Beware the Hidden Evil of the CFL Bulb

blogzilly

I moved recently. In the new basement, have been using Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. I did in the old basement too. Though I did not use the Daylight versions. And, the shelving I had was a greater distance from the actual product I had stored.

So I'm down there last night looking at some stuff and I notice one shelf of some higher priced box sets of LEGO look...faded a little. On the sides mainly, where they were facing a bulb around 3-4 feet away. One box was 2 inches out, so I pulled it out more and dagnabbit there was a definite muted color, showing what appeared to be UV damage.

You would think I would already be aware of something like this, but I wasn't. I've stored stuff for over 15 years and never had this happen. So I looked it up. Apparently the bulbs can have something in them fail and the UV output can increase. Shit. I started looking around my basement. Some damn good products now are permanently damaged. Sucks.

Now I need to research the best bulbs to use for interior lighting as far as UV.

Anyone else ever have this problem? 

mh3490

LED are the best 

blogzilly

Typically the most expensive as well. Do incandescent bulbs give off any trace amounts of UV?

I think one thing I take from this regardless. Wrap stuff for shelf storage. Why not? Saves it from dust damage AND light damage. I can always label it. I have a large area for wrapping items for my business, I could do it there and problem solved. Most of the LEGO is boxed, there were maybe 7 pieces I didn't have a box large enough for at the time.

Gotta step up my game, that's all. Just frustrating to see something that could have easily been avoided if I didn't have my head up my ass.

dehnehsu

As mentioned earlier go LED, LED's are now affordable and no UV rays. I prefer the white 4000k bulbs. 2700k to 3000k is warmer but yellowish, 5000k daylight is blueish.

Jackad7

An old bedsheets works good too rather than playing with the different bulbs

datsunrobbie

I'd just hang a curtain in front of the shelves. And add another upvote for LED bulbs - prices have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. I picked up a 4 pack of LED bulbs at Walmart a couple of weeks ago for under $5. 

blogzilly

Yeah, understood. Will go that way. How are LED lights for providing light as far as reading light, drawing, etc...any eye strain, junk like that?

datsunrobbie

as @dehnehsu mentioned, there's a range of colors to choose from. I started with a few that were labeled "soft white", have switched them to "daylight" because of the yellow tint of the "soft white" bulbs. No issues with eye strain, but I do recommend looking for reviews if you need dimmable bulbs, as some of them work a lot better than others. I really like Walmart's "Great Value" non-dimmable bulbs, but have not found a dimmable bulb yet that I'd recommend.

blogzilly

Gotcha...sounds a bit like there's going to be a bit of a learning curve, or rather a sort of courtship, maybe that's a better metaphor. I'll have to have several with a few different LED bulbs until I find the right one for me that I want to settle down with. ;)

snowhitie

Plus, even though LED's are more expensive to buy outright, they last about 5 times as long as a CFL. And they use less electricity (I think about 30% less), so it's good for your wallet and the enviroment.

Regarding eyestrain etc, I am pretty pleased with them and I am one difficult lady when it comes to lighting (and maybe in some other regards too although you'll have to ask my husband about that).

SirBen

I really like the GREENLITE LED bulbs that I picked up at Ace Hardware. They were $.99 apiece for a dimmable 60W equivalent.  

blokey9

do any of the hardware stores in your area have a display set up so that you can see LED lights next to the Fluros?

MAGNINOMINISUMBRA

blogzilly said:

SNIP
Gotta step up my game, that's all. Just frustrating to see something that could have easily been avoided if I didn't have my head up my ass.

@blogzilly Don't be so damn hard on yourself mate!  I generally don't consider myself to have my head up my arse but this is an ENTIRELY new thing to me ( and goes some way to explain some damage I experienced a few years ago that sounds remarkably similar to your situation which I never got to the bottom of).

blogzilly said:

SNIP
 So I looked it up. Apparently the bulbs can have something in them fail and the UV output can increase.
SNIP

Ever heard of the Phoebus cartel?  Prior to 1921, light globes were actually considered to be part of capital equipment- you purchased a light globe once under the assumption that it would last for many, many years. The manufacturers worked out that if they introduced planned obsolescence (max life span of 1000 hours) they would be able to sell a heck of a lot more globes!  Call me a grumpy old conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if this 'failure' was simply another step by manufacturers to ensure the continued flow of that sweet, sweet globe money.
  Remember when CFL globes were FIRST introduced and one of the major selling features was their extended lifespan over standard incandescent globes?  I can't remember the last time I bought a CFL that noticeably outlasted a good quality incandescent.

