How many watts in the cfls? If - as I suspect - they're about 13w, then no wonder. Their claim is to equal a 60 watt bulb, but that's really optimistic. We use 4X as the guideline. Some manufacturers are 5X, but not many. Color is also a factor. Most used by the hospitality are warm white - 2700Kelvin - because they're closest to incandescent. If you want a light for reading, though, you're better off with at least cool white (4100K) or even 5K. The 5Ks are cold looking for a living situation.
The one thing I haven't figured out is the lumen output comparison for the different colors, given the same wattage. According to the specification books, the warm white (27K) bulbs have a higher lumen output than the whiter bulbs (41K to 5K), but the whiter bulbs appear brighter. I don't understand that. I guess I don't really understand what a "lumen" is...or what is being measured when they measure lumens.
By the way...I have 65K bulbs in my kitchen, and really like it. We tried 5K bulbs in the TV area/family room, and they were ugly - we went back to 27K for that location. It's a little weird, but it matters.
It's pretty and more - shall we say modest - but I agree that it looks dim in there.
I have had good luck with CFLs, except that you can't turn them on and off very often. A location in which you turn them on and off once a day is okay.
You do have to use a much higher rating to get usable light.
Now I'm picturing Carl with a flashlight reading in bed.
PS: How's the internet access. I saw that the hotel listed 24 hour high-speed (Obama would be so proud!) access in the business facilities, but it was not quite clear if all the rooms had the same connection?
It would be nice if you could tell us what the heck you are doing over there.
It appears that even journalists can be pushed too far. This is an amazingly pithy editorial with the shocking inclusion of experience around the world. It's almost like somebody did some research. What is journalism coming to?
My verification word was "angendi", which I take to be an agenda the details of which conflict with the stated purpose.
We use the standard of 10,000 hours or 2500 turn ons - whichever comes first...!
Photocells can be deadly to them also, by the way. Some photocells are digital (I think) meaning they're either on or off. Those are ok for fluorescents. The others are analog (meaning the reduce voltage to a trickle so that the light goes off). These are the fluorescent bulb killers. Most fluorescents can't take dimming unless they have special ballasts. The problem is that the photocells don't tell you which they are - you have to call the manufacturer to find out. Most cfls will just say "Don't use with photocells." But you can - maybe.
WaPo editorial was great--thanks M_O_M. And, I avoided using a flashlight to read my Nook in bed by moving two extra CFL lamps -- 16W/827s -- onto the bedside tables. Incandescents are as rare here as pork.
Of course, I can't say what I'm doing over here--both because I never blog about work and because it's confidential in any event. I'm not one of those "name in lights" lawyers (it's been years since I've written a brief or appeared in appellate court). Most of my work is regulatory policy behind-the-scenes -- where I'm more comfortable anyway.
M_O_M, all the "Western" hotels here have Internet in the room--but the reservations expressed above forbid me from commenting on its quality or speed.
10 comments:
How many watts in the cfls? If - as I suspect - they're about 13w, then no wonder. Their claim is to equal a 60 watt bulb, but that's really optimistic. We use 4X as the guideline. Some manufacturers are 5X, but not many. Color is also a factor. Most used by the hospitality are warm white - 2700Kelvin - because they're closest to incandescent. If you want a light for reading, though, you're better off with at least cool white (4100K) or even 5K. The 5Ks are cold looking for a living situation.
The one thing I haven't figured out is the lumen output comparison for the different colors, given the same wattage. According to the specification books, the warm white (27K) bulbs have a higher lumen output than the whiter bulbs (41K to 5K), but the whiter bulbs appear brighter. I don't understand that. I guess I don't really understand what a "lumen" is...or what is being measured when they measure lumens.
By the way...I have 65K bulbs in my kitchen, and really like it. We tried 5K bulbs in the TV area/family room, and they were ugly - we went back to 27K for that location. It's a little weird, but it matters.
This fixture is not nearly as spectacular as the other - but at least we can see what's holding it up!
It's pretty and more - shall we say modest - but I agree that it looks dim in there.
I have had good luck with CFLs, except that you can't turn them on and off very often. A location in which you turn them on and off once a day is okay.
You do have to use a much higher rating to get usable light.
Now I'm picturing Carl with a flashlight reading in bed.
PS: How's the internet access. I saw that the hotel listed 24 hour high-speed (Obama would be so proud!) access in the business facilities, but it was not quite clear if all the rooms had the same connection?
It would be nice if you could tell us what the heck you are doing over there.
Darn it! I forgot.
I came over here to direct you to the latest WaPo editorial about high-speed rail.
It appears that even journalists can be pushed too far. This is an amazingly pithy editorial with the shocking inclusion of experience around the world. It's almost like somebody did some research. What is journalism coming to?
My verification word was "angendi", which I take to be an agenda the details of which conflict with the stated purpose.
> That's not enough candlepower to read the budget.
Is it really, really "a budget", when no one makes the slightest effort to actually restrain spending on anything they want?
I think we need to refer to it more as "the federal outlay"... don't you?
Just askin'...
MOM...
We use the standard of 10,000 hours or 2500 turn ons - whichever comes first...!
Photocells can be deadly to them also, by the way. Some photocells are digital (I think) meaning they're either on or off. Those are ok for fluorescents. The others are analog (meaning the reduce voltage to a trickle so that the light goes off). These are the fluorescent bulb killers. Most fluorescents can't take dimming unless they have special ballasts. The problem is that the photocells don't tell you which they are - you have to call the manufacturer to find out. Most cfls will just say "Don't use with photocells." But you can - maybe.
WaPo editorial was great--thanks M_O_M. And, I avoided using a flashlight to read my Nook in bed by moving two extra CFL lamps -- 16W/827s -- onto the bedside tables. Incandescents are as rare here as pork.
Of course, I can't say what I'm doing over here--both because I never blog about work and because it's confidential in any event. I'm not one of those "name in lights" lawyers (it's been years since I've written a brief or appeared in appellate court). Most of my work is regulatory policy behind-the-scenes -- where I'm more comfortable anyway.
M_O_M, all the "Western" hotels here have Internet in the room--but the reservations expressed above forbid me from commenting on its quality or speed.
> but the reservations expressed above forbid me from commenting on its quality or speed.
Hrm... methinks by idle speculation you'd not be lightly blogging if it was as good as one would want... :oD
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