Flourecent light bulb question

shadango

Ok, maybe a little odd question but you guys all seem very helpful so I will give it a shot.

I am lookingto replace my exterior lighting on my house....3 units that attach to the house and are under the eaves of the house.....and a pole light. We just got a new roof and soffit/facia and they need replaced.

I was leaning towards the new "energy saver" flourescent units....but it seems like their is a $35-$50 PER LIGHT difference between the fixture that accepts the two-pin twist type flourescent bulbs versus the standard screw in incandecent bulbs.

Could I just use the standard type fixture but use the screw-in type flourecent bulbs?

Is there a downside?

I cant understand why the price hike? And that doesnt even include the flourescent lamps! LOL

Any ideas?

BillyD

You sure can replace them with the screw in flourescents. In fact I have replaced all of mine. If they are motion lights it may not work. Dusk to Dawn is fine. Check the box. As you may know incandecent bulbs are being outlawed in the furture.

shadango

Willcould weather or dampness affect them?

Why is there such a premium being charged for the "energy star" versions? They use a diifferent type of bulb, like I said.......is the base type the only real difference?

BillyD

I don't know about the cost difference but yes some lights are affected by the cold. You need to research that or buy one and try it in your refrig. I had some that never warmed up and got bright below 35 degrees. Good luck.

HouseHelper

The fixtures for the two pin bulbs contains a ballast/transformer to power the fluorescent light. The "standard" fixture does not. The newer CF bulbs have an electronic ballast built in.

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shadango

Thanks folks

I just went ahead and ordered the standard light fixtures....spending an extra $300-400 just to get the built in flo units seemed dumb so I am going to just use the screw in type flo bulbs...if they flicker in the cold weather i will just swap them for standard incand. bulbs until the warm weather comes back.

J. V.

Do not be concerned. Flickering will not be an issue with CFL's. It can and is with regular tube fluorescents. The only issue you will face is time to get to full brightness. I also have them all through my house and they light up pretty fast. I have one on the front porch fixture. It takes about 1.5 minutes to reach full brightness in cold weather.
The long bulbs flicker because they are filled with a gas just like the CFL's, but they have much more area inside the bulb, and that takes a while to get juiced up in cold weather. The CFL's have very little area to activate.

Stavop

Consider climate. If it's cold at times fluorescents sometimes are problematic. They eventually come on but unless they are high output it may take some time.