It seems that there is a significant variety of CFL startup/ballast designs,
with a variety of performance characteristics.
I found that the first two CFLs I tried in a “dusk to dawn” circuit lasted
only one dusk to dawn cycle. A different brand (same price & power) is
still going and going and going . . . :) No visible or stated difference
in the specs, but I think it comes down to differences in the electronic
startup/ballast design. Probably the details of this circuitry is
proprietary data.
From: Michael Barr
Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2011 11:55 AM
To: Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: [Phys-l] compact fluorescent lights go dim
I recently changed all the lights in my house to compact fluorescent
lights. In my son's room when I turn the lights on, they are bright for a
quarter second and then go dim. In my living room they just turn on really
dim. In my bedroom they turn on just fine and are fairly bright. Not all
the bulbs are the same. Does anyone know why this might be? I thought
maybe there could be a lesson here.
thanks,
Mike Barr