CFL lighting - how do you like them?

[laser3kw]

Hi Guys
I read the thread by Veno about the cfl lighting. I like what I read in general. I understand the controversy about this verses that between the CFL and the good old 4' T5 tube.
We installed the industrial version at work and the first thing I notice was shadows. Not bad shadows, but a noticeable ghost shadow. I also installed one in our bathroom, a bluer, 5600º color, and I notice a shadow there also.
But, every environment is different. My garage has 10 foot ceiling in the shop 30' x 24'area and 17 foot peak (12' wall), scissor truss ceiling in the garage bay 30' x 16' area. I want to use the CFL's but I would like to know out of the people that have tried the cfl, How do you like them? Pro's and con's?

 

[Jack Olsen]

My shop is just about all CFLs. I like them a lot.

 

[hifi_hokie]

Can't stand CFLs. Going back to incandescents for non-work lighting that isn't used frequently - for ones that stay on longer, I'm looking into LEDs.

 

[sloppy]

Its all I use. they last longer are cooler and I have no problem with the light.

 

[mrjaw14]

they get hot, so you have to be careful where you put them. I've seen them explode before.

 

[bgarrett]

CFLs **** and I refuse to buy any
they were over hyped and do not perform as advertised

 

[laser3kw]

Thanks for the responses.

Can't stand CFLs. Going back to incandescents for non-work lighting that isn't used frequently - for ones that stay on longer, I'm looking into LEDs.

what is it that you don't like? Do I guess correctly that you will use them in work areas and led for other areas?

they get hot, so you have to be careful where you put them. I've seen them explode before.

Can you explain that a little bit for me? I plan on ceiling mount quad box with porcelain socket, with possibly reflector. Not doing any recessed stuff.

 

[jlckmj]

My shop is almost the same size and configuration as yours, I have 10 - 105 watt (400 watt equivalent) CFL's and I love them. The only downside is that they take about 3 minutes to warm up to full brightness.

I have less than $200 in my lighting, and that includes conduit, fixtures, wire, and bulbs. I had 16 - 8ft. florescent bulbs in four commercial rapid start fixtures in my last shop and the CFL's beat that light output because it is disbursed better, and the wattage used is very comparable. In the attached picture you can see that there are no shadows at all.

You can listen to the nay-sayers if you wish, in my opinion, the large CFL's are the best lighting out there for the money invested.

 

[kenners]

I like them.
I've put three rows of six bulbs in half of a 30' X 30" area at one end of my shed.
The other end of shed 30' X 48' has T12's and is about to be changed out to CFL.
They initially come on less bright, but come up to full brightness in a short time.
You can get different levels of brightness. Think they are rated in a K value.

Warm/soft white ≤ 3,000
(Bright) white 3,500
Cool white 4,000
Daylight ≥ 5,000

 

[mrpowderkeg]

They are the most inexpensive way to light a shop IMO. I went with some 40w CFL lights from menards, the cups are cheap the bulbs are about $8 a piece. My shop has 24 of them on the ceiling. The way I see it, is the screw in light bulb has been around for many years. It will be around for many years later too, and any new style lighting will probably be made with a screw in base, so if something better comes along in the future, I should retrofit with ease.

The bulbs I use are these

 

[LEVE]

I have 6 overhead CFLs in my garage plus two more over my workbench as well as two more in the garage door openers. At night they'll light up the 1200sqft garage like day time without a lot of glare. I put them in my porch lights and use CFLs in 4 outside mounted automatic double flood lights.

They use less wattage, give more light and are less subject to heat/cold and vibration. I like them. In the last 3 years I've replaced one. Now, I am slowly replacing the lights in the house with CFLs with the least expensive ones I can find. Over the time I've been using them they've saved me aggravation as well as money.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I recently did a deck and I did all LED lighting for it. The one advantage of LEDs is their ability to run on a dimmer. Problem is, the color temperature skews from warm white to blue-white as the bulb dims, which bothers me.

CFLs do not dim. But the newer ones are instant-on. I'm surprised by the complaints about them here (maybe they were the earlier bulbs?). Mine run cool, last forever, and provide great, consistent light.

 

[Thruxton]

My shop is just about all CFLs. I like them a lot.

