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From: minsky@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Marvin Minsky)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Halogen Lamps, too (was Re: florescent bulbs replacing inca
Message-ID: <4171@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Date: 26 Nov 90 06:25:28 GMT
References: <1990Nov16.091211@mathcs.emory.edu> <1990Nov17.211808.21546@ameristar> <27836@mimsy.umd.edu> <57@deeptht.UUCP> <36224@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: minsky@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky)
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA
Lines: 18


I have some large, dark panelled rooms, and it is prohibitively
expensive to keep them well lit with incandescent bulbs.  So I've used
compact fluorescent bulbs for the last couple of years.  Sixteen
Panasonic 20-watt units.  The light color is almost satisfactory, and
the 16 bulbs give enough light, but they've noticeably dimmed since
new.  So that 6000-10000 hour rating hasn't been realistic, although
they haven't burned out. I estimate they're actually at about
1500-2000 hours by now, and will soon need replacing.  If so, those
nice "energy efficiency" numbers may be considered deceptive!

IN two other rooms, I used similar units made by Lights of America.
These are half the cost (9-10 dollars).  But the solid state
converter-ballast unit in the base burns out, and most of them have
died in less than 2000 hours.  (The Panasonic units contain a
fair-sized inductor, while the LOA units contain a mere couple grams
of transistors and other small components.  Obviously the margins are
too small.)