Screw-in compact fluorecents

[Ethan]

As a cheap alternative to lighting a planted tank, I am trying out 20W
(1150 lumen) 65k screw-base compact fluorecent lights, <$5 at Sam
Walton's store. A lot of lumens for little money! Anyone think of a
reason that this won't work? I am considering supplementing them with
a couple of the grow-bulbs also available.

[Rocco Moretti]

Ethan wrote:

> As a cheap alternative to lighting a planted tank, I am trying out 20W
> (1150 lumen) 65k screw-base compact fluorecent lights, <$5 at Sam
> Walton's store. A lot of lumens for little money! Anyone think of a
> reason that this won't work? I am considering supplementing them with
> a couple of the grow-bulbs also available.

I hate to write a "me too" type post, but this will probably get more
attention now that it's cross-posted to the higher volume (but still
on-topic) r.a.f.plants newsgroup. (For some reason all rec.aquaria.tech
seems to get is cross-posts - I doubt many people even monitor it.)

I'm not sure why it wouldn't work - as I understand most of the
screw-base bulbs use the tri-phosphor tech, which should be good for
plants, right?

[Bill Stock]

"Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
...
> Ethan wrote:
>
> > As a cheap alternative to lighting a planted tank, I am trying out 20W
> > (1150 lumen) 65k screw-base compact fluorecent lights, <$5 at Sam
> > Walton's store. A lot of lumens for little money! Anyone think of a
> > reason that this won't work? I am considering supplementing them with
> > a couple of the grow-bulbs also available.
>
> I hate to write a "me too" type post, but this will probably get more
> attention now that it's cross-posted to the higher volume (but still
> on-topic) r.a.f.plants newsgroup. (For some reason all rec.aquaria.tech
> seems to get is cross-posts - I doubt many people even monitor it.)
>
> I'm not sure why it wouldn't work - as I understand most of the
> screw-base bulbs use the tri-phosphor tech, which should be good for
> plants, right?

Should be a fine idea.

You should be able to dim most of these too. I considered sticking about 8
of these in a canopy last year. But the daylight bulbs were too
hard/expensive to get here in Canada. So I went with A.H. supply instead.

[Dances With Ferrets]

Uh.... "ME TOO"



Seriously though, I'm currently using the exact same bulbs on some of
my smaller tanks and they are working out splendidly... they seem to
show up the fishes' colors nicely and the plants have never been
happier.

[Rocco Moretti]

so238 wrote:

> Dances With Ferrets wrote:
>
>> Seriously though, I'm currently using the exact same bulbs on some of
>> my smaller tanks and they are working out splendidly... they seem to
>> show up the fishes' colors nicely and the plants have never been
>> happier.
>
> They should be fine, but I'm not certain what type of screw-in
> fluorescent you're talking about. If it's the kind that you can fit into
> a socket meant for incadescent bulbs, then it's noticeably less energy
> efficient than normal fluorescents.

Do you have a reference/website which talks more about the reduced
efficiency of edison(screw)-base compacts for incandescent sockets? I'd
be curious to know why it is less efficient, and how big a hit it is.
The phosphor can be the same, and I doubt that bending the tube is an
issue - my only thought is that the internal ballast is less efficient
than an external ballast, but I was under the impression that they used
electronic ballasts, which even on a bad day should be more efficient
than a straight tube with a magnetic ballast.

[so238]

Dances With Ferrets wrote:
> Uh.... "ME TOO"
>
>
>
> Seriously though, I'm currently using the exact same bulbs on some of
> my smaller tanks and they are working out splendidly... they seem to
> show up the fishes' colors nicely and the plants have never been
> happier.

They should be fine, but I'm not certain what type of screw-in
fluorescent you're talking about. If it's the kind that you can fit into
a socket meant for incadescent bulbs, then it's noticeably less energy
efficient than normal fluorescents.
I know of compact fluorescents that look like a double-barrel shotgun,
have used them before OK but never knew you get screw-on types.

Sebastien

[so238]

[snip]
> Do you have a reference/website which talks more about the reduced
> efficiency of edison(screw)-base compacts for incandescent sockets? I'd
> be curious to know why it is less efficient, and how big a hit it is.
> The phosphor can be the same, and I doubt that bending the tube is an
> issue - my only thought is that the internal ballast is less efficient
> than an external ballast, but I was under the impression that they used
> electronic ballasts, which even on a bad day should be more efficient
> than a straight tube with a magnetic ballast.

I didn't read it from a reference/website--I just compared the
manufacturer's rated lifespan printed on the bulb's packaging, and the
price tag. Judging from what the stuff on the packaging says, those
fluorescent lamps for incandescent sockets have as little as half the
lifespan of regular fluorescents, use more wattage for the same output
and cost more. At least that's last time I checked at the shop. If I
check again I'll tell you all.