+1, or plus one, as my original message was too short. Arg.

 

[Highbeam]

The cfls I've used run cool, die very quickly, but do provide good light.

I have two big problems. Slow slow slow warm up and the physical size of the high wattage CFL bulbs. Those big guys hang way down and have lots of fragile glass. It is hard to break a tube when you want to, I've broken cfls on accident.

Lastly, they aren't as efficient as tubes. When you're burning 1000 watts for light, a small increase in efficiency goes a long way.

 

[Falcon67]

I have CFL's everywhere there is an Edison socket except the shop ceiling and the garage door opener in the house. Some are instant on, some are warm up. All work good and no complaints. I have a pair of GE outdoor CFL floods that are closer to 2700K color temp than I'd like, but they work fine and come up to bright in about a minute. I can wait, not a big deal.

I would not use them in my shop - I'm too likely to smash something hanging down like that. I've already nearly took out some of the T8s swinging around trim and 2x4s. I'm pretty much channeling Curly (Moe, Larry, etc) when handling lumber.

 

[jhelrey]

I had CFLS in my house when I bought it. I could not stand the warm up time and inability to dim even though they said dim-able. I don't regret switching back.

 

[Dragster guy]

Well my first post. How are you guys running these? Boxes and conduit?

 

[ddawg16]

I have 16 CFL's in recessed cans in the 1st floor of my garage....going on 5 years now....0 issues.....this gives me plenty of light....I put it where I want it....I don't have to worry about smacking a bulb with a piece of wood....and it's easy to change the color...

 

[BFBOB]

I really like CFL's - easy replacement for incan's. Just pay attention to the color. As much as I like daylight, I really, REALLY hate "daylight" flourescents. To me, they look harsh. Nerve-wracking harsh. Warm-white or Soft-white look much better to me. My favorite is a Sylvania CFL in a nearly bulb-shaped envelope. It fits a standard trouble light, gives more light and is sturdier than a 75W rough service incandescent, and best of all, even with a steel shade, won't burn the fkkk out of the tender inside of your forearm. 'Nuf said? Need photos?

 

[sloppy]

I recently did a deck and I did all LED lighting for it. The one advantage of LEDs is their ability to run on a dimmer. Problem is, the color temperature skews from warm white to blue-white as the bulb dims, which bothers me.

CFLs do not dim. But the newer ones are instant-on. I'm surprised by the complaints about them here (maybe they were the earlier bulbs?). Mine run cool, last forever, and provide great, consistent light.

They do have dimable CFL's Not sure if they come in all wattage's but there are some available.

 

[laser3kw]

thanks for all the replies. Great information.
I figure with 10' ceiling, if I would break a CFL, I willl break a T5.
I think I am going to put up a couple of sockets and try a couple of different "colors" / temperature to see what will light best. I have a 5600 right now and if I had to say, it gives of a nice white light with a little on the blue side.
Thanks again, keep posting, for others who a looking for input.

 

[RedBKM]

I use 4' and 8' tubes between the garage doors because I leave them up a lot and need the maximum light in between.

Over benches and work areas you can't beat a CFL with a reflector. Look around for the reflector that screws into a regular socket. The bulb then screws into the reflector.

 

[Highbeam]

I figure with 10' ceiling, if I would break a CFL, I willl break a T5.
I

Not true. Plus go t-8 with such low ceilings. T-5 have such high output that spacing should be greater which means more shadows in a low ceiling shop. T5 is close but still too expensive up front.

The high wattage CFL will hang an ultra fragile coil of thin glass nearly a foot down into your work space. The tube option will be within 3-4" of the ceiling and much much more difficult to break. I admit that I don't recycle my dead bulbs and break them to get them to fit into the garbage cans. It is not easy to break a tube. CFLs break if you look at them funny.

If you're going to do this regardless, at least do yourself a favor and use lots of fixtures and the standard 13-18 watt CFL that replaces a 60-100 watt incandescent. They are much cheaper, common, and are available in more colors and brands. More importantly, they will only hang down into your shop maybe 4 inches.

 

[ddawg16]

Not true. Plus go t-8 with such low ceilings. T-5 have such high output that spacing should be greater which means more shadows in a low ceiling shop. T5 is close but still too expensive up front.

