Will CFL Curly Bulbs Work OK in a Ceiling?

[BevoZ06]

I'm still doing more thinking and planning about my garage renovation project. I am tired of fooling with 48" flourescent tubes and am considering alternatives.

I am thinking about the possibility of using 100-watt equivalent CFL bulbs in porcelain ceiling sockets with pull chains. I would leave the one current overhead incandescent bulb in place so I would have one instant-on light for a quick trip to the garage to get something I forgot. That way I wouldn't be lighting up the entire garage for a 2-minute errand.

The garage is still unfinished, and the ceiling joists are exposed so I can install whatever type of electrical boxes I might need. I have thought about re-wiring my switching, but I already have a 3-gang switch box at the man door entrance and I'm not sure I want to get into that and re-route or re-configure it.

The garage interior is 20' by 21.5'. When I have the walls closed up and painted a light color I am thinking nine of these bulbs spaced evenly would be ample. I will also have three hanging fixtures above the workbench and tool chest area, so that would make twelve total CFLs plus the one incandescent.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[nit2wn]

My garage was already set up with a porcelain socket on one side and a ceiling fan/one bulb over the other spot [2 car set up]. The previous owner had 75w old style in them and was really short on light. I swapped them out to 100w equivalent curly bulbs and still was well under the actual load rating. I recently went and swapped those for 150w equivalents that pretty much match the max load rating for the sockets and do a great job to me. The are a little slow to ''warm up'', but still put out as much light as an old style 60w bulb cold. They warm up to full light in 5 minutes or less [usually 3]

 

[BevoZ06]

My garage was already set up with a porcelain socket on one side and a ceiling fan/one bulb over the other spot [2 car set up]. The previous owner had 75w old style in them and was really short on light. I swapped them out to 100w equivalent curly bulbs and still was well under the actual load rating. I recently went and swapped those for 150w equivalents that pretty much match the max load rating for the sockets and do a great job to me. The are a little slow to ''warm up'', but still put out as much light as an old style 60w bulb cold. They warm up to full light in 5 minutes or less [usually 3]

Thanks for the reply. I tried to buy 150w equivalents at Lowe's but they don't stock them. I just bought one 4-pack of 100w to try them. I'll probably get some 150w if I decide to use the CFLs.

Merry Christmas.

 

[nit2wn]

Try Walmart, I believe I found mine there.

 

[Chaz]

A one hundred watt CFL bulb is the equivalent of complete darkness.

 

[Thruxton]

My garage is a little under 20 X 20 , I have 9 CFL's, one 100W equivalent and the rest are (I think) 60W equiv. all in porcelain socketsWhite walls and ceiling and I have plenty of light. I'll probably try 100W equiv in all, the total wattage drain will be so low, but not because I really need to. They do take a couple of minutes to warm up, which is no big deal for me. I really like the solution.

 

[machine_punk]

While I cannot give you 'real life' advice from personal experience, I can say this it the way I plan to go in my garage. Several medium-base, screw-bulb fixtures with the large CFLs. (I plan to have some sort of diffuser, though. If you have a white ceiling, I don't think that would be necessary).

 

[jvitez]

A one hundred watt CFL bulb is the equivalent of complete darkness.

ROFL!

Too true.

 

[jvitez]

100 watt equivalent CFL actually use 23 watts. 150 watt equiv CFL's are 40 or 42 watt actual consumption.

The Canadian Electrical code has a 12 device limit per lighting circuit which must be max 15 amps, not sure about the NEC. So, you could put up evenly spaced octagon boxes with lamp holders, then put whatever CFL's you want in each and see what you think. If you need more, buy a light bulb splitter for each lamp holder, and now you can put two bulbs in each fixture. Pretty cheap way to do it overall though a bit of work with the wiring. Lamp holders and octagon boxes are cheap.

 

[PhantomEB]

I hate those things!

 

[rsanter]

yes they will work fine
however you get better light distribution from the 48'' tubes and they are a little more efficient as well due to the light loss of the spirial design

bob

 

[BevoZ06]

100 watt equivalent CFL actually use 23 watts. 150 watt equiv CFL's are 40 or 42 watt actual consumption.

The Canadian Electrical code has a 12 device limit per lighting circuit which must be max 15 amps, not sure about the NEC. So, you could put up evenly spaced octagon boxes with lamp holders, then put whatever CFL's you want in each and see what you think. If you need more, buy a light bulb splitter for each lamp holder, and now you can put two bulbs in each fixture. Pretty cheap way to do it overall though a bit of work with the wiring. Lamp holders and octagon boxes are cheap.

Am I correct that amperage = wattage divided by volts ?

Assume twelve 42w (100w CFL) bulbs. 12 X 42 =504 total watts (if all on at once)

Then, 504/120 = 4.2 amps ?

I think this is correct, so it should not overload a 15 amp circuit if nothing else is on that lighting circuit. And if I do use the 100w equivalents the draw will be substantially less. I will be using 12/2 romex with ground wire into octagonal boxes. Any further thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Provincial]

Am I correct that amperage = wattage divided by volts ?

Assume twelve 42w (100w CFL) bulbs. 12 X 42 =504 total watts (if all on at once)

Then, 504/120 = 4.2 amps ?

