At home, we replaced the most frequently used bulbs with CFLs over a
year ago, two of them in enclosed fixtures. These include kitchen light
over stove, bathroom overhead light next to shower, laundry room
overhead light, and several free-standing floor and table lamps. To
date, none of them have failed.
At work, as part of a student project, we replaced a number of "door
alcove lights" with CFL lamps just before the beginning of spring
semester. They "burn" base up, and have been on continuously since
early February. None have failed. (As a control, we simultaneously
replaced door alcove lights in a different corridor - none of those have
failed, either.) Based on what the College currently pays for
electrical service, those lamps had paid for themselves by mid-April.
BTW, they are brighter than the incandescent lamps they replaced.
Students also tested a sample of CFL and incandescent lamps to see if
their rated power was accurately reported. The CFL sample were a bit
higher than the 15 W rating, but within one standard deviation. The
conventional lamps consistently drew only ~70% of their rated power -
but they were still over 4x the power drawn by the "replacement" rated
CFL.
**********************************************
refering to quantum mechanics: "I don't like it,
and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it."
-- Erwin
Schroedinger
**********************************************
Dr. George Spagna
Chair, Physics Department
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505