130v bulbs run longer more efficient?

[pauls340]

A retired electrician at HD talked me into these 50w 130v bulbs for my ceiling pot lites. He says they're 130v that is only fed our 120v so the lamps are dimmer, cost less to operate and should last twice as long. Have you ever heard of this? Six are installed and look fine.

 

[ddawg16]

They might last a little longer.....but are no more efficient than the 120V versions...

For the sake of discussion.....lets assume they are 100w bulbs.

At 130V, they will pull 0.769 amps
At 120V, they will pull 0.71 amps....but, is now only using 85 watts of energy....

So, yea, they are using less energy, but your getting less light....hence, they are no more efficient at 120 than at 130v....your still getting the same lum's/watt...

 

[rlitman]

So, yea, they are using less energy, but your getting less light....hence, they are no more efficient at 120 than at 130v....your still getting the same lum's/watt...

Not quite. They actually give significantly less lumens per watt.
That's the tradeoff for longer life.

 

[pauls340]

Yes they are dimmer than a regular 50w lamp.

 

[Gary S]

As stated, they consume less electricity, last longer, and give you less light, so efficiency is about the same or less.
If you care about efficiency and bulb life, go to florescent or LED lighting.

 

[rlitman]

Or just get 120V incandescent bulbs and run them on a dimmer set to 85%. You know you can even get "eco" dimmers that only brighten to 85%. Then when you add a whole bunch more bulbs into the equation to get sufficient light, you'll be spending 20% more on electricity than when you started.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.