At the Supermarket today, I see regular Sylvania 100watts bulbs rated to last only 1,100 hours, then next to them on the rack I see no name 100 watt bulbs that are made in the USA for a little cheaper with the same lumen rated to last 5,000 hours. Has anyone tried no name bulbs and feel they do actually last that long?
Why do Sylvania Incadesant bulbs burn out so fast
- Thread starter klrman
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holiday light express
Newly Enlightened
Well... that no name bulb may not have a UL approval, so they can say whatever they want on the box...
LukeA
Flashlight Enthusiast
Rated life does not necessarily reflect actual life.
Next time I'll check if it has a UL approval sign on the box or not. Wish I has the time to test if they do last 5,000 hours or not for the no name Brand, but one thing I do know is that the slightly blue colored sylvania daylight series bulbs that one finds everywhere last about 10% of their listed lifespan. Tried them out several times before I made a mental decision never to buy then again. No matter where I put them, their failure rate is the highest I have ever seen.
+1 on the above. ANother thing could be that the no name was 130V rated which would equate to a longer life at ~120V current.
I've never had a problem with OSI incandescents. In fact, they get requested at work a fair amount. The OSI Ballasts though.......couldn't pay me to install one. I can't STAND OSI ballasts. THOSE things fail like a drunken fairy trying to fly.
It's just OSI's light blue colored daylight series incandescents that always fail on me. There other bulbs seem to be pretty good from my experience.
blasterman
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The 'blue'/purple coloring is typically Neodymium, which is a common coating that is used to roughly correct the color temp of incandescent bulbs. The problem is that the coating causes reflects a lot of IR back into the interior of the bulb resulting in lower filament life. I should note that frosted bulbs have a similiar problem compared to clear bulbs, but not to the extent that Neodyium causes.
The 'smart' thing to do would be to coat the reflector of a reflector based incan or halogen with Neodymium because it will result in a similiar color correction without the longevity problem. However, other than Solux MR-16's, I've never seen a standard R/PAR Incan or Halogen that does this, and have never figured out why.
Last year I bought a case of generic, fifty cent, clear, 130volt standard Incans from 1000bulbs, and all have exceeded their 5k hour lifespan by quite a bit. Even on a nasty dimmer switch in on a large commercial patio they are all still running strong. This has actually annoyed me a bit because I typically hate incans and prefer halogens because they are *usually* more robust. However, those fifty cent Incans have me re-thinking my approach.
Looking closely at those long running incans shows some differences compared to standard 120volt incans. Mainly, the filaments are quite a bit longer, are solid rather than micro-coiled, and they have seven supports. Curious to see how long they'll actually last.
I'd rather replace them all with warm-white MC-Es or Bridgelux, but that;s budget prohibitive.
The 'smart' thing to do would be to coat the reflector of a reflector based incan or halogen with Neodymium because it will result in a similiar color correction without the longevity problem. However, other than Solux MR-16's, I've never seen a standard R/PAR Incan or Halogen that does this, and have never figured out why.
Last year I bought a case of generic, fifty cent, clear, 130volt standard Incans from 1000bulbs, and all have exceeded their 5k hour lifespan by quite a bit. Even on a nasty dimmer switch in on a large commercial patio they are all still running strong. This has actually annoyed me a bit because I typically hate incans and prefer halogens because they are *usually* more robust. However, those fifty cent Incans have me re-thinking my approach.
Looking closely at those long running incans shows some differences compared to standard 120volt incans. Mainly, the filaments are quite a bit longer, are solid rather than micro-coiled, and they have seven supports. Curious to see how long they'll actually last.
I'd rather replace them all with warm-white MC-Es or Bridgelux, but that;s budget prohibitive.
At least with the GE "reveal" brand bulbs, it is neodymium glass. It is not a coating. The light from them was definitely better looking, but I could not get more than 200-300 hours of life out of them.
The Sylvania bulbs lasted much longer in the same fixtures. Around 1000 hours is typical for standard incandescent. The 5K - 10K hour bulbs are dim and yellow - very inefficient.
