Incandescent Light Bulbs/Globes

[israelwillprevail]

I know these are banned in Oz, but can they be imported into Australia from sellers in the UK? I hate these silly fluro ones and they don't use any less energy either, sorry. Old school and all that. 😄

Thanks

[Anonymous]

LED downlights sent me off hunting.

Some are going for only 1 CENT for 4.

180971015162

Now I know why ebay is trying to dump the auction format.

[go-tazz]

Standard 25W 40W 60W 75W 100W
Softone     5W 8W 12W 16W 20W

Standard          40W 60W 75W 100W
EcoClassic 30 28W 42W 53W 70W

Standard 35W 50W 65W 85W 115W 130W
Tornado   5W 8W 12W 15W 20W 23W

Standard 25W 40W 60W 75W 100W
Genie       5W 8W 11W 14W 18W

These where the choices given,(which gives high difference in energy use).

These days most of the globes on sale in super markets only have a small gap,eg: 42 W is 60 W

So what has happened to the "better" globes,(better profit for them in the other globes?).

And surely those globes aren't that energy efficient compared to the others.

[the3coopers]

Standard 25W 40W 60W 75W 100W

Softone     5W 8W 12W 16W 20W

Tornado   5W 8W 12W 15W 20W 23W

Genie       5W 8W 11W 14W 18W

These 3 are fluorescent, a retrofit lamp. They do not have the same colour as incandescent, and colour rendering is poor (80% accurate at best, but that is an average and some colours are completely incorrect). They take ages to warm up, and dimming is problematic or simply fails.

EcoClassic 30 28W 42W 53W 70W

This is Halogen, a direct replacement for the Incandescent lamp, with same colour, colour rendering, instant start, and easy dimming. Basically, a "better" incandescent.

So what has happened to the "better" globes,(better profit for them in the other globes?).

And surely those globes aren't that energy efficient compared to the others.

Higher efficiency doesn't mean better. There are numerous compromises required if you want higher efficiency than halogen. Apart from energy efficiency, Halogen is THE perfect light source. There is no 100% prefect light source (except the sun, and even it has a problem of overheating sometimes).

LED is marketted as being "better" but a lot of it is lies or misinformation. LEDs have even worse colour characteristics than fluorescent, the same problems with dimming, plus they fade dramatically over (a hopefully longer) life. The other problem is that LEDs cannot handle heat, so they are problematic for any type of enclosed luminaire.

The lives quoted for LEDs are all fabrications (guesses), and there are no Australian Standards surrounding the outrageous claims that LED supplier make to consumers. If you think Used Car Salespeople are a bit shonky, remember that they still work in a regulated inductry, but the LED sales guys don''t have anybody watching over them.

So, you need to choose the best product for the task. Halogen is best were you want instant light, accurate colours and dimming. Fluorescent is best for overall cost of ownership, LED is a compromise between the two.

[Anonymous]

Sortakinda on topic.

Coops...

I have to do photography for the wife ( clothing ) indoors.

Nothing fancy, just a little compact digital camera.

Is there any particular lighting you could recommend ?

[the3coopers]

For my indoor photography I use 2 x single 36W linear fluorescents with Colour 840 tubes. They have silver mirror reflectors on them, and are mounted just above head height, on chains so I can adjust the height.

SEE > http://i46.tinypic.com/31294z7.jpg

The colour is a bit distorted, so you need to check it in the image editor and/or use a Fluorescent setting (not Auto White Balance) on the camera.

The Colour 840 tubes have a pretty "spikey" spectral emission, so they highlight Red, Blue and Green but are seriously deficient in some colours. This chart explains it.. you can see there is no output at all in some parts of the spectrum:

http://www.osram.com/media/resource/lightboxlarge1/46303/LIGHT-COLOUR-840-LUMILUX-COOL-WHITE.jpg

A more expensive Colour 940, 950 or 960 tube would be better as they have more "colours" so there is less gaps and they better approach a Halogen or sunlight source (continuous spectrum). But the 9xx series tubes have about 30% less output, so I'd need to use 3 tubes to get the same illumination.

Whilst not accurate as Halogen, the fluoros are HEAPS cooler to work under (90 lumens of light per watt compared to about 20 from halogen). At the end of the day, the 840's are good enough anyway and they are easy to get at any hardware store (or even Coles and Woolies).

I use a tripod only if I am taking a batch of similar images. These 3 lamps provide more than enough light and allows the camera to not use the flash, which makes the shots heaps better. I use a Sony 5MPx usually (has a great lens) but also using a Canon Ixus 95IS 10Mpx recently as it has better battery life.

Because my items vary considerably in size I use that table (1200mm long) so I have flexibility of placement and the linear fluoros mean no shadows except if I lean over to take top-down shots and my head or hands gets in the way.

I didn't want side-mounted lights, not to use a light tent or lightbox as they are too restrictive of product placement (but perfect for small items like jewelery. I hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much coops.

It appears my Coolpix S2500 ( stop drooling...lol ) is working under 'coincidentally' reasonable lighting. Tweeking the light source following your advice is now on the cards.

Thanks again.

[the-kazbar]

Coops, do you mind if I ask you a lighting question as well? :8}

We have ceiling fans with a light fitting that use a remote control instead of a wall switch. When we try and use the energy efficent bulbs, the remotes don't work.

Will the halogens work or will I need to get the wall switch wired when we run out of our incandescent supply?

[the3coopers]

Coops, do you mind if I ask you a lighting question as well? :8}

We have ceiling fans with a light fitting that use a remote control instead of a wall switch. When we try and use the energy efficent bulbs, the remotes don't work.

Will the halogens work or will I need to get the wall switch wired when we run out of our incandescent supply?

Yes - halogen lamps will work perfectly. They ARE an incandescent lamp, just a  more efficient one.

The fluorescent lamps don't have a filament, so they callont work with 2-wire sensor switches, remote controls and other "simple" (self-powered) electronic control devices. This is another reason that incandescent lamps will never be fully "banned".

There is absolutely no need for anyone to "stockpile" the old inefficient incandescents... just use teh halogen versions instead, there is no downside whatsoever (except for a slightly higher cost).

BTW - there is no "incandescent lamp ban" as-such. What is banned is the very worst (cheapest and least efficient) General Lighting Service lamps. The ban is based on efficiency, (lumens of light per watts of power consumed) and many halogen-filled incandescents can meet the standards. It's the same as with Clothes Dryers and Fridges, etc - they are banning the least efficient ones, not banning them completely.

[the-kazbar]

thanks Coops 🙂

[aspidistral*bliss]

Wow thankyou.

They kept this info quiet didn't they.

I was just about to buy another material lamp cover to put over the second eye assaulting, anger inducing, piercing spiral of "warm white" light bulb in my lounge room. I can only have them on for an hour or two before I start to go mad.

Now I will just buy halogen lamps, which the3coopers has kindly informed us all are actually incandescent lamps.

Someone made a lot of money off this whole scam and this increases the certainty I have in the belief that money is the only reason it all happened.

Thankyou again.