How long before no light bulbs for bulb heater cans?

[sablesurfer]

This is a thought I have playing through my head. From what I can see there appears to be no 100w and maybe even no 60w in some places. How long before this option is no longer viable?

Yes, I know seed planting mats and reptile heat lamps and other options. But the can and bulb is cheaper than all those and I can do it without waiting on an order to be delivered.

 

[sablesurfer]

Well, looks like this. Damn.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/m...-incandescent-light-bulb-phase-out-2D11805991

The Jan. 1 deadline to end production of 60- and 40-watt incandescent light bulbs is fast approaching, but most Americans aren't even aware that their traditional light sources will soon become a rare commodity, according to one consumer survey.

 

[MaxStout]

Stock up. I bought a case lot of 100W last year and also now have plenty of 60s and 40s. I hate not being "green," but I switched a lot of bulbs to CFL a couple years ago, and ended up replacing almost half of them within a year. They just don't last as long as they claim. I put incandescents back in my unheated garage and porch lights, as CFLs flicker so dimly in cold weather.

I just need enough old-school bulbs to hold me over until economy of scale brings LED lamp prices down to something reasonable. I can wait.

 

[Wynne-R]

. . .exempt are several classes of specialty lights, including appliance lamps, rough service bulbs, 3-way, colored lamps, stage lighting, plant lights, candelabra lights under 60 watts, outdoor post lights less than 100 watts, nightlights and shatter resistant bulbs.

You guys need to quit watching Fox News. They leave a lot of stuff out.

 

[skitter]

Better than not reporting it at all

 

[b-boy]

This is funny. I saw the report of this on CNN and my first thought was 'Crap, how will people heat their fermentation chambers?'. I think I've been brewing too long.

 

[Doongie]

ended up replacing almost half of them within a year. They just don't last as long as they claim

Quite a few years ago now, mid 2000's, I had a cfl overheat. It started smoking and set off a fire alarm. If I weren't home I fear it would have burnt my house down. I tried to notify UL and CUL, they ignored me, I traced the manuf. name to a dead end in china if I remember right, notified Wal-Mart where it was purchased, nobody gave a $hit, so I quit buying them. I am not pleased having to change from incandescent.

 

[sablesurfer]

You guys need to quit watching Fox News. They leave a lot of stuff out.

Quite an assumption there. My post was first one I found.

Anyway, that list of exceptions doesn't seem to allow for bulbs to meet the need of this post. I looked up outdoor bulbs on HD and all they have are halogens and LEDs.

 

[acidrain]

There are literally dozens of styles of incandescent bulbs available at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/b/N-5yc1v/Ntk-All/Ntt-incandescent+bulbs?browsestoreoption=1

 

[Wrecked]

Rough Service bulbs can still be purchased in all wattages, since they were erroneously left out of the bill ending incandescent bulbs.

 

[day_trippr]

Brewing is totally Rough Service! Score! :rockin:

Alternatively, you can build a ceramic resistor array heater. This one is good for 100 watts and will likely outlive me. I've been using it for (counts fingers) six years and it's still going strong...

Cheers!

 

[ianw58]

Something like this. I got tired of busted filaments and bought this...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQCPK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[estricklin]

Brewing is totally Rough Service! Score! :rockin:

Alternatively, you can build a ceramic resistor array heater. This one is good for 100 watts and will likely outlive me. I've been using it for (counts fingers) six years and it's still going strong...

Cheers!

Very nice.

Still I don't see why you guys don't use CFLs, they still get HOT.

 

[big_len]

Here in the UK incandescent bulbs have been gone for a few years now and you can still purchase a "Heavy Duty" bulb in pretty much every shop ...

 

[skitter]

Very nice.

Still I don't see why you guys don't use CFLs, they still get HOT.

To achieve the same type of heat an incandescent can provide with a cfl would require more power and money vs. using an incandescent based on the nature of florescent being a colder burning bulb.

Why not just use a small 40/60w infrared light bulb like you use in a turtle tank? Those will still be available.

 

[user 163849]

I am not currently using light bulbs for heating anything but, many of the recent incandescent bulbs that I have had experience with fall into the classification of what I like to call "flash bulbs" (very short life). And even though the CFL's claim to last 7 years or longer, I have yet to purchase one that has lasted a full year. I even fell for a dimable LED for a frequently used lamp, it promised 27 years of service. The first time I turned that one on it worked fine, but it refused to come back to life once I turned it off (got about 3 hours use out of that one. Most of the fixtures in my house now have Rough Service bulbs installed as they seem to be the only decent choice for reasonable service life. I do have fluorescent tube lights in my garage and shop and have not had a single fluorescent tube failure in over 7 years.

 

[Grossy]

Quite an assumption there. My post was first one I found.

Anyway, that list of exceptions doesn't seem to allow for bulbs to meet the need of this post. I looked up outdoor bulbs on HD and all they have are halogens and LEDs.

