Re:[APD] Help With My New Tank!! -- or - Gee, light output; word output

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

--- Robert Zink <bonsai at hrcreditunion_net> wrote:

> . . .
> Well, I know of one General, that goes by the name of
> General Electric.  ;-)
> Their literature written for consumers refer more to
> "bulbs," but the
> technical writing is strictly about "lamps."

Well, GE is known to generally error when it comes to light
bulbs (and TV shows ;-) ).
> 
> The General also calls all of the lamps we're talking
> about (with or without
> internal ballast) "compact fluorescent." This makes
> sense, since they all
> are just that.

GE was late getting on the PC train (maybe they had all
their capital tied up in Letterman). But they are hardly
trendsetters in the word of power compacts.

GE fought halogen automobile headlamps for years as unsafe
compared to "sealed beam units" (which GE produced by the 
millions). They changed their position, it seemed, as soon
as they got their own factories tooled up to produce
halogens. 

The "Compact" term was created for the screw base bulbs for
the retail market. the larger bulbs that the aquatic
gardeners use are more often referred to by manufacturers
by the model number. Fulham likes to call them biaxial. I
prefer to call them "bent" but it hasn't caught on.

They are hard to find in any stores outside of specialty
stores or wholsesal electrical suppliers. Until recently,
anyway, Philips only listed them in their Europe catalogue
but not the North American catalogue. 

Certainly on the wet web pages, one finds the term in wide
use. 

> As a matter of fact, I did a google search of all
> gelighting.com webpages
> (and that is a big heap) for the term "Power Compact."
> Zero results!

Give them a break; they're still learning how to spell
"halogen". ;-)
> 
> I don't doubt that "Power Compact" terminology is being
> used, 

The users will be surprised, but it's not a popularity
poll. The important thing, is don't confuse screw-base
bulbs with pin-base bulbs. ;-)

> but if one
> wished to delineate by where the ballast resides, it
> would seem more logical
> to refer to that criteria directly. Internally ballasted
> or externally
> ballasted - IBCF and EBCF, respectively.

I believe the conventional terms are "integrated" and
"non-integrated" ballast. I once heard them called
"ballasts in the compact housing" but it was acronymically
unapplealing. Anyway, integrated ballast almost always
applies to just the screw-in bulbs -- i.e., those bulbs
that are just awful as fluorescents, but compared to
incandescents, are still a great choice as replacments 
Which is what I call them when I have the time ;-)

Just let me be clear: I personally sanction the use of
"Compact Fluorescent" for 3-foot long bulbs. ;-)

sh

=====
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