saving on the electric bill

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hockeyoligist2 said:
Just out of curiosity, since they are starting to outlaw incandescent bulbs. I checked the amps on some 13 watt Wally-World CFL's. And they all were 33 amps. Unless I'm missing something shouldn't they be a little over 10 amp?
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Unless my calculator is mistaken, 13w @ 120v = 108ma. Is there a missing "0."?

I just wish the makers/packagers would stop rating CFLs in watts and more prominently say how many lumens are produced. That's the only meaningful comparison with incandescent lamps. I've even taken to labeling the lamp bases with that number when I take them out of the box.

BTW, I've seen 2200 lumen CFLs (150w equiv?). Anyway, they won't replace incandescent lamps in some applications because of the uneven spectrum.
 
Whoa there!

Whoa there!

hockeyoligist2 said:
Just out of curiosity, since they are starting to outlaw incandescent bulbs. I checked the amps on some 13 watt Wally-World CFL's. And they all were 33 amps. Unless I'm missing something shouldn't they be a little over 10 amp?

Also, does anyone know of a web-site that shows actual cost's on the environment and fuel used to produce them? There are a lot more parts and all, so I just wonder if this is a good solution to the Global Warming thing? I do my part, I put up a clothes line!
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No way could a 13W device draw 33A That would be 3960W at 120V.

Furthermore, the current wave is probably not sinusoidal. Then unless you use a true RMS ammeter, your readings may be wrong.
 
rattus said:
No way could a 13W device draw 33A That would be 3960W at 120V.

Furthermore, the current wave is probably not sinusoidal. Then unless you use a true RMS ammeter, your readings may be wrong.
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Oops, I left off the dot, sorry 0.33. But it still should be 0.108, right? And I do have a true RMS ammeter.
 
Jraef said:
........To save some of you the trouble, this is the basis of the scam. They put an ammeter on the circuit, then allow you to see that the amps go down when power factor is improved. What they fail to mention is that the utility kWh meters don't measure the power factor.....
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I agree its a scam. I don't understand your example. Residential meters are KVA meters, right? If so, when amps go down, bill goes down.
 
hardworkingstiff said:
I agree its a scam. I don't understand your example. Residential meters are KVA meters, right? If so, when amps go down, bill goes down.
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Stiff, look at your own bill. You are paying for KWH. The effect of PF is considered in the design of the watt-hour meter.
 
hockeyoligist2 said:
Oops, I left off the dot, sorry 0.33. But it still should be 0.108, right? And I do have a true RMS ammeter.
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I don't know about what you measured, but I have measured CFL's myself and they came in at about where they should have. The only thing I can think of is that you somehow had another 200ma that was being measured along with the 100ma from the light.
 
tallgirl said:
I don't know about what you measured, but I have measured CFL's myself and they came in at about where they should have. The only thing I can think of is that you somehow had another 200ma that was being measured along with the 100ma from the light.
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Were they from wally world? Which most people will buy. I just screwed them in a socket with a cord connection, nothing else on the circuit. Try it, you may be surprised! They are not what they say they are! Now if you are going to a supply house buying the big buck ones, different story, checked some of them and they were pretty close, but still above the rating.
 
I agree its a scam. I don't understand your example. Residential meters are KVA meters, right? If so, when amps go down, bill goes down.

Residential meters are kWHr. One scam is to convice people thay they are REALLY being billed in kVAHr or they question the accuracy of the meter.

In the Philippines, capacitors have a 5 year payback period due to the lowered discount on facility p.f. Used to be just a 2 year payback, no thanks to 'deregulation'
 
Okay, I don?t know what I am talking about but?
I was under the impression that a standard residential KWH meter only measured real power.
With that in mind, if you were to make a resistive load look inductive or capacitive to the meter would that resistive load consume more power then the meter thinks it is consuming?

I got a CFL in the mail from the POCO 12 years ago and it sucked. Didn?t look much better then a HPS. And took a few seconds to turn on.
I stopped at a hotel last year and noticed the delay on the nightstand light and sure enough it was a CFL. WOW! The color was a million times better then the one I had tried years agog. Looked as good as incandescent for all practical purposes?at least to my eyes.

I?m still skeptical for short duty cycle applications. Are there any reliable charts for 5 minute duty cycles? (To mimic a bathroom or closet application). I am familiar with the T12 and T8 having unsatisfactory performance with short duty cycles. The lamp portion of the CFL is the same technology at work so it should be just as bad.

Does anyone have a link showing a manufacturer or study that can support the myth of burning a fluorescent in for the first 24 hours? If not can anyone theorize why this would be good for the lamp?
 
Apparently, the fluorescent lamps burn more brightly for the first few hours, then they settle out somewhat to a slow decline in brightness. I see no reason for a special burn in though.

Do a search on "fluorescent burnin" for more.
 
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