The high wattage CFL will hang an ultra fragile coil of thin glass nearly a foot down into your work space. The tube option will be within 3-4" of the ceiling and much much more difficult to break. I admit that I don't recycle my dead bulbs and break them to get them to fit into the garbage cans. It is not easy to break a tube. CFLs break if you look at them funny.

If you're going to do this regardless, at least do yourself a favor and use lots of fixtures and the standard 13-18 watt CFL that replaces a 60-100 watt incandescent. They are much cheaper, common, and are available in more colors and brands. More importantly, they will only hang down into your shop maybe 4 inches.

I'm not sure where you are getting some of your measurements....

I have 23W lamps in all of my 6" recessed cans....some are PAR CFL's...the rest are bare CFL's. Only the PAR lamps stick out a fraction...maybe 1/4" at most. The bare lamps are tucked up in the can and safe from flying 2x4's.

If I get around to installing trims...the trim will stick down more than the PAR lamp.

I have never broken a CFL in my garage.....or the house for that matter...

One other thing...I have CFL's in the garage door opener...I couldn't keep an incandescent going in the opener more than a month or two....the two CFL's have been in there about 5 years....and the opener is operated several times a day.....

 

[jlckmj]

If you're going to do this regardless, at least do yourself a favor and use lots of fixtures and the standard 13-18 watt CFL that replaces a 60-100 watt incandescent. They are much cheaper, common, and are available in more colors and brands.

HIGHBEAM, Think about what you said above. If you don't like the cfl's I can understand. If the OP does not want them hanging down from a 10 foot ceiling, I can understand that also, that is why he posted here, to find the good and bad.

But your post above makes no sense. To use the cheap low output cfl's in a garage would create much more work mounting them, much more expense in fixtures, boxes, bulbs, conduit, etc. Using your example (15 watt bulbs) he would need 70 bulbs in his garage to equal the lighting of 10-105 watt bulbs.

That sure would defeat the advantage of using the high output bulbs completely. I am betting that you have never been in a shop or garage with the large cfl's, or your responses would not be quite as one sided.

Jim

 

[pepi]

Just a thought here, the curly Q bulbs will hold a lot of dirt/dust from a shop. I think the surface area being small as it is out put of light will bet affected much quicker then the T8s . I have T8s and every now and then, I find they need to be wiped down with a wet rag, very easy, cannot even think how that would be with the curly Qs.

Just saw and got some 6 bulb T8s 4 footer fixtures for 84 bucks a pop @ HD loads of light, was just shopping saw the price. Bingo upgrade was in order at pepi's monster garage, 40 bucks off regular pricing.

I have seen the fixtures and the price range was from 130 - to a whopping 300 bucks.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/6-tube+fluorescent+fixture.do?sortby=ourPicks

Say want salt with that pretzel bulb ?

 

[Highbeam]

I'm not sure where you are getting some of your measurements....

I have 23W lamps in all of my 6" recessed cans....some are PAR CFL's...the rest are bare CFL's. Only the PAR lamps stick out a fraction...maybe 1/4" at most. The bare lamps are tucked up in the can and safe from flying 2x4's.

If I get around to installing trims...the trim will stick down more than the PAR lamp.

I have never broken a CFL in my garage.....or the house for that matter...

One other thing...I have CFL's in the garage door opener...I couldn't keep an incandescent going in the opener more than a month or two....the two CFL's have been in there about 5 years....and the opener is operated several times a day.....

You have cans in a garage, an oddball installation and not what is being proposed. Shoving them into cans certainly reduces the likelihood of being damaged.

 

[Highbeam]

Using your example (15 watt bulbs) he would need 70 bulbs in his garage to equal the lighting of 10-105 watt bulbs.

That sure would defeat the advantage of using the high output bulbs completely. I am betting that you have never been in a shop or garage with the large cfl's, or your responses would not be quite as one sided.

Jim

That's why cfls are not a great option with low ceilings. To do it a bit more safely you would need the lower wattage and so 70 bulbs and lots of fixtures and wiring. I have held the high wattage cfls in my hand, they are huge.

It's not about the light output, I'm sure that the cfls can make light. It's about them dangling down from a 10 foot ceiling in harm's way.