[Prev][Next][Index]

Re: Lamp life



George writes about my surprise at the short life of his Triton and other
fluorescents:

>Not surprising at all.  The human eye is a very poor judge of
>brightness.  As long as the ambient light level is adequate for
>whatever activity is taking place, the lighting is "fine".  Most homes
>or offices don't replace bulbs until they burn out or start to
>flicker.
(snip)
>As an engineer, I know how engineering specs get "translated" by the
>marketing and advertising people and I don't trust them.

As an engineer, George, you would know that there are lighting engineers
and designers whose jobs are to supply a standard of lighting in commercial
establishments. There are, for example, standards for reading, CRT use,
manual labor, etc. A well-managed office would have a lighting maintenance
program that replaces a percentage of lights at regular intervals whether
the lights are burned out or not.

Even if we are not inclined to believe marketing hype, the difference
between 20% lumen loss over two years versus two months, is rather large,
no?

I can't help thinking that it's either the aquarium lamps,  something in
the fixture, or, as Karen suggested, the way we use aquarium lights that is
shortening their life.

Greg. Tong
San Francisco, CA, USA
gtong at sirius_com

"Every infinity is composed of only two halves."