Remodel Kitchen » lighting

Baldwin Doorbell Lightbulb

Ken — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:53:39 +0000

I have a Baldwin Oval Bell Button installed by the front door. A few months ago, I noticed that the doorbell was no longer lit. I’m not entirely sure when the lightbulb burnt out, but I finally decided to do something about it.

Unfortunately, the Baldwin website didn’t list any replacement parts for the doorbell. But, after a quick inquiry to support, I received a e-mail notification that a new doorbell was on the way.

Here’s how the replacement doorbell appears:

Even without instructions, the replacement was straightforward and only involved four screws. The most difficult part was inserting the new doorbell back in the bronze finish since it was tight fit.

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18W PAR38 LED Reflector Flood

Ken — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:17:16 +0000

During the weekly Costco trek, I spotted a Conserv-Energy 18W PAR38 LED Reflector Flood selling for $29.99 after rebate. Of all the light bulbs in the house, the ones in the home office have gone out the most: incandescent and CFL. The bathroom CFL is second.

I haven’t had to replace the living room flood lights yet. However, when that time comes, I’m willing to give LEDs a chance because the flood lights give off a bit too much warmth and really heat up the dimmer switch such that it is hot to the touch. While the package states that the bulbs are dimmable, I think incandescents are the only bulbs that offer a satisfactory performance when dimmed, which leads to two issues.

Dimmers Suck. First, 99% of the time, the dimmer is set to full blast. So, the government is imposing an extra cost without much corresponding benefit to me or anyone else. Second, dimmers work with incandescents, and not so well (or even not at all) with CFLs or LEDs. By mandating the installation of dimmers, I am pretty much locked into using incandescents. So, unless I want to change out the light switches, it’s incandescent from here on out.

4 Pin CFLs Suck. What is even worse than the dimmer debacle is the requirement of high efficacy luminaires. Even if I wanted to switch to mercury-less LED, I cannot unless I also wanted to change the entire light fixture. The twist-on light base ensures compatibility to future lighting innovation. The custom 4-pin interface–not really.

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LED Light

Ken — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:21:31 +0000

Through a generous discount, I was able to purchase a pair of LED lights from a local hardware store. So, for the past few months, I’ve been waiting for one of my incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs to burn out. Tonight, my opportunity finally arrived and the incandescent was the victim. So, in its place, I installed a Pharox LED Light 60 Bulb. Since I have a mix of incandescent, fluorescent and now LED bulbs installed next to each other in my ceiling lights, I can easily compare all of them. The LED light appears dimmer than the other bulbs and has a bit of a blue/green cast. Of course, the warmth of the light is only noticeable when I stare at the ceiling. When I am normally working, the problem is not obvious.

At 6 watts, the LED light should be more energy efficient than a CFL. What remains to be seen is whether it will last the promised “25 years.” My CFLs generally do not last the 10,000 hours promised, so I would be very surprised if the LED bulb lasts until October 2035.

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Batteries N Bulbs

Ken — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:01:10 +0000

After lunch at The Old Siam, I discovered a light bulb store while walking to my car. Batteries N Bulbs is located at 1111 W El Camino Real, #135, Sunnyvale, California. Although the interior of the store is quite spartan, the store carries an amazing variety of light bulbs. Since I needed a few specialty bulbs, I headed in to take a look.

First, the other 4 Pin Trip Tube Fluorescent Bulb in the bathroom went out. At least, I got 7 more months of use from this one, but no where near the claim 10,000 hour life. For this go around, I picked up an Eiko 26 watt 3500° K Triple Tube FLuorescent Lamp Base GX24q-3 for $15.95.

Compared to a 100 watt incandescent bulb, I should be saving 74 watts per hour. If the light is on for 3 hours a day for the 3 year life of the bulb, that’s 3,285 hours. So, the compact fluorescent saved me 249,600 KWH during its functional life. So, how much does 249 KWH cost? At 9.54 cents per KWH, one bulb saves me $23.76, if I would have installed a 100 watt bulb instead. So, despite the diminished life of the fluorescent bulb, I think I’m still ahead.

Now, for the more difficult task. I was also looking for a 40 watt type t4 e11 base mini candlelabra. I’ve searched in all the major hardware stores but never found a replacement bulb until I found Batteries N Bulbs. I mean this bulb was out for at least a year or more. The replacement bulb, a Bulbrite Industries, Inc. KX40CL/MC cost me $16.75.

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Replacing a 4 Pin Triple Tube Fluorescent Bulb

Ken — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:47:02 +0000

So, the first 4-pin triple tube fluorescent bulb goes out. I’ve changed a lot of screw-in incandescent and CFL bulbs, but never a 4-pin bulb before. While high ceilings and recessed lights can result in an uncluttered look, this combination also requires the beckoning of a ladder instead of a standard folding chair to swap light bulbs.

With aforementioned ladder in hand, I climb up to inspect the light fixture. A quick glance shows that the baffle must be removed first. With no obvious ways to remove the baffle, I pull and pray. Fortunately, I guessed right. As it turns out, the baffle is held in place by two metal clips that provide tension against the recessed lighting fixture to hold it in place. Whew! I quickly remove the bulb and search for a replacement.

