Has anyone thought about returning to Flourescent lighting?
- Thread starter Arjun
- Start date
I wish I could go back to incandescent, but you can’t get them anymore, except for a bulb for an oven.
I remember the old days when Detroit Edison would give you a new bulb if you took your burned out one in to one of their offices.
I remember the old days when Detroit Edison would give you a new bulb if you took your burned out one in to one of their offices.
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The traffic signals I worked on from '73 to '92 were 69 watt incandescent for the 8" signals and 150 watt for the 12". They had thick coiled tungsten filaments, built for mechanical shock but also helped reduce burnout from inrush current caused when the cold filament was hit with full 120VAC if NOT switched on at the zero crossing....that happned a lot back when the timers in the cabinet were electromechnical and/or used conventional relays. About 1968 solid state loadswitches showed up that used dual SCR's and later 1 triac per color (red, yellow, green, walk and don't walk) that would switch the lamp on or off when AC crossed zero which extended their life exponentially.
That was done initially to reduce EMI and RFI but extended lamp life was a bonus. Remember how in the 50's and 60's if you were sitting at a red light and had your car's AM radio on you could hear a buzz as the traffic signal timer in the cabinet stepped through sequences? That was caused by switching those lamps at the end of long wires overhead which became an inductive load, creating some EMI/RFI that the AM radio could pick up.
The signal lamps were (are) filled with a mix of inert gases like argon and kryton to help displace the oxygen to also boost life. I've taken the 69 watters on a relamp that were over a year old, been switched on/off thousands of times in that period and were headed for the trash to my house and used them in non-enclosed table lamps, porch fixtures, garage ceilings, etc. and had them last 10 years!
Starting in '92 we had pretty much had replaced all the incandescent lamps with LED's.
The TL,DR version of this: broad-spectrum light is better for our perception. Broad-spectrum LEDs do exist, but are $$$$, and most people are cheap.
And my college professor rolls in his grave every single time people talk about "light" and include stuff like IR and UV. Light is defined as visible wavelengths, and does not include those (if you do include them, why not radio waves and the like?). It's all part of the EM spectrum, but not all light.
And my college professor rolls in his grave every single time people talk about "light" and include stuff like IR and UV. Light is defined as visible wavelengths, and does not include those (if you do include them, why not radio waves and the like?). It's all part of the EM spectrum, but not all light.
With cheap LED bulbs, I can literally see RF interference lines in my cameras.
The Fiet Electric bulbs are the worst. GE or Phillips are not bad.
The Fiet Electric bulbs are the worst. GE or Phillips are not bad.
I hear going back to incandescent makes the night more lucrative for couples, if you know what I mean
Hmm... I would have guessed you were one of those suave candlelight guys!
You can still get neon flicker bulbs
Tupkee C7 Flickering Flame Bulb –...
Tupkee C7 Flickering Flame Bulb –...
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