Something we need to be made aware of?

[kellys_eye]

I made my first even veture into 'Subway' last week (and, no, the experience wasn't worth the effort) but whilst in there I was looking at their lighting arrangement.

It consisted of some 32 dual-CFL fittings (round) placed in a square above the interior space. This amounts to 64 lamps of which a TOTAL OF 24 were dud So out of 64 CFL tubes, nearly 40% were defective.

Colour me sceptical but aren't CFLs sooper-dooper long-life as compared to filament bulbs?

So, apart from the expense of having to purchase and install 32 light fittings (as opposed to, say, 9 dual fluorescent strips) and the legally sensitive (?) repalcement/disposal of the dud CFLs - why would anyone in their right mind fit them? Surely in this example the costs can't outweigh the savings????

Green? Like f**k

[big-all]

my thoughts would be with that many would they not be on several circuits

[Someone-Else]

In their defence, you (or I) don't know how long they have been there. Probability says they are on 12 hours / day at least though.

[philprime]

We use a lot of cfl's at work out of nearly 4000 bulbs its got to be 1500 that are cfl a lot depends on where they are fitted and how many times they are turned on and off

We have bulbs that can last a year and others that last 3 months

And they are far from cheap to buy seeing that we can buy 40w candle filament bulbs for 17pence

[kellys_eye]

b-a the dud lamps were quite obviously dud - wierd dull glow from them and randomly dud across the whole lot, not 'off', that's for sure.

s-e my own experience of them (in our shop) is that they most certainly don't like being on/off, being far worse for longevity than even filament bulbs, but 12-hour days really shouldn't pose a problem for them should it? Or do the proponents of them mean for them to be on 100% of the time to meet with their supposed 'benefits'?

phil - I was prudent enought to purchase 'loads' of CFLs when the supermarkets were shovelling them out for 9p or 11p each but at the going rate (£2 - £4) I'd baulk at buying even ONE nowadays. I suppose at the industrial quantities the likes of Subway use they will be cheaper but - still - it ain't cheap. never mind the proper disposal techniques that 'should' be employed

[big-all]

weird dull glow induced load ??
i am not for one second doubting what you say but i am just thinking off my bulbs i bought in the 80s still going all be it in a seldom used light

[kellys_eye]

No, I definately know the difference b-a Dud.

[jg]

weird dull glow induced load ??
i am not for one second doubting what you say but i am just thinking off my bulbs i bought in the 80s still going all be it in a seldom used light

I've got one of the old jam jar ones still, but it's been in a drawer for a few years now. Still worked when last used, but just took ages to warm up, and wasn't as bright as the modern ones, weighs a ton too :)

I've probably only had 2 CFLs fail in the last 5 years, and one of these was in an outdoor lantern, not sure if that would have made a difference.