# Cold weather and outdoor lightbulbs



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

This thread is aimed at those of us who live in a cold climate. You folks in B.C. can safely ignore it!

For lightbulbs which are situated outdoors, is it recommended to use the newer compact fluorescent type build? ie something like the one below?
I've been finding that this type of lightbulb doesn't work well for our cold Ottawa weather. Either the bulb barely lights at all, or it burns out pretty quickly. Is it just me? 

Are there special version of these lighbulbs designed for cold weather use which I dont know about?


----------



## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

I have some of those in my garage,they just take a while to warm up and fully illuminate.
It's pretty dull in there for the first couple of minutes for sure .
I use the 100 watt equivlents .Not a special outdoor bulb .

The ones I haven't hit with a 2x4 are going into their 3rd year.:sSig_DOH:


----------



## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I use them at the garage and they are super bright. Probably two years old and I never turn them off.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The fluorescent tubes in my garage don't light up when the weather gets too cold. Since we got an insulated garage door installed, two autumns back, lighting in the garage has been a little more dependable, although the bulbs are not at full brightness when the temp gets too low. I suppose the saving grace is that when it gets cold enough for the bulbs to get obstinate, it also gets too cold for me to want to go in there anyway.

We did have a CFL bulb outside to illuminate the lamp-post with our house-number, but the damn thing stopped working, and I can't for the life of me locate the wire connection back to the house. Not a temperature thing since it crapped out in the summer. So I replaced it with an LED. I picked up a cheap solar-powered "garden light" for $2 from Giant Tiger, cut a hole in the top of the plastic globe on the lamp-post for the solar cell, and just mounted the electronics and LED (extricated from the garden light unit) into the globe with some hot glue. It doesn't get super bright, compared to a higher wattage CFL, but you can see the address number easily eough, and it has been dependable. I recently got some ultra-bright white LEDs, so I may see if replacing the one that came with the garden light yields any advantage.

If one has an outside socket that is more dependable than mine, then an LED bulb would probably be as dependable and immune to temperature as you could get. Pricey, for a bulb, but a once-in-a-lifetime purchase,


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

They do have ones for outdoor use.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

"Ones" being LED or CFL?


----------



## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I've been looking into the ones thay make for dimming. They cost a small fortune and you also need special, expensive switches. Add to that the disposal concerns and I'm not a fan.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

I am done buying CFL bulbs. They don't really give you any power savings on lights that are on and off all the time. They need to be used in areas where you have lights on for long periods of time for you to get the best advantage from them. I'm going back to regular lightbulbs until LED lights become less expensive. The CFL bulbs when they burn out gas your house with their toxins. I only use them outside now and I never had a problem (not the cold-weather type either) 

Another poster mentioned the fluorescent light strips in the garage not working properly in the cold. There are two kinds of light strips; indoor and Hi output which Have better ballasts for dealing with cold temps.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Scotty said:


> Another poster mentioned the fluorescent light strips in the garage not working properly in the cold. There are two kinds of light strips; indoor and Hi output which Have better ballasts for dealing with cold temps.


yeah, I _eventually_ heard about that. Keep forgetting to buy them.

My beef with fluorescent of every kind is that they suck for audio purposes. I keep trying to make desktop demo Youtube videos, and the hum from the fixtures in my office is, at times, unbearable. I really need to look into some other form of lighting for that room.


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I use those kind of bulbs outdoors. I leave them on all the time during the winter so I don't have to worry about cold startup. Noticabley dimmer when the temperature goes below -25 or -30. No early burn-outs yet though


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

I think CFL's were a great Eco-scam. Never had any that lasted as long as a typical incandescent, and cost about 8x more, and a much bigger environmental hazard if they break or need to be recycled.


----------



## Stonehead (Nov 12, 2013)

I had 2 CFL's almost burn down my house. They were made by Phillips and the ballast potion of the bulb blew out the side and caught fire. I remember going into my basement and could smell burning electronics. Drove me nuts truing to find out what it was. Then i turned on the hallway light and nada.. Looked at the glass fixture and it was blackened all round. Pulled the bulb and could see the whole side of it was melted and burned. I friggn hate the light off these bulbs and the time it takes to get to full brightness and they burn out just as fast as regular bulbs but cost 10 times more!!!! WTF?
I was a local flea market and they had converted all there existing lights to CFL's and had a box of all their old 75 Watt long life incandescent clear bulbs. I offer the guy 20 bucks for the lot and he gladly takes it. I got 185 bulbs in the box so i replaced every one of the CFL's in my house and guess watt? No difference in my power bill at all. This eco friendly shit is a pure marketing scam when it comes to CFL's. I have yet to replace one of these 75 watt bulbs in the 2 years since i installed them. My 2 cents YMMV


----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Stonehead said:


> .....I got 185 bulbs in the box so i replaced every one of the CFL's in my house and guess *watt*?