Seb

[Ethan]

These lamps are 1150 lumens, 20W, 6000 hours. Anyone have a regular
tube (in package) on hand? I asked the mgf for lumens/life graph, but
no reply yet. Th mfg is Lights of America.

so238 > wrote in message >...
> [snip]
> > Do you have a reference/website which talks more about the reduced
> > efficiency of edison(screw)-base compacts for incandescent sockets? I'd
> > be curious to know why it is less efficient, and how big a hit it is.
> > The phosphor can be the same, and I doubt that bending the tube is an
> > issue - my only thought is that the internal ballast is less efficient
> > than an external ballast, but I was under the impression that they used
> > electronic ballasts, which even on a bad day should be more efficient
> > than a straight tube with a magnetic ballast.
>
> I didn't read it from a reference/website--I just compared the
> manufacturer's rated lifespan printed on the bulb's packaging, and the
> price tag. Judging from what the stuff on the packaging says, those
> fluorescent lamps for incandescent sockets have as little as half the
> lifespan of regular fluorescents, use more wattage for the same output
> and cost more. At least that's last time I checked at the shop. If I
> check again I'll tell you all.
>
> Seb

[Bob K.]

Sylvania T12 40W (48") 4100k, 3000 Lumens 20,000 hours.

I gave up on the Philips 48" bulbs from Home Depot. (green ends)
A case of the 40W bulbs lasted from 3 to 8 weeks each!
using them about 8-9 hours a day!
I should have returned them, but I'll never buy those again.

Bob


>These lamps are 1150 lumens, 20W, 6000 hours. Anyone have a regular
>tube (in package) on hand? I asked the mgf for lumens/life graph, but
>no reply yet. Th mfg is Lights of America.
>
>so238 > wrote in message
>...
>> [snip]
>> > Do you have a reference/website which talks more about the reduced
>> > efficiency of edison(screw)-base compacts for incandescent sockets? I'd
>> > be curious to know why it is less efficient, and how big a hit it is.
>> > The phosphor can be the same, and I doubt that bending the tube is an
>> > issue - my only thought is that the internal ballast is less efficient
>> > than an external ballast, but I was under the impression that they used
>> > electronic ballasts, which even on a bad day should be more efficient
>> > than a straight tube with a magnetic ballast.
>>
>> I didn't read it from a reference/website--I just compared the
>> manufacturer's rated lifespan printed on the bulb's packaging, and the
>> price tag. Judging from what the stuff on the packaging says, those
>> fluorescent lamps for incandescent sockets have as little as half the
>> lifespan of regular fluorescents, use more wattage for the same output
>> and cost more. At least that's last time I checked at the shop. If I
>> check again I'll tell you all.
>>
>> Seb

[T]

I use the compact flou's in my incadescent hoods.. To poor to buy a real
hood.. The lights seem to work fine and the Anacharis seems to be growing a
lot better with those lights installed..

Regards..


"Bob K." > wrote in message
...
> Sylvania T12 40W (48") 4100k, 3000 Lumens 20,000 hours.
>
> I gave up on the Philips 48" bulbs from Home Depot. (green ends)
> A case of the 40W bulbs lasted from 3 to 8 weeks each!
> using them about 8-9 hours a day!
> I should have returned them, but I'll never buy those again.
>
> Bob
>
>
>>These lamps are 1150 lumens, 20W, 6000 hours. Anyone have a regular
>>tube (in package) on hand? I asked the mgf for lumens/life graph, but
>>no reply yet. Th mfg is Lights of America.
>>
>>so238 > wrote in message
>...
>>> [snip]
>>> > Do you have a reference/website which talks more about the reduced
>>> > efficiency of edison(screw)-base compacts for incandescent sockets?
>>> > I'd
>>> > be curious to know why it is less efficient, and how big a hit it is.
>>> > The phosphor can be the same, and I doubt that bending the tube is an
>>> > issue - my only thought is that the internal ballast is less efficient
>>> > than an external ballast, but I was under the impression that they
>>> > used
>>> > electronic ballasts, which even on a bad day should be more efficient
>>> > than a straight tube with a magnetic ballast.
>>>
>>> I didn't read it from a reference/website--I just compared the
>>> manufacturer's rated lifespan printed on the bulb's packaging, and the
>>> price tag. Judging from what the stuff on the packaging says, those
>>> fluorescent lamps for incandescent sockets have as little as half the
>>> lifespan of regular fluorescents, use more wattage for the same output
>>> and cost more. At least that's last time I checked at the shop. If I
>>> check again I'll tell you all.
>>>
>>> Seb
>

[Larry Blanchard]

In article .net>,
says...
> I use the compact flou's in my incadescent hoods.. To poor to buy a real
> hood.. The lights seem to work fine and the Anacharis seems to be growing a
> lot better with those lights installed..
>
I'm a newbie, but I did the same thing. I put two of the 6500K ones in
my 10 gallon hood. The aquarium's only been up for 3-4 weeks, but the
plants (and I planted a lot) are flourishing and putting out healthy new
growth.

I did plant them in Eco-complete, which probably helped. It certainly
seemed to help with cycling the tank.

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description