Re: [APD] Screwins

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

X watts of "screw-in" fluorescents is not nearly as much
effective light as tubes because so much of the light from
the "screw-ins" is striking the bulb. The ones that twist
seem to be the worst offenders in this regard. And because
the diameter of the bulb overall is much larger than a
straight tube or single u-tube bulb, a much larger
reflector would be needed to focus as much of the lamp
light into the aquarium.


Also, many of these bulbs seem not to be broad spectrum
bulbs like the better straight and U-tube (e.g., 55w PCs)
bulbs that one can get. Most of the output from
fluorescents is in green range unless more expensive
phosphors are used that yield other parts of the spectrum.
The "screw-ins" designed for home use and that are made to
look less like office lighting (with color temps around
2700K) have a noticeable yellowish cast. So those probably
are weak on the far blue and the red areas of the spectrum.

While with tubes generally, spectrum doesn't seem to make
nearly as much of a diff as the amount of light, but if you
combined limited spectrum with reduced effective output,
then you can expect a much less effective lamp.

Still, they are an inexpensive and relatively easy
conversion for many folks.

Scott H.
--- "Richard J. Sexton" <richard at aquaria_net> wrote:

> http://aquaria.net/articles/lighting/screwin/
> 
> Is it just me or are thse things really useless?
> 
> 
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