Working from home I have 700 watts of lights in my work areas that I converted to fluorescent. It paid for itself quickly as 700 watts on all day gets costly.
The Sylvania bulbs lasted much longer in the same fixtures. Around 1000 hours is typical for standard incandescent. The 5K - 10K hour bulbs are dim and yellow - very inefficient.
Working from home I have 700 watts of lights in my work areas that I converted to fluorescent. It paid for itself quickly as 700 watts on all day gets costly.
blasterman
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Today I compared one of the 130volt, clear, 75watt Halco Incans with a 120volt, clear, 75 watt standard Sylvania bulb. My rough guess is the Halco is around 30% dimmer than the Sylvania. Color temp difference is minor and what's expected from a lower wattage bulb. I'd guess a 100watt 130volt Halco would be on par with the 75-watt/120volt Sylvania.
Given the Halco bulb costs half as much as the Sylvania, and so far has lasted over 5x as long, it has the advantage because it requires a fraction the manpower $$$ changing it. Comparing incan bulbs under the header of 'efficiency' is like Hummer owners arguing what tires give them the best gas mileage
If I wanted the brightest Incan, I'd certainly switch to halogen.Basically I use the bulbs in that situation for purely aethestic reasons - dining. If anything, it's frosted incans that have the worst efficiency, and I've never figured out their pop-consumer popularity. I had to argue with the elderly maintenance guy at this installation that he didn't need a frosted bulb inside drop ceiling lights using alabaster shades because both cause diffusion. The clear bulbs looked much better than frosted - bare, warm-white MC-Es would look glorious.
bluepilgrim
Enlightened
It's easy to get a light to last longer -- just run a 120v bulb at 100 volts ---- OR design a bulb to run at 140 v and run it on the usuual 110v or 120v. The filiment is running cooler, and the tradeoff is that you don't get the same amount of light from the same wattage, or you use more energy for the same amount of light.
THat's why 130V lamps are commonly used in commercial applications.
Higher rated filament, the longer the life...BUT, the lower the lumen output as Blasterman noted.
GarageBoy
Flashlight Enthusiast
My favorites in the Reveal line are the Halogens encased in a second envelope. I do hate the glare due to it's vertical filament
bshanahan14rulz
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have a bulb made by some brand I've never heard of, and hence can't remember. probably a 60 or 70W incandescent that has been under daily use in my bathroom for at least 22 years.
Alaric Darconville
Flashlight Enthusiast
-1
The UL approval has nothing to do with the performance of an item, just with its safety. Like the CSA, they are not a government regulatory agency. As far as advertising claims, the FTC (in the USA) would be the significant regulatory agency.
Products are "listed", individual components within a particular product may be "recognized", but neither are "approved".
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LEDninja
Flashlight Enthusiast
CSA uses the word "approved".
UL, ETL, MET uses the word "listed"
There are 5000 hour bulbs. They just use thicker filaments and are much dimmer (A 100W 5000 hour bulb may only be as bright as a 60W 1000 hour bulb). Meant to be used in ceiling and other hard to access fixtures. Minimizes the need to replace bulbs in hard to get at areas at the expense of a bigger electricity bill.
Do not use them in easy to get at lights like table and desk lamps.
Use them in hard to get at lamps such as kitchen ceiling lamps (I do not have a ladder and am no good at clambering around on the kitchen counters). I have to replace bulbs only twice in my kitchen in 25 years of living in the same apartment so they do last.
UL, ETL, MET uses the word "listed"
There are 5000 hour bulbs. They just use thicker filaments and are much dimmer (A 100W 5000 hour bulb may only be as bright as a 60W 1000 hour bulb). Meant to be used in ceiling and other hard to access fixtures. Minimizes the need to replace bulbs in hard to get at areas at the expense of a bigger electricity bill.
Do not use them in easy to get at lights like table and desk lamps.
Use them in hard to get at lamps such as kitchen ceiling lamps (I do not have a ladder and am no good at clambering around on the kitchen counters). I have to replace bulbs only twice in my kitchen in 25 years of living in the same apartment so they do last.