Nominated for best pun in the GC forum for 2014!

Cheers

Dave


----------



## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

I haven't had a problem with the life of the cfl bulbs they seem to last for me,but the light spectrum really bothers my wife,if she is in close proximity .
I'll agree they are an eco scam though,not only do they not last for some people they still contain mercury so disposal is an issue.
As for longevity ,I find some fixtures burn out bulbs at different rates,for example I am constantly replacing regular bulbs in my kitchen ceiling light but haven't replaced any bulbs in the basement since we moved here(save for some halogen pot lights) and that is a different rant .


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

mhammer said:


> yeah, I _eventually_ heard about that. Keep forgetting to buy them.
> 
> My beef with fluorescent of every kind is that they suck for audio purposes. I keep trying to make desktop demo Youtube videos, and the hum from the fixtures in my office is, at times, unbearable. I really need to look into some other form of lighting for that room.


High output strips hum worse, especially when the tubes are on their last legs...drives me nuts in the shop if nothing else is running


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I was tired of the old style bulbs burning out about once a month summer or winter for my outdoor ligthing. So I tried one of those Compact flourescents outside my front door. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to get to full illumination but when it does its very bright. Its been out there about 3 months through all this cold and still going strong.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Bubb said:


> I haven't had a problem with the life of the cfl bulbs they seem to last for me,but _*the light spectrum really bothers my wife,if she is in close proximity .*_
> I'll agree they are an eco scam though,not only do they not last for some people they still contain mercury so disposal is an issue.
> As for longevity ,I find some fixtures burn out bulbs at different rates,for example I am constantly replacing regular bulbs in my kitchen ceiling light but haven't replaced any bulbs in the basement since we moved here(save for some halogen pot lights) and that is a different rant .


The same thing happens to my wife. Try the "daylight" ones. They seem to help. Yes, of course they cost more.


----------



## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I've changed all the lights outside and in the shop back to incandecent. When I turn a light on at -30 I expect it to come on and not have to wait up to 10 minutes for partial light. I find the new lights, cfl's etc., don't take cold, heat or vibrations worth a damn. And they're lousy as a heat source.


----------



## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I find that the quality of CFL bulbs has dropped dramatically. The first two that I ever bought are still in use in outdoor fixtures - probably 12 years old and in use about 1200 hours a year and I've never noticed them not coming on right away. But I have other CFLs that I have installed more recently that haven't even lasted a year.


----------



## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

I had the same issue with CF bulbs in the cold weather. Slow to get to full brightness and shorter life. Home Depot had some LEDs on sale for $5.99 a while ago and I tried one on my back porch light. A world of difference! Instant on in all temperatures and it is comparable to incandescent light quality.


----------



## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I find the newer florescent bulbs don't last that long in general.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

butterknucket said:


> I find the newer florescent bulbs don't last that long in general.


My indoor bulbs were changed to the flourescent bulbs about a year and a half ago. Have not had one burnout.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

I thought I had heard that 100w incandescent bulbs were going to be phased out by legislation. 

That annoys me somewhat. If I want to pay the hydro, should it not be up to me?


----------



## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Scotty said:


> I thought I had heard that 100w incandescent bulbs were going to be phased out by legislation.
> 
> That annoys me somewhat. If I want to pay the hydro, should it not be up to me?


That's what they say. One of the warehouse stores around here had packs of 4, any wattage, for a $. I'm good for a while.


----------



## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

in front of our place, for street lights, we have incandescent light bulbs ... and I think they`re 40 watts judging by how little light they give off, yeah, Japan....a leader in high technology.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> My indoor bulbs were changed to the flourescent bulbs about a year and a half ago. Have not had one burnout.


We've been in our present house almost 5 years and have had one or two burn out in the whole house. They were the tri-lights which don't seem to last very long for us. All the others are working fine. However, the low voltage LED seems the best way to go if they ever come down in price.


