These new bulbs save energy, but they have the following disadvantages.
The usual cause of burnout is failure of the power supply in the base of the bulb, not failure of the light-emitting element itself.
The life rating expects the light emitter to fail first.
The power supplies are sensitive to lightning, surges, and overheating.
The new bulbs burn out faster in enclosed fixtures because the power supply heat is trapped. Most require open fixtures.
The life of a gas-filled fluorescent tube itself is determined by the number of times it is switched on, not the number of hours the bulb has current flowing through it. A typical lamp is good for about 6500 starts. The life ratings in hours on the package are false, but are required by idiotic laws to be stated that way.
Brownouts can shorten the lives of many of the new designs.
With some bulbs, insects, debris, or moisture in the air vents can make the power supply overheat.
Some CFLs have exploded or started fires. Most were early models. They can fail in dangerous ways under the following conditions:
All fluorescent bulbs have very bright peaks from the mercury and argon bright line spectra.
Compact fluorescents, T5, and T8 bulbs have gaps in the spectrum. Some emit only 5 to 9 bright lines.
White LEDs have deep dips in the deep violet, cyan, and deep red wavelengths. Some also have a dip in the yellow.
These peaks, dips, and gaps cause the following problems:
Colors mixed by artists under these lights look wrong under other lights.
Colors mixed by artists under other lights look wrong under these lights.
An exception: Mixtures of cyan, magenta, and yellow transparent paints appear the same under most kinds of light.
Very few colors look right under mercury vapor lamps, high-pressure sodium vapor lamps, and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Their bright-line spectra prevent true color rendering.
Under a low-pressure sodium vapor lamp, all objects look black or various shades of yellow.
One exception is the halogen bulb. It gives off a sloped continuous spectrum.
There are several different kinds of dimmers:
Many of the lamps cannot be dimmed. They cannot run on reduced voltage or rapidly switched voltage.
Dimming any fluorescent lamp shortens its life.
Turning a switching power supply on and off rapidly can cause it to malfunction. Often it makes the lamp blink on and off.
Reducing the voltage supplied to a switching power supply can cause it to malfunction. Often it makes the lamp blink on and off.
The power supply circuits inside the new lamps cause various kinds of electronic dimmers to malfunction. This can cause rapid blinking, failure of the lamp, failure of the dimmer, or all three.
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WEIRD EFFECTS
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Many of the lamps do not draw enough current to keep a triac latched on. So the device won't properly power the lamp.
Flashing any fluorescent lamp greatly shortens its life, rendering it useless for light shows.
Turning any fluorescent lamp on and off frequently shortens its life, making it useless for motion detectors.
The power supply circuits inside the new lamps cause various kinds of electronic switches to malfunction. This can cause rapid blinking, failure of the lamp, failure of the switch, or all three.
Some individual models of CFL or LED bulbs cause the weird effects in the sidebar at right.
Inserting one incandescent lamp into one of the controlled sockets keeps all of the weird effects listed from happening.
Most of the new light bulbs flash the light element at a frequency much faster than the power line frequency. Thus, the stationary lines needed to make the adjustment do not appear.
Lamps that run at higher frequencies include compact fluorescents, some LEDs, fluorescent tubes with electronic ballasts, and exotic designs (electron stimulated, induction-plasma, etc).
This renders useless the discs and bands used to adjust the rotation rates of phonograph record turntables, tape transports, cine camera drive shafts, and other devices intended to be set by a strobe disc. These devices cannot be set any other way.
The only light sources left that work strobe discs and were not banned are the neon flicker-flame bulb and neon night lights. Some LED Christmas lights without electronic controllers also work.
Many cannot stand the temperature extremes.
Many of them must not be allowed to get wet.
Many do not work with existing motion detector security lights.
Most do not work with existing on-at-dusk off-at-dawn fixtures.
Some of the ones that are allowed outdoors have vent slots or holes that spiders and other bugs like to build nests in. These nests will prevent cooling and shorten the life of the bulb.
Many of the outdoor bulbs and fixtures are not sealed against condensation and tiny insects.
Because these bulbs have vent openings, raspberry crazy ants can infest them and cause short circuits.
Often the neck containing the new bulb's power supply won't fit in the husk around the socket.
If the neck does fit in the husk, the husk keeps the power supply from cooling itself.
Although T8 fluorescent tubes fit T12 sockets, the T12 ballasts quickly destroy T8 tubes.
Many LEDs and CFLs require the base to point down, preventing their use in ceiling lights.
Three way lamp sockets wear out CFL bulbs by using up three starts each time the lamp is used.
Ultraviolet light from CFLs turns some plastic lamp covers yellow.
The clip-on lampshade won't clip onto a squiggle bulb.
A squiggle bulb sticks out of the end of a standard sized tulip shade.
Some of the new bulbs are too heavy for gooseneck lamps, track lights, and tall floor lamps.
Harmonics or switching power supply frequencies can damage relay contacts on existing motion detectors, timers, and control units, making the relays stick on or conduct intermittently.
With a low power factor, harmonics, or switching supply frequencies, the current drawn in the wires may exceed the amount calculated by using the lamp ratings.
New lamps emitting switching supply frequencies can interfere with carrier-current remote controls and speakers.
New lamps with filters to keep the lamp from emitting switching supply frequencies can filter out signals for carrier-current remote controls and speakers, keeping those signals from passing the point in the circuit where the lamp is connected.
The low power factor incurs extra utility charges for industrial users.
Some switching power supply lamps cause radio interference.
These uses depend on the heat produced by the bulb, or the heat-varying resistance of the bulb, not the light it emits.
Light bulbs are used as sources of heat (e.g. EZ-Bake Oven, egg hatchers, chicken brooders).
