Has anyone tried using those compact flourescent bubs in a studio?

From what I understand, incandescentbulbs will no longer be available after January 1 2012. Unless the outcry really gets loud... still. I think all the re-tooling is being done so that even if they remove the ban, the proce will still go way up for incandescents.
 
So... will the CF bulbs be a noise problem or will they just cause seizures... DOH. You know some people can actually see the lightpulse that a CF bulb produces. They go on/off 60 times a second.
 
Are you hoarding bulbs? I am about to start. Then there are the new LED bulbs that cost 20 to 50 bucks each. I don't imagine they make noise. They use little energy but you have no savings because they cost so much... thank you mr government.
 
Anyway, all I meant to ask was will the CF bulbs be a noise problem in the home studio. I already have to use a noise conditioner because our power is noisy before it ever gets to our house.
 
Julien

I haven't seen too much of a problem with the curly bulbs except that they emitt, somewhat, a "nerdy" vibe. 

Well, that is good to hear... I don't need any extra noise (some might consider my music noise anyway, laff) I can't wait to "accidentally" break one in a store. There should be a special day each month for everyone to go and break one in a public place, until they get off our backs and let us choose what we want. That would fall under civil disobedience wouldn't it? It is OK for conservatives to practice civil disobedience isn't it... probably not, what was I thinking if a conservative practised civil disobedience it would just be criminal... I am just not thinking right, sorry.
Probably because i've been reading The Law by Frederick Bastiat http://bastiat.org/

Julien

Real light bulbs will still be available in Mexico for owners of recording studios and spraypaint booths. At least, until they are able to train incandescent bulb-sniffing dogs at the border. Then the price will just go up.

dude i got two of these mounted right on top of my workstation..it does nothing at all..my control room is set up a little sort of a workstation cubicle with a wrap around three walls desk and overhead storage compartments with those light built in underneath

I think most of them have tiny little switching power supplies built in the base. The kind of power supplies that occasionally burst in to flames.

The switching power supplies replace the old noisy ballasts which is what primarily created the buzz on sound signals.

best regards,
mike

I had them everywhere but they drove me crazy with weird light and a bit of noise. Just converted the studio to LED which is low heat, nice light and apparently noise free, although 2 weeks isn't enough time to really know.

I use them with no problems either.  I haven't heard any noise from them either in the room or through equpiment.

riojazz


I tried an LED 30W bulb just to see if it had any effect in the studio.  It did not have an effect on the sound, but it did on my mood.  The color that they think is a warm yellow is a sickly yellow-grey.

I think the LED bulbs will get better and cheaper over time. Who  knows, at some point you may be able to program the bulb for any color you want.  I agree with the poor color on some, kinda makes that sun burst Gibson look more like a urine burst.

O.K.   I can somewhat relate to this.... I bought a really nice small antique table lamp for my studio and when I got home, I realized that there was no on/off switch. I replaced the bulb with one of the smaller curly replacements ( which I just happened to have). Since it doesn't get hot, to turn on and off I simply screw the bulb in.  I've become quite fond of it, now.  It doesn't seem to emit any additional power in the 60Hz range over what's currently there in my case.

I've used them..... I'm mixed on them.

Pro's: use less energy, emit less heat, long life if used correctly, seem to work OK in studio without issues

Con's: highly toxic stuff inside them, color temperature is not as sweet as incadescent, they start dim and brighten up, usable life is drastically shortened if they are left on for extended periods of time.

I have a light bulb run planned this weekend.  Time to start stocking up.

BTW: they will be banning the lower 75w and 60w lamps as well, so stock up with enough to last the rest of your lifetime. And, as time goes on, the price will rise so you can start your own black market business in lightbulbs.

Since we've completely replaced all incandescent bