAR bulbs they replace.

Contrast that with the output of the single fixture with 2 T8 bulbs in the laundry room. That single 64W T8 fixture produces more usable light than all 5 of the recessed curly bulbs with brand new chrome reflectors. 

[BioHazard]

Back to the original question about power factor - do you own a kill-a-watt?  I still have one on my "must buy" list.  They can measure power factor, and a little first hand experimentation might be very helpful.  You know, actually measure a sample of the actual bulbs you want to use?  Real data is worth more than a room full guesses.

I do have a kill-a-watt...I tried a "15 watt" CFL and it showed 17 watts consumption and 30 VA with a .57 power factor. I'm still not entirely sure what that tells me though, should I be sizing the wiring and circuit breaker to the VA instead of watts?

[BioHazard]

Tonight I noticed something interesting. I had a high amp air compressor plugged into the same circuit as a fluorescent T12 shop light and some CFLs. As the air compressor started up, the T12 light went out for a second...while the CFLs didn't even blink.

[fuelfarmer]

We use a lot of CF bulbs. The 13 watt U tubes with separate ballast would use 28 watts per bulb. The bulb maybe would use 13 watts, but the ballast would use as much or more energy that was not listed on the rating. The one piece bulbs seem to have a more accurate watt rating. Don't know about PF.



 

[Thob]

I do have a kill-a-watt...I tried a "15 watt" CFL and it showed 17 watts consumption and 30 VA with a .57 power factor. I'm still not entirely sure what that tells me though, should I be sizing the wiring and circuit breaker to the VA instead of watts?

Sizing of wire and circuit breakers depends on the current flowing thru them, so read the Amps from the kill-a-watt.  It should be the same as reading VA and dividing by voltage, but easier to read the amps.

[Tom Reed]

I just bought one of the new Phillips LED lights to replace a CFL in a desk lamp used a lot. The LED appears to put out a bit more light than the CFL but uses the exact same amount of power as per my Watts up meter. I was hoping that for $40 there would be a bit of energy savings.

[LowGear]

Has anyone the website of a T8 supplier?

Casey

[SteveU.]

Hey Tom
Be curious to see how you fare with the LED as a reading lamp.
I bought an generation I, 50 element LED table camping lantern and it seemed to be better seen at a distance then to actually see by. Also seemed to really killed the night vision of anyone looking past it stone dead.
For a year or so I tried using old generation I and II LED flashlights tried and failed at work (no workable distance illumination) on a goose neck as in bed reading lights. Great battery life but the reflected from the paper light would give me bad welders like eye burn after only 30-45 minutes of reading.
I now winter chore live by my Gen III and IV LED headband lamps. Great distance and area lights with excellent battery life but the critters and people I sweep with them complain about purple/black burn spots in their vision after looking even indirectly into then even from a quite a distance.
The early gen I and II's LEDs only seemed to get ~5,000-15,000 hours of life - NOT the 100,000 hours claimed. Hard to tell in often dropped flashlights. Cannot tell yet on the Gen III and IV's that I own. Never had any after ~10,000 hours ever fail yet. But these like the newer vehicle brake lights all been DC power sourced.

Regards
Steve Unruh

[Tom Reed]

This is the one I have in the 75w version. Available from Home Depot. I am extremely happy with the quality and quantity of light it puts out. There is a shade over the light so no burn spots on the old retinas yet. The light sits next to the computer and is on all day.

[BioHazard]

Has anyone the website of a T8 supplier?

Casey

I like 1000bulbs.com, prices are pretty hard to beat. I just ordered 30 CFLs to test....

[BioHazard]

Took me years and far too many bulbs to figure out the positional/heat factor. Upright non-enclosed mounting DOes get close to their  claims. Sideways non-enclosed mounting halves the life. And mounted downward, enclosed or non-enclosed, kills them quicker that a standard Edison incandescents.
Packaging now hints at this.

Interesting note, I got my CFLs today and on the box it says "Light output has more than 5% decrease when used in base down position than in base up position"

Isn't that backwards?

Another interesting thing, it says "23W 120V 420mA". That works out to 50 watts each, not 23.

[DanG]

If they could get away the hype of "Supernova-Bright 50W" of light they would be  ...

The amperage is probably the ballasts peak in-rush, once the arc is hot and stabilized I'd bet the true draw is around 120% of the label rating.

[mike90045]

... box it says "Light output has more than 5% decrease when used in base down position than in base up position" 

maybe it's a function of the ballast blocking the light coming out ?  Hot tubes produce more light (note that when cold, many lights are much dimmer)  I don't know that ballast temps would affect light output.

And its odd, they say "more than 5%" leaving it wide open if it's actually 38% decrease !!

[cgwymp]

Another interesting thing, it says "23W 120V 420mA". That works out to 50 watts each, not 23.

Got a Kill-A-Watt? Can you test it & see?

[Lloyd]

I have a Q, what about CCFL's, do they also suffer from the same PF issues?

Lloyd