[geeks] CHEAP compact fluorescent bulbs

[Mike Hebel]

Have you seen this article?:

http://www.macworld.com/2001/06/22/howto/oldmac_ha.html

There are others but this one seemed to cover some of the Mac bases.

Mike Hebel

Leo Green wrote:

> Ah sweet!
>
> I bought about half of my current X10 gear from these guys a few years
> ago, and last I saw, they said that CF bulbs were no good under X10.
> Now if I can just find an app that'll program my radioshack X10
> controller from my new powerbook...
>
>
>
> Mike Hebel wrote:
>
> > I've never used X10 but these guys:
> >
> > http://www.smarthome.com/903220.html
> >
> > claim to have searched specifically for X10 comaptible bulbs so there
> > must be some sort of difference in how the less expensive bulbs handle
> > the X10 signals.  I would think that unless they were buffered in some
> > manner the ballasts on the bulbs would amplify any small amount of
> > signal into something like a repeated starting arc in the bulb thus
> > wearing it out.  But then I'm not a physics person so I'm probably
> > grasping at straws.  Maybe a filter coil in the ballast circuits for
> > the X10 frequency?
> >
> > Mike Hebel
> >
> > Leo Green wrote:
> >
> >> Anyone ever used these compact fluorescent bulbs with X10?  I 
> tried, and
> >> the bulbs kept flickering, and they blew out within a month.
> >> That's the only thing keeping me from going to CF's right now.
> >>
> >> FYI: I was using the X10 appliance modules, but even the lamp module I
> >> tried did the same.
> >>
> >> Chris Hedemark wrote:
> >>
> >> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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> >> >
> >> > Since we've been talking about this lately I thought it would be of
> >> > interest.
> >> >
> >> > Went to Home Depot today to replace my first CF bulb that blew out.
> >> > That bulb cost me about $18 I think and I got it five years ago.  The
> >> > last five years has seen a lot of progress in CF bulbs.
> >> >
> >> > Well Home Depot had them as cheap as $4.97 for a 60 watt replacement
> >> > (which burns actually about a fourth of that and is cool enough to
> >> > touch while it is burning).  That was with a five year warranty.
> >> > Another buck and change for 7 years.  The prices have dropped
> >> > aggressively in the last six months, which is the last time I
> >> bought one.
> >> >
> >> > Keep in mind these ~$5 bulbs are the "warm" ones that Mr Bill and
> >> > others don't like (they look kinda yellowish).  IIRC the  year
> >> > warranty model for <$2 more is much whiter, or "full spectrum".  They
> >> > have them from 9 watts for a 40 watt replacement (compact enough to
> >> > fit in some very tight fixtures) on up to a 150w replacement.
> >> >
> >> > Chris Hedemark
> >> > Hillsborough, NC
> >> > http://yonderway.com
> >> >
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> >> > c+7hhW3XClg9DN+INhQjElY=
> >> > =wAec
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