Halogen to CFL conversion for torchiere
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:56 am
I could have posted this in Energy I suppose.
I've had a torchiere halogen lamp since at least high school, and it moved to college, to my two apartments, and how it's been in my house for 6+ years. It originally accepted the 300W halogen bulbs, though I had switched to the 150W years ago since 300W was unnecessary. The bulbs do last a long time, but it burned out recently. Rather than throw another 150W in there, I thought it would be interesting to investigate retrofit options, like CFL or LED. The best option turned out to be CFL.
My local ACE Hardware had all parts and materials used.
This is roughly what the lamp looks like with no bulb: Torn down just to the bulb holder: I bought two regular sockets with integrated on/off rotary switches. I also bought some thin aluminum stock, bent it using a 2x4 and a mini-sledge, drilled the appropriate holes and used one original screw to fasten it to the lamp base. The other hole was large enough to accept the light socket and I used its own nut to secure it. These are 20W bulbs which approximates the original 150W (actually a little more light). I used wire nuts to splice everything together. Here it is powered on. I can individually shut off bulbs, though I don't plan to. No more halogen! Additional notes: I did not like the GE Reveal CFLs. Their white point was pleasant but the color rendering index is terrible. It is particularly weak in the deep red. I looked at a Netflix mailer and it looked orange. Very obvious.
So I returned the Reveals and bought the regular 2700K GE bulbs and while they are more yellow, the CRI is better. Of course, neither match the quality of the halogen light. And I do read in this room (textbooks) so that matters. Also my monitor is calibrated, so I guess I'm more picky in this room.
I've had a torchiere halogen lamp since at least high school, and it moved to college, to my two apartments, and how it's been in my house for 6+ years. It originally accepted the 300W halogen bulbs, though I had switched to the 150W years ago since 300W was unnecessary. The bulbs do last a long time, but it burned out recently. Rather than throw another 150W in there, I thought it would be interesting to investigate retrofit options, like CFL or LED. The best option turned out to be CFL.
My local ACE Hardware had all parts and materials used.
This is roughly what the lamp looks like with no bulb: Torn down just to the bulb holder: I bought two regular sockets with integrated on/off rotary switches. I also bought some thin aluminum stock, bent it using a 2x4 and a mini-sledge, drilled the appropriate holes and used one original screw to fasten it to the lamp base. The other hole was large enough to accept the light socket and I used its own nut to secure it. These are 20W bulbs which approximates the original 150W (actually a little more light). I used wire nuts to splice everything together. Here it is powered on. I can individually shut off bulbs, though I don't plan to. No more halogen! Additional notes: I did not like the GE Reveal CFLs. Their white point was pleasant but the color rendering index is terrible. It is particularly weak in the deep red. I looked at a Netflix mailer and it looked orange. Very obvious.
So I returned the Reveals and bought the regular 2700K GE bulbs and while they are more yellow, the CRI is better. Of course, neither match the quality of the halogen light. And I do read in this room (textbooks) so that matters. Also my monitor is calibrated, so I guess I'm more picky in this room.