Re: N:Vision CFL's

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:46062422.758879843@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >762148549236.....9R4023 floodlight.....$7.47
> >762148582328.....23W 2Pk..................$7.97
> >762148581925.....19W 2Pk..................$7.97
> >762148581444.....14W Mini 4Pk...........$7.97
> >762148588429.....42W Bulb.................$9.97
>
> So they cost 7.5-40 times as much as an incandescent?

I suppose so.  It's clear they're much more expensive to buy, and in a world
where people take out car and payday loans to squeak by, there are a lot of
people who are never going to make the buy-in.  Unlike you, the electric
company doesn't charge us a fee for using too little juice.  )-:  We got the
largest electric bill ever last month.

> > Some of the warnings
> >on the bulbs are new to me (do not use near marine radios or in emergency
> >exit signs).
>
> I can understand why they might put out EMI that interferes with certain
> radio bands. Battery powered emergency exit signs would be a problem.

I didn't think about the battery powered issue but those are usually 12V
bulbs, not 110VAC, true?  It still seems an odd warning to me.

> >On the plus side, near-instant on, good cold weather performance, limited
> >dimming, no X-10 EMI and no X-10 signal sucking are nothing to sneeze at!
>
> If there's no X-10 EMI why can't you turn them off?

You tell me.  I was as surprised as anyone that it wouldn't turn off except
from the switch pushbutton.  Best guess is no neutral wire and some bizarre
interaction with the switch.  The very same bulb gave no problems mounted in
a floor lamp controlled by a plain vanilla lamp module.  I can't easily
measure the EMI in situ for the porch light unless I use a socket adapter
with a outlet to plug in the Monterey or ESM1.  There just aren't any
outlets accessible on that circuit leg.  It's just the porch, side and
basement stairwell lights.

I am going to try a few benchtop setups with other types of X-10 switches to
see if there's something peculiar to the switch at the front door but I
suspect it's back to incandescents, at least at that location.  Aside from
not turning off remotely, the light slowly pulsates and the wall switch
itself hums like a banshee.  There were no remote turn-off problems when the
same bulb was used with a lamp or an appliance module.  Just the damn wall
switch!

The bulb that I was running dimmed for longevity tests was pulsing on and
off, very slowly this morning.  More accurately it was pulsing from very
dimmed to half dim.  I suspect it's temperature-related drift.  The big
advantage of these bulbs is that they will operate at full brightness quite
nicely on a lamp module, and that means they will respond to ALL LIGHTS ON,
something that the CFL/appliance module/filter setup I use now will not.

Since they specifically disclaim dimming abililties, I consider it gravy!
One thing that seems interesting is that the pulsing effect is not
consistent from module to module.  The bulb that pulses in the porch fixture
does not pulse (or cause the same loud hum) when in the floor lamp connected
to the lamp module.

Don't count on answers this weekend.  It belongs to the IRS.  )-:

--
Bobby G.