Light bulbs are used as series ballasts to protect electronics (e.g. audio amplifiers, electronic air filters, toy train transformer protection, battery chargers, and radio transmitters).
Light bulbs are used as self-heated varistors (e.g. some wind speed indicators, surround sound decoders, antique radio tube circuits and other uses).
Power line sags cause some of the new bulbs to go completely out, while incandescents dim only slightly.
Mercury vapor lamps, fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, and some LEDs give off ultraviolet light. This causes some pigments to fluoresce, glowing brighter than normal.
Lamps that give off ultraviolet light can damage plastic objects, including lamp covers, receptacle plates, smoke alarms, and other items.
New LED traffic signal lamps don't give off enough heat to melt snow off the lenses.
Exposure to sunlight, ultraviolet light, or weather extremes can cause the lamp housing to deteriorate.
There are miniscule amounts of mercury in CFLs, and miniscule amounts of arsenic in LEDs.
There doesn't seem to be any logical reason to charge more, for either the LED or the CFL lamps.
The charge for cool colors (cool white or daylight) is about $5.00 higher.
Stores are unfairly stocking more styles in warm colors.
There seems to be no real difference in the bulb except the phosphors and dopants used.
Some have vent slots or holes that spiders and other bugs like to build nests in. These nests prevent cooling and shorten the life of the bulb.
Many of the outdoor bulbs and fixtures are not sealed against condensation and tiny insects. They get into the circuitry and damage it.
Condensation and tiny insects getting into the circuitry of solar powered yard lights is usually the reason they fail. The batteries provided also can not take the temperature swings encountered.
Because these bulbs have vent openings, raspberry crazy ants can infest them and cause short circuits.
Small flying insects become confused, get trapped, and die wedged between the turns of squiggle bulbs. This especially happens with a bulb that is oriented horizontally.
Small flying insects become confused, get trapped, and die wedged in the vent holes of LED bulbs. They then cause the bulb to overheat and fail.
Manufacturers need to provide for the following needs:
Avoid switching power supplies.
Make sure the parts are not stressed by either normal operation or temperature extremes.
Electrolytic capacitors, not the light emitter, define the life of the bulb. Avoid them.
Use inherent current limiting, not a self-destruct circuit.
Protect circuitry against surges.
Design circuits to not give off too much heat.
Change the law to correctly label fluorescent lamp life.
Make sure the power supply cannot catch fire.
Make cooling devices that won't plug up or admit foreign matter.
With LEDs, it is a minor modification to add phosphors or light emitters to fill in the three deficient areas.
Don't let energy efficiency trump other needs. A flatter spectrum needs more energy, but some people can't do their work without a flat spectrum.
Avoid bright-line sources.
Continue research for flatter light sources.
Provide a "complement bulb" that provides the missing wavelengths for another white bulb, so using both bulbs together provides a flat full-spectrum white light source.
Use simple power supply circuits instead of switching power supplies.
For LEDs, use a full-wave rectifier with a series load on each diode, and small filter capacitors.
Phase-compensate the power supply so it looks resistive to the supply lines.
Make sure lamp current is proportional to the portion of time the chopped current is on.
Do not over-filter the rectified power.
Use simple power supply circuits instead of switching power supplies.
For LEDs, use a full-wave rectifier with a series load on each diode, and small filter capacitors.
Phase-compensate the power supply so it looks resistive to the supply lines.
Make the current draw large enough to keep a triac on for a half-cycle.
Load the circuit enough when the lamp is off to keep spark suppression capacitors and other parts of switches from causing erratic operation.
Don't let energy efficiency trump other needs. Lamps that flash at power line frequency are needed for use with strobe discs or drums to calibrate the rotation speeds of various kinds of equipment.
Use simple power supply circuits instead of switching power supplies.
For LEDs, use a full-wave rectifier with a series load on each diode, and small filter capacitors.
Don't let energy efficiency trump other needs. New lamps that work outdoors are scarce.
Make lamps that can take temperature extremes, rain, snow, and ice.
Make lamps that work with existing motion detector security lights and existing on-at-dusk off-at-dawn fixtures.
Do not put slots or holes in the case that let moisture, life forms, or debris get inside the lamp.
Make the neck containing the power supply small enough at the base end to fit in the husk around the socket.
Use a power supply that can cool itself. Avoid switching power supplies.
Make simple T12 to T8 conversion kits. And get rid of the stupid law prohibiting lamp types.
Make lamps that work in any position.
Three way lamp sockets should not turn off between brightness levels.
Filter out ultraviolet emissions with special glass.
Make special clips that fit squiggle bulbs and hold lampshades.
Avoid switching power supplies.
Avoid letting harmonics out of the bulb.
Use choke-input filters to block high frequencies without shorting out carrier-current signals.
Phase-compensate the lamp load, so the lamp looks like a resistive load.
The parts must have the original characteristics. Substitution may cause a device to malfunction or be destroyed.
The new technology bulbs must be improved to the point where they are more desirable and cost less than old bulbs. Then there is no reason to ban the old bulbs.
Don't use switching power supplies.
Don't leave openings in the lamp case.
Filter out ultraviolet light with special glass.
Combine improved traffic signal lens design with an attachment heater used in snowy weather.
Abolish the fearmongering about tiny amounts of certain elements.
If there is any real cost difference in making the bulbs, explain it to customers.
If no real cost difference in making the bulbs exists, stop charging more for cool colors.
Don't put holes in lamps that let moisture, lifeforms, or debris get inside.
Don't leave hoses or tunnels where insects can gather or nest.
Space the turns of squiggle bulbs far enough apart that bugs don't get stuck in them.