Puzzley
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 169
Yes, I have a number of CFL's in enclosed fixtures, and no problems. In fact, even less problems due to so much less heat produced...
I've heard that putting CFLs into enclosed fixtures is a bad idea. Anybody know why? And anybody doing it with long-term success?
My ideal spot was my living room where I have two wall sconces, with an up light and a down light each. I turn those lights on from dark til bed time. I put one in and it worked fine, though the light wasn't as soft as I'd have liked. Put the other 3 in, and all 4 just get a weak flicker and never come on. Why would this be? Is the fixture not giving enough power?
Thanks for the reply, but no timer. And unfortunately it's at my other house so I won't be able to try or check anything (like seeing what else is on the circuit) for a couple more months, but if you or anyone else has another suggestion I'd definitely check it out then.RB, is that circuit on any sort of electronic timer? My outside lights are on one. That timer needs a small 'trickle current' to keep it active. It gets that in an incandescent light - the element provides a current path even when 'off'. CFLs do not provide a path like that because of the electronic circuit in them.
My 'solution' was to put one or two 25W incandescents on that circuit (there are six outside lights total for me, 2 at the front door, 4 around the garage doors), and the remaining 4 are CFLS. That worked fine. W/o at least one regular bulb in there to provide the path, the timer would just flash on/off. I've seen that with light sensing ones too (on/off at dusk).
-ERD50
Thanks for the reply, but no timer. And unfortunately it's at my other house so I won't be able to try or check anything (like seeing what else is on the circuit) for a couple more months, but if you or anyone else has another suggestion I'd definitely check it out then.
Probably my best hope will be to contact the electrician who wired the house. I was just hoping for some tip like yours that might apply to what I'm seeing.
I'm pretty sure there is a dimmer on the circuit, but definitely not on this switch.
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Spouse is really looking forward to mainstream LEDs...
I've also heard that temperature and humidity extremes can impact CFL lifespans and quality, hence another reason I don't have them installed outside.
My oldest CFLs are the ones that I installed outside a long time ago. All are still working as good today as they did back then.
Its a lot easier to contain a little bit of properly disposed mercury than a whole #^@#%load of pollution from generating 3-4x the electricity...
...I noticed there wasn't a fluorescent tube or CFL in the whole place.
Correct. I just hope they really set up good recycling programs for them.
In my neck of the woods, you may need to wait for an assigned 'recycling day' with limited hours for certain things, then drive maybe 15 miles, and then wait in line to properly dispose of some things (fluorescent lights included). I do it, but I imagine that many people with less time on their hands, or just less motivation, just throw them in the trash. I can hardly blame them, but I still will.
-ERD50
Strange. No dimmer ether, I assume?
It is unlikely to be low voltage at the sockets. The reg bulbs draw more power, so they would load the circuit, and lower the voltage more than the CFLs. So, one CFL and 3 reg bulbs would be the worst case loading on the circuit. That should make the one CFL flicker if it was a load problem on that circuit.
But just for grins, when you get back, try 1, then 2, and then 3 CFLs with the rest reg. That might tell you something. You can also get a cheap meter to check the voltage. Maybe one high output CFL and one low watt reg bulb in each fixture would work for you?
-ERD50
Wow, that could be a bunch of things. Barring a dimmer being in the line (and I doubt thats the case), I'm going to guess that those lights are wired in series instead of in parallel.
What I mean by that is that the hot from the switch is feeding the hot on the first fixture, then the neutral from that light feeds the hot on the second, and so on, with the neutral on the last fixture coming back to neutral at the switch again.
That causes a sequential drop in voltage as you go down the line. Even the incandescent bulbs are probably getting dimmer as you go down the series, but its probably imperceptible.
Probably not the best way to wire it up, and depending on the setup you might be able to correct it so that the hot from the switch goes to the hot on all the lamps and the neutral all back to the switch. It was either hooked up wrong by the installer, or someone took a short cut.
Its also possible that each of the bulbs in the fixture is wired independently, and that just one of the four of them is wired in parallel to the other.