Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 28, 2009 19:36 UTC (Sun) by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
In reply to: Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet) by brother_rat
Parent article: Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Not really. I live in Oklahoma City, OK USA. And I've taken a very active interest in promoting the use of efficient lighting. I provide energy efficient bulbs, to anyone, for free, in the common areas of the apartment complex in which I live. And despite my best efforts, a "porch light" survey shows only a few percent of people in the complex use them. On their porches, anyway.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 28, 2009 20:03 UTC (Sun) by brother_rat (subscriber, #1895) [Link] (9 responses)

I just did a similar survey here (although nobody has porches on my street, so even harder to tell)
and I reckon there's at least 80% energy efficient bulbs. Most of the remaining incandescent bulbs
are spot lights or "candle" type bulbs, which I guess makes sense. For reference I'm in Bath, UK.

I'm guessing that a "porch light" is normally left on all evening in your part of the world? I'd say we
started using efficient fluorescent bulbs for those kind of things 10-15 years ago.

Incidentally, they are due to stop selling 60W light bulbs in January 2010 here, and also in the rest
of Europe on a similar timescale.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 28, 2009 21:55 UTC (Sun) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] (4 responses)

Yes indeed, and I'm seriously not looking forward to it. There appears to
be no energy-efficient bulb on sale equivalent to the old 100W bulbs: they
go up to 60W-equivalent and then stop.

And 60W is not enough to read by :(

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 29, 2009 9:27 UTC (Mon) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link] (2 responses)

I've had no problems sourcing 20W CFLs (100W equivalent) in the UK. You might like to try DIY stores - my most consistent source is Homebase.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 29, 2009 12:19 UTC (Mon) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link] (1 responses)

A 20W CFL is certainly toted as being equivalent to 100W incandescent, but - I don't know if it's due to colour temperature, dimming over time, or what - I find them to be intolerable.

I'd like to try a 30W but they're hard to find and cost around £10 which is a bit much. For the moment I'm soldiering on with this 20W thing and leaving it off until it's almost too dark to see, since it inexplicably feels like it makes the room *darker* until that point.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 29, 2009 12:37 UTC (Mon) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link]

One thing to watch for - incandescent lights warm up almost instantly, whereas CFLs take ten to fifteen minutes to warm up.

Note also that CFLs tend to be bluer than incandescents once running - if this bothers you, halogens are your best bet.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jul 2, 2009 19:00 UTC (Thu) by NRArnot (subscriber, #3033) [Link]

They'll carry on selling halogen-incandescent bulbs, which are now widedly available in housings compatible with old-style bulbs. Halogen gives a better-quality light and about 25% more of it for the same wattage. I too don't like the quality of light from CFLs, but given halogen bulbs, there's no excuse for the other sort.

Halogens cost more, but if you drop the wattage a bit you'll save much of the extra cost in electricity over 2000 hours life.

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 28, 2009 21:56 UTC (Sun) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (3 responses)

and what is the fix for the problem that CF bulbs _really_ don't like to be turned on and off much? I put one in a a place that had high cycle rates
(motion sensor controlled) and had it burn out in a few months.

even incandescent lights last much longer than that, and it's _far_ 'greener' to run one incandescent light using 4x the power for a year than it is to run 4 CF bulbs and replace them when they burn out.

eliminating the motion sensor and going to a manual switch means that the light is on lot longer, and that it's not always on when it's needed (safety issue)

I use florescent lights in many locations, and LED lights in others, but I also recognise that they are not right for everywhere.

Replace with halogens

Posted Jun 29, 2009 4:51 UTC (Mon) by eru (subscriber, #2753) [Link]

I put one in a a place that had high cycle rates (motion sensor controlled) and had it burn out in a few months.

I had a similar experience with an outdoor light. But my solution was not to replace it with an old-style bulb, but with one of the new "compatible" halogen bulbs that has a normal screw, looks just like a classic bulb, but consumes about 30% less energy. Here is a link to one vendor's explanation of the concept (there are others): http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Consumer/Home_Lighting/Halogen_lamps/Product_overview/Screw_bases/ENERGY_SAVER/HALOGEN_ENERGY_SAVER_Classic_A/index.html

I also find the light from this kind of energy saving lamp is more pleasant than from fluorescents, not to mention those ghastly LEDs, which somehow manage to dazzle but not illuminate...

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 30, 2009 19:41 UTC (Tue) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (1 responses)

Actually, it's not necessarily the cycle rate that does the damage. I put a CFL on a mechanical timer (which you are TOLD NOT to do, and it died in short order. I put the replacement on an electronic timer, and it was fine.

Mechanical timers don't switch cleanly, I think, and cycling it while it's trying to power up doesn't seem to be the done thing ...

Cheers,
Wol

Shuttle XS29f: Linux Looks Great in Green (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Jun 30, 2009 21:09 UTC (Tue) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link]

in my case it was an electronic motion sensor, so that problem doesn't apply.

this isn't just a case of CFL, normal FL have the same problem, power cycling them drasticly cuts down on their life