I have always used a refrigerator light bulb, they are designed for freezing temperature, and high temperatures.

This ban will make no difference for me.

 

[sablesurfer]

I have always used a refrigerator light bulb, they are designed for freezing temperature, and high temperatures.

This ban will make no difference for me.

Cool, good to hear. What size is your fermentation chamber and what size frigerator bulb do you use? How often do you notice it having to work to warm up the fermenter?

 

[sablesurfer]

deleted double post

 

[LandoLincoln]

Quite a few years ago now, mid 2000's, I had a cfl overheat. It started smoking and set off a fire alarm. If I weren't home I fear it would have burnt my house down. I tried to notify UL and CUL, they ignored me, I traced the manuf. name to a dead end in china if I remember right, notified Wal-Mart where it was purchased, nobody gave a $hit, so I quit buying them. I am not pleased having to change from incandescent.

There's more than two types of bulbs on the market, you know.

 

[Grossy]

Cool, good to hear. What size is your fermentation chamber and what size frigerator bulb do you use? How often do you notice it having to work to warm up the fermenter?

I use a 40 watt appliance light bulb.
I have a full size freezer, it holds 4x 7.5-gallon ale pails.
The light bulb is in a shop light, the kind you use for working under a car, the whole thing is wrapped in aluminum foil. I leave it on all the time, when the freezer heats up, my controller turns on the freezer. Not the most efficient use, but it works. A better controller would solve the problem.

Here is a picture of my IPA, after it exploded in the freezer. (It is the only picture I have readily available.)

 

[gandelf]

You guys need to quit watching Fox News. They leave a lot of stuff out.

+10 Conversion will be encouraged, but not forced. LEDs will come down.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

i could be wrong but i thought halogen lights put off nearly as much heat as light. couldn't they be used instead? like one of those halogen flood lights?

 

[day_trippr]

i could be wrong but i thought halogen lights put off nearly as much heat as light. couldn't they be used instead? like one of those halogen flood lights?

You're not wrong, halogen bulbs are only slightly more efficient than conventional incandescent bulbs. We have some light fixtures in the house with small 40W halogen lamps and if they've been on for just a minute or so you'd be risking a major ouchie if you tried to remove one without letting it cool down first...

Cheers!

 

[cfrazier77]

You can also use a ceramic reptile bulbs.

 

[timpoulsen]

Go to Amazon.com and buy all you want. I never noticed a shortage either at my local Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart.

 

[skitter]

Go to Amazon.com and buy all you want. I never noticed a shortage either at my local Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart.

Home depot said they have a 6 month supply, after that they won't have any left

 

[sablesurfer]

Well I did find the rough duty lightbulbs thanks to this thread. In fact I even found my much needed 100w bulb for the garage work area. No more squinting in CFL light as I try to work on beer projects!!! YAY.

So I am going the light in can heater route to start. Using a 60w rough duty bulb. Should be built so that I can move to a seedling mat wrapped around that can if I need to in the future.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

I'm really not sure why more people don't use these:

Screw-in Infrared Heater Bulbs


They're designed for heating... they last much, much longer than an incandescent, are more efficient and safer.

 

[sablesurfer]

I'm really not sure why more people don't use these:

Screw-in Infrared Heater Bulbs


They're designed for heating... they last much, much longer than an incandescent, are more efficient and safer.

Well, the way I read it (and I would like to have an engineer explain it better) infra red heaters don't heat air. They are electromagnetic radiation that has to hit another object to warm it up. That would mean you would have to point it directly at your carboy.

The reason they work for reptiles is because they actually bask under them, getting warmed up. They don't heat the enclosure as many users ask about on Amazon.

I think anyway, I am an info systems project manager so not an engineer.

 

[ianw58]

Well, the way I read it (and I would like to have an engineer explain it better) infra red heaters don't heat air. They are electromagnetic radiation that has to hit another object to warm it up. That would mean you would have to point it directly at your carboy.

The reason they work for reptiles is because they actually bask under them, getting warmed up. They don't heat the enclosure as many users ask about on Amazon.

I think anyway, I am an info systems project manager so not an engineer.

I don't know where to begin.

Air is actually made up of molecules of gas, such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and lots if other gases. Without these gases, we would have a vacuum.

For sound to travel, it has to create waves of energy through the air, just like a wave traveling through water. That's the reason that sound does not travel in space; there's nothing to carry the wave!

The infrared bulbs warm gases in the air, which, in turn, warm what ever they're near. The heat travels through the air just like sound waves or waves through water. They do not mysteriously transfer energy through space and time to warm things.

My infrared bulb is screwed into the socket in my light-bulb-in-a-can heater. I gave up on filament bulbs after the third bulb. The infrared bulb has been warming my ferments in my fridge all winter long.

 

[estricklin]

To achieve the same type of heat an incandescent can provide with a cfl would require more power and money vs. using an incandescent based on the nature of florescent being a colder burning bulb.