----------



## Krelf (Jul 3, 2012)

I use appliance bulbs. They are the ones that generally go in your fridge or oven. They are made to withstand temperature extremes and they last a lot longer outside, and most have the standard thread. They are lower wattage, but that doesn't bother me as they give enough light to see the front walkway.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Scotty said:


> I thought I had heard that 100w incandescent bulbs were going to be phased out by legislation.
> 
> That annoys me somewhat. If I want to pay the hydro, should it not be up to me?


Their _production_ WAS phased out (along with 75W) earlier this year, so snatch 'em up where you can find them if you like them.

I think what you're missing here is that you may pay the Hydro bill, but the building/provision of hydro-electric generating stations, and the infrastructure to distribute/provide ever more current to ever more users, is both expensive and disruptive. The folks who plan out these legislated society-wide changes think in terms of "How can we cut power needs system-wide?", and they come back with answers like "If every bulb that consumed 100W was replaced with one that only consumed 13W....".

I still don't get how fragmented citizens' thinking about power is. My building at work probably has at least 1200-1500 desktop machines, not to mention smart-screens and such. I'm taking tomorrow off, in celebration of paying off our mortgage. And tonight, like I do every weekend, I will turn the power _completely off _for my desktop and monitor, such that approximately 5500W of power are not used over this long weekend. Many of my co-workers, however, will hit "Restart" on their machine at the end of the day, and leave their machine on the entire weekend, so that it is "ready" for them on Monday morning and they can save themselves that precious 90 seconds it takes for a full cold boot, and entering their network password and such. Multiply that by all those machines, then add the several thousand machines in the building across the street, and the roughly 10,000+ in the even larger building complex 2 blocks away, and you're talking about enough current wasted over the weekend, keeping desktops in standby mode (and remember your machine still sucks up 40-60W or so even if the screen is black unless the power is completely cut) to run a small town.

Yet all those employees _think_ they're being energy conscious, without regard for how the nickel and dime use of current keeps ramping up the need for more energy infrastructure. Turn stuff OFF...completely off.

When I was younger, pretty much the only electrically-powered appliances that would have remained on, 24/7, were the fridge, the hot water heater, and the clock in the kitchen over the sink. Nothing in our house was remote controlled (and needed to be in standby mode all the time). When the TV went off, it was OFF. Same thing for the stereo, the lamps, etc. The stove had a timer, but not a clock that was always glowing, and there were no microwave ovens with the same clock, and of course, no personal computers, VCRs, DVRs, Xboxes, etc. If you wanted to be woken up at a certain hour, you wound the damn alarm clock, and set it to go off. In short, the number of "power vampires" was a tiny fraction of what currently exists.

We complain about hydro rates, yet we expect to steadily increase the number of things that depend on hydro power and require the building of more dams, more coal-fired plants, more nuclear-reactors, etc. WE are the ones who made CFLs necessary.


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

bw66 said:


> I find that the quality of CFL bulbs has dropped dramatically. The first two that I ever bought are still in use in outdoor fixtures - probably 12 years old and in use about 1200 hours a year and I've never noticed them not coming on right away. But I have other CFLs that I have installed more recently that haven't even lasted a year.


This was our experience also. The first ones we bought for my low ceiling cellar shop had a cool plastic armor around them and have lasted for over 10 years, maybe 15, I forget how long they've been available. More recent ones burn out much quicker. We still use them in most of the house but have started to use LEDs. The unheated shed lights are incandescent because that's what the electrician installed but they're used very little. 

The smaller CFLs fit nicely in multi-bulb fixtures.

Reminds me...I once dropped a full case (24?) of 4' flourescent tubes down a stairwell, a straight drop from the second floor to the cement floor basement in a government building I was servicing in the late '70s. Awesome explosion that sent glass everywhere. The loss wasn't felt, we used that many tubes every week in those stupid buildings. We also gobbled up a lot of those leaky ballasts, by the case. Overlit offices and managers who insisted that every light be on because it looked poorly maintained to leave some off...versus maintenance staff who were responsible for keeping the utilities in check. Several years later I had a boss order new tubes for rooms so that all the light fixtures looked the same...we kept the old tubes for rooms he never entered, and after his inevitable transfer. 

Peace, Mooh.


----------