I think this is correct, so it should not overload a 15 amp circuit if nothing else is on that lighting circuit. And if I do use the 100w equivalents the draw will be substantially less. I will be using 12/2 romex with ground wire into octagonal boxes. Any further thoughts or suggestions?

CFL's have a much higher starting load than the rated wattage. This is why there are limits to the suggested or code-required number of fixtures. The starting load is only for a limited time, perhaps milliseconds. I don't know if there is a larger load while the bulbs are warming up.

 

[EdT]

I used four 105 watt (400 watt incandescent equivalent) CFLs in recycled holophane prismatic high bay fixtures I got from a dumpster. They provide plenty of ambient light in my 800 square foot shop. I as very impressed with the result so I have pretty much abandoned my plan for 4' fluorescent in the ceiling even though I wired for them. I plan to have task lighting for the work benches and other work areas.

 

[NitroPress]

Many of the more powerful CFLs are designed to work only with their base down - if you mount them base-up, as on a ceiling, or even sideways, the ballast in the base can overheat, fail and even develop dangerously hot spots. Check the packaging on anything over a nominal 100W CFL.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The Canadian Electrical code has a 12 device limit per lighting circuit which must be max 15 amps, not sure about the NEC.

A "large" number of CFLs on the same circuit can cause "issues". ("Large" is in quotes because I don't have a specific number so 12 sounds good !) Some breaker manufactures DO make special "florescent" breakers.

I would go with biggest CFL bulbs I could find,

Tubes do give better light distribution.

 

[BevoZ06]

Many of the more powerful CFLs are designed to work only with their base down - if you mount them base-up, as on a ceiling, or even sideways, the ballast in the base can overheat, fail and even develop dangerously hot spots. Check the packaging on anything over a nominal 100W CFL.

That's a good point, Nitro. Some of the bulbs I looked at had warnings to install only with the base down. The ones I bought did not have this warning but, on the other hand, didn't specifically say it was ok to use with the base up. I'll research that issue a little more before I make a decision. Thanks.

 

[BevoZ06]

CFL's have a much higher starting load than the rated wattage. This is why there are limits to the suggested or code-required number of fixtures. The starting load is only for a limited time, perhaps milliseconds. I don't know if there is a larger load while the bulbs are warming up.

Your point about starting load is well taken. I am thinking that it will be a rare occasion when I would have all of them on at the same time. I will probably have them, or at least most of them, on pull-chain lamp sockets so they would be started in sequence rather than simultaneously. I think this would eliminate or limit a higher starting load.

 

[porcupine73]

I have both set ups, some 48" dual bulb fluorescent fixtures, and some 100 watt 'equivalent' CFL bulbs in porcelain sockets. I like the 48" fluorescent fixtures better. That is with two 40W T12 bulbs in them. But I suppose to get that equivalent from the CFL's I would need 3-4 of the 100 watt equivalent CFL's.

On the 48" fixtures, I got a bunch of the $10 cheapies at Home Depot a few years back. I forget the brand name. The nice thing is the ballasts seem to fully ignite the bulbs even when it is quite cold without leaving them flickering much.

Other units like Utilitech $10 48" at Lowes and whatever it is Ace Hardware sells, those ballasts leave a terrible flickering on the same bulbs for a good 5-10 minutes even when it isn't very cold out. I need some more of these fixtures for my other garage so I will be going for the ones from HD hopefully they are still the same ones from a few years back.

 

[theoldwizard1]

On the 48" fixtures, I got a bunch of the $10 cheapies at Home Depot a few years back. I forget the brand name. The nice thing is the ballasts seem to fully ignite the bulbs even when it is quite cold without leaving them flickering much.

Same here !

Re-wired my son's garage a couple of years ago installing cheapies from HD. They fired right up even at 10F.

My buddy spent "big bucks" on "commercial, all weather" fluorescent fixture for his barn. Sure he gets 10 degrees colder, but I bet the cheapies would still work.

I have not tried them at -20F !!

 

[Regnar]

I did this and used reflectors. I noticed before when walking into the garage the bulbs would hurt my eyes and I was looking down all the time. Now it lights up nicely.

You can see what I am talking about in the photo. The one white area is one of the bulbs I couldnt cover without hitting my head. Hurts my eyes just looking at the photo.

I initially wanted to install ceramics like the OP but wanted to know where it would best serve me. Well I installed a 4 gang box instead and kept using these. Allows me to move the light around.

Also note the bulbs are 23w (60w equivalent)

 

[ddawg16]

A one hundred watt CFL bulb is the equivalent of complete darkness.

I guess you didn't do well in science.....much less even use a CFL...

CFL's have a much higher starting load than the rated wattage. This is why there are limits to the suggested or code-required number of fixtures. The starting load is only for a limited time, perhaps milliseconds. I don't know if there is a larger load while the bulbs are warming up.

Urban myth.....

About the only issue is the cyclic load....it would appear that some brands pull most of their current for a very short part of the duty cycle....I want to look into it when I have time....

I have 16 6" recessed cans in the lower part of my garage loaded with 23w cfl's.....all on the same circuit. Plenty of light...in operation over 2 years....have yet to replace a bulb.

 

[Bennie]

This is the second garage I've set up this way. It's not impressive or pretty, it's cheap & affective. I actually get lots of compliments on it too. Makes me laugh. They are 23W (100W eq.) and the garage is 980sqft. Not sure how many total and I was too lazy to count just now.