Why not just use a small 40/60w infrared light bulb like you use in a turtle tank? Those will still be available.

This after being on for 100 seconds,



Looks like they get pretty effin hot for something that ONLY uses 16 watts of electricity!!

I've been using CFLs in my house for about 10 years, and I love e'm. The 22 watt version produces 1600 lumens, the same or a tiny bit more than a 100 watt incandescent for less than 1/4 of the cost. Amazing! And, they last for many years. I've got some that have been around for 5 or 6 years easy.

If you want to really add some pepper to the gumbo:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AZOV9K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

2800 lumens and only 40 watts! I use them for grow lights for my tomatoes and peppers and they work great.

LEDs are more efficient than CFLs, but the brightest ones sold are about 800 lumens. I'm sure this will change soon though.

Edit:

I'm in no way implying that incandescent bulbs don't produce more heat than CFLs, since they use 4 times the electricity and produce the same amount of light the rest of the electrical energy must be turned to heat. But I think it would surprise many how much heat can be generated from a CFL.

 

[TyTanium]

I don't want a CFL bulb anywhere near my beer. Or anything I ingest for that matter.

I've used a small 200w space heater for years; works like a champ.

 

[sablesurfer]

I don't know where to begin.

Air is actually made up of molecules of gas, such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and lots if other gases. Without these gases, we would have a vacuum.

For sound to travel, it has to create waves of energy through the air, just like a wave traveling through water. That's the reason that sound does not travel in space; there's nothing to carry the wave!

The infrared bulbs warm gases in the air, which, in turn, warm what ever they're near. The heat travels through the air just like sound waves or waves through water. They do not mysteriously transfer energy through space and time to warm things.

My infrared bulb is screwed into the socket in my light-bulb-in-a-can heater. I gave up on filament bulbs after the third bulb. The infrared bulb has been warming my ferments in my fridge all winter long.

I am not saying you can't get heat from an infrared bulb. People here wouldn't be doing it if didn't work. But if the goal is to heat the whole compartment, I can't see how infra red is the most effective.

Infrared is a lightwave. Electromagnetic energy. When the sun outside, during winter, is shining through your windows, the house is warmed because that light is actually slowed down. The energy is reduced and it get's stuck in your house...that slower energy can then be absorbed by those air molecules, speeding them up and making the room hotter. Yet if you go outside where not much but air is impeding the sunlight, it is still freekin cold.

An infrared bulb is designed to produce a very narrow field of 'light'. It is still light traveling at light speeds. That passes through 'air' with very little effect. (Actually isn't microwave radiation another thing that is electromagnetic...and that doesn't heat 'air' either.) So the infrared bulb will only 'produce' heat when the light waves are slowed down by something.

In your instance, I am going to assume you have the bulb enclosed in a can? Or that the bulb is kinda pointed at something that is getting hot? (Please if I am wrong tell me, cause I am still not an engineer. ) So if the bulb is heating the can, then it is the can that is raditating the slower energy of light converted to heat.

Now I know that light bulbs produce 'light', but the reason they are being phased out is because most of the energy is actually 'heat'. So to me it is actually more effective to use heat for heat instead of relying on changing light into heat.

No?

 

[fearwig]

I don't want a CFL bulb anywhere near my beer. Or anything I ingest for that matter.

I've used a small 200w space heater for years; works like a champ.

'sfine if you don't go around smashing them. But I don't like the helix design that can break and get all in your hair when you overtighten, why aren't there more with the second glass bulb around them?

 

[The_Bishop]

As a firefighter, lightbulbs in metal cans makes me shudder. There are better options; they may cost a buck or two more but that's a steal compared to watching your entire home and all your belongings become a pile of embers.

 

[ianw58]

Removed. I give up.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Removed. I give up.

Smart move.

 

[dyqik]

This after being on for 100 seconds,

Those handheld remote thermometers measure IR emission, not the temperature. They don't always give accurate results, particularly when pointed at non-thermal sources like CFL lightbulbs (which emit light by exciting phosphors on the tube surface with strong emission bands), or other objects with strong features in the their emission spectrum. I don't know if that reading is an accurate measure of the temperature of the bulb or not. Those thermometers are fine for measuring dull metals or other dull solid surfaces, but they don't necessarily work on e.g. boiling liquids, shiny surfaces, through glass, etc.

If the CFL bulb draws 16W of power, then the maximum heat it can provide to the fermentation chamber is 16W. All the power input to the bulb gets turned to light and heat, then the light gets turned to heat when it is absorbed within the chamber. For an incandescent bulb, a greater fraction of the input power is initially turned to heat, but eventually the rest is also turned to heat. Since it draws more power, it provides more heat. i.e. the first law of thermodynamics applies.

 

[sablesurfer]

Removed. I give up.

So much for trying to have a discussion. Why is it that the internet makes people take offense when you don't immediately agree? Oh well.