garage lighting idea, CFL, incan,or 4 footers, 4 foot to cfl and comparrison of all 3 styles Options

[Prospectfarms]

Big difference favoring the "old fashioned" fluorescents. I'm impressed about how well the comparison photo's demonstrate the practical illumination -- and that you thought to try that. Now we know. T8's with solid state ballast it will be.

Word to the younger folks: as your eyes age, good lighting becomes so much more important, i.e., this experiment is really meaningful to me. Thanks a lot, Tom.

[Tom]

Edited first post to reflect comparrison of 4 footers, CFL small can style flourscent and incandescent lighting of approximately same wattage.
Tom

[Al Meredith]

Lamps are rated in lumens per watt. A lot like Miles per Gallon. Incandescent lamps (100 watt) are 17.5 LPW and fluorescents are 70-80 LPW . You be the judge, 17.5 MPG or 78MPG. He's the math: watt X hours = watt hours, you pay for kilowatt hours so multiply watt used X hours of use and divide by 1000. Multiply that number by the cost of power (about $.10 / KWH ) . ( I payed $.13 here in Atlanta)

3 100 watt lamps X 3000 hours per year = 900000 watt hours or 900 KWH X $.10 =$90.00

1 40 watt lamp X 3000 hours per year =120000 watt hours or 120 KWH X $.10 =
$12.00

100 watt lamps are rated at 750 hours and the 4' fluorescents at 20,000 (with the proper ballast). again , you be the judge.

[Tom]

Al,
Thanks for the math, it strengthens my decision to go with 4 ft. fluorescents even more, although I already knew they were more energy efficient. That was the purpose of this thread, to see which was better in lighting our garages and less costly in the long run. I thought I had a simple fix, and found out different! I spent a few dollars and could see the difference in lighting and now I know what lighting I want to use!
There is no doubt in my mind which is better lighting wise in my garage, 4 foot bulbs in good fixtures ( probably T8 fixtures and bulbs) give better lighting, and they have less impact on the environment. This is by no means a recomendation for others, just an example for them to see and make up their own mind. Now I have some 23 watt small can CFL's I will need to use in another way somewhere. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
Tom

[Al Meredith]

Tom, The rule of thumb is that a CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) is about 4X1. Meaning a 23 watt CFL has about the same lumens as a 100 watt incandescent. I was a product and application specalist for GE Lighting during the introduction of the CFL. My advise is to buy from a USA company even though the product is made in China. Trust me when I tell you that GE ,Sylvania and Philips all have to pass a legal review when they publish a rating on the box. The Foreign brands or no name brands can and do put what ever they want on the box.