Astrobricks

Do any of the dimmable LEDs really work at the lowest settings? I've seen ones that dim down to a point and then just go out, much earlier than you'd expect.

paul_merton

I have Philips hue LED bulbs throughout the house and it's changed my life :D

I just walk into rooms and they turn on automatically, and I can turn them off or dim them without even having to move a finger ("Alexa, bedroom off", etc).

The only downside is that when I'm in someone else's house, I keep walking into dark rooms without thinking about it, and then have to go back to the doorway to operate one of those antiquated switch things!

MattDawson

I can second Philips Hue style LEDs. I snagged a good light fitting cheaply but had to use Easy Lighting brand lights due to the Small Edison Screw fitting type, but it's so nice being able to turn the lights off remotely.

blogzilly

@MAGNINOMINISUMBRA
Thats interesting. I'd heard it about panty hose many years ago...that the fibers had a design that could last forever but manufacturers decided to not use it in order to keep people buying new ones instead on one to two pair of quality ones.

@paul_merton
Never even heard of that before. The scope of my world is somewhat limited. Until I started noticing this I didn't even realize LEDs had sort of taken over the market at Home Depot.

Oldfan

Astrobricks said:

Do any of the dimmable LEDs really work at the lowest settings? I've seen ones that dim down to a point and then just go out, much earlier than you'd expect.

I've read that you need LED-specific dimmer switches for the bulbs to fade in and out properly.  My dimmable LED's do the same thing you describe. But it's not worth it to me to rewire all my dimmer switches at this time.

I've been replacing the incandescent bulbs in my Lego basement with LED's as a steady pace as the original bulbs burn out.  Within a couple of years, I'll be full LED and hopefully have no problems distinguishing old and new light grays...

paul_merton

^ That's the other nice thing about Philips hue bulbs - you can just use a normal on/off lightswitch to control the power to them, and then use the app / motion sensors / Alexa / hue dimmer switch / other things to dim it or change the colours. You can also control multiple lights at the same time by arranging them into groups.

In my bedroom, I have a colour hue bulb set up to gradually turn on from dim to full brightness over a half hour period in the morning, which makes waking up a more pleasant experience.

LusiferSam

blogzilly said:

Typically the most expensive as well. Do incandescent bulbs give off any trace amounts of UV?

Yes.  Any type of light source that is full spectrum puts off UV.  LEDs are narrow band light sources and only give the appearance of white light, none are true full spectrum.  However visible light is also capable of causing fading, albeit much less so the UV.  This is why "cool and dark" is always the best option for long term storage.  And the more consistent the "cool and dark" is the better.

blogzilly

Understood. Or at least...now I do. I thought a dry basement with all the windows blocked off was tip top. Had not occurred to me I was creating my own miniature sun flares.

paul_merton

Semi-topical if you fancy an interesting read: http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/mhe1000/musphoto/flashphoto2.htm

MaffyD

@paul_merton - when you started your sentence "In my bedroom..." I was a bit worried as to where you were going, but your idea of gradually increasing the light is a really good idea. I'll have to take a look at Hue. My only issue is that the Alexa app is crap on Android at the moment, but maybe after an update...

paul_merton

It's the hue app that lets you set the gradually increasing wake-up light, not the Alexa app.

mnbvc

MaffyD said:

@paul_merton - when you started your sentence "In my bedroom..." I was a bit worried as to where you were going, but your idea of gradually increasing the light is a really good idea. I'll have to take a look at Hue. My only issue is that the Alexa app is crap on Android at the moment, but maybe after an update...

@MaffyD - if you don't go down the full Hue route, you can always get a wake-up light alarm instead.  I had a serious injury and was completely unable to wake up despite having multiple alarms (you could send a marching band through and I wouldn't move), and one of these changed my life.

It's along the lines of:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Wake-Up-HF3500-01-Simulation/dp/B00EO4MDVC - but mine was a model from a few years earlier.  I seem to think I got it from the Argos eBay outlet for a good price.  I've had it about 5-6 years and use it every day.  I'd recommend it to anyone.

paul_merton

^ That's exactly the one I had before getting hue! I didn't like it tbh - it would only have a 50% chance of waking me up with the light, depending which way I'd rolled in the night! :)

But more annoyingly, it had a habit of drifting a few minutes slow after a few months. So I find the hue stuff better in the sense that it keeps the time properly (via the internet, presumably) and the bulb I use is 60W equivalent (and you can change the colour if you want to go all pimpy).

Another nice thing about the hue approach is that you have more flexibility - e.g. I have mine set up to wake me up on weekdays, but not on weekends. It's nice not having to remember to explicitly turn an alarm back on for Monday morning :) 

<insert on-topic lego discussion here>