The defective bulb was a USHIO UFL-CF26TE/835 4-pin triple tube fluorescent bulb. I stopped by Lowe’s and buy a lot of Sylvania 4-pin double tube fluorescent bulbs. The next day, I returned all the Sylvania bulbs because the bulb would not snap in place. 4 pin is 4 pin right? Theoretically, all that should matter is the base and whether I’m using a double tube or a triple tube fluorescent bulb should not matter. Regardless, something was amiss. I’ve never experienced such a problem with a screw-in bulb before, incandescent or otherwise. So, I stopped by a lighting store and picked up a General Electric Biax T/E Eco 26W 4 pin compact fluorescent lamp. Thankfully, that one fit.

Light Bulbs Etc. has a chart with the different halogen, incandescent, and CFL light bulb base types. I just learned that there is more than one type of 4-pin base for CFLs. Who would have guessed? A later trip to OSH showed a surprising selection of pin type FEIT CFLs to choose from. Next time, I’m going there. They had more 4 pin CFLs in stock than the much larger Lowe’s. That surprised me.

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UFL-CF26TE/835 Goes Kaput

Ken — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:43:25 +0000

In California, the 2005 Building Energy Efficiency Standards require the installation of high-efficacy lighting. And, to prevent you from swapping high cost fluorescents with low cost incandescents, screw-in CFLs do not count. So, 2 1/2 years into this energy saving experiment, our first triple tube 4-pin fluorescent failed. So much for that 10,000 hours average rated lifetime. I guess the plug-in CFLs fail just as well as the screw-in CFLs.

Anyways, our triple tube 4-pin fluorescent was installed in a bathroom. If the bulb stayed lit for 2-3 hours a day for 2 1/2 years, that comes to 1,825-2,737 hours. In reality, our usage is probably far less than that. How weak. 25% of its average rated lifetime. Now I have to hunt for an expensive replacement bulb.

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Selecting the Right Lighting

Ken — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:59:26 +0000

When selecting a light for your bedroom, living room or bathroom, you should not only consider the style and color of the fixture, but also the availability of replacement light bulbs. If Costco, Target, Wal-Mart or wherever you regularly shop does not carry a line of replacement bulbs for the fixture, consider finding a different light.

I made a critical mistake in selecting a bathroom light fixture that requires a 40 watt Type T4 E11 Base Mini Candelabra. I have not been able to locate a replacement halogen bulb at Costco, Target or Wal-Mart. I also have not been able to find one at specialty hardware stores, such as OSH and Lowe’s. I’m sure I can find one at a lighting store, but that requires me to make a special trip and I don’t have time for that right now.

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Dimmable Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb

Ken — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:46:45 +0000

In November, I replaced a pair of light bulbs in one of my ceiling lights. Tonight, the light bulbs in the other ceiling light also burned out. However, instead of replacing the burned out light bulbs with incandescent lights, I installed a pair of U Lighting America dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs.

So, this is the first time I have ever used dimmable CFLs. At full power, the dimmable CFL works just like a standard CFL. At anything less than full power, the dimmable CFL hums. At the lowest dimmer setting, the dimmable CFL flickers. So, while the CFL is technically “dimmable,” the humming and flickering basically renders this feature useless.

The only upside to this is that I now have two ceiling lights side-by-side with different types of bulbs that were installed at relatively the same time: one with incandescent light bulbs and one with dimmable CFLs. So now, it’s a durability contest between them to see which one lasts the longest. Theoretically, the CFLs should win. However, theoretically, these CFLs are dimmable as well.

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The Lowdown on High Ceilings

Ken — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:49:03 +0000

While a high ceiling offers an occupant a sense of spaciousness, it does present some downsides. This one light bulb immediately above my work space has been out for weeks now, if not months. I finally got tired of squinting at the computer screen and dragged in the ladder. If all I needed was a folding chair, the light bulb would have been changed a long time ago. Some how, bringing in the ladder into the house seems like a lot more work than grabbing the closest folding chair. In the end, I just swapped in a new incandescent light bulb. I would use a compact fluorescent light bulb if the State didn’t require me to install dimmers, which I end up turning on at full power anyways. Next time, I’ll pick up some dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs.

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Occupant Sensors: Bathroom Timers

Ken — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:27:00 +0000

If the occupant sensors you are using are not good at sensing occupants, then treat them as a timer. Behind the faceplate, the occupant sensor I am using has a dial that adjusts the shut-off time. Basically, the light will shut off a certain number of minutes after it last senses someone moving around. After I adjusted the shut-off time from 8 minutes to 15 minutes, no one gets left in the dark anymore.

Sure, this basically fixes my occupant sensor problem, but I still hate them. Before, I will tell people to turn off the light when they leave a room and there would be no problem. Now, I am told that I shouldn’t worry because the light turns itself off. There you have it. Title 24 training people not to turn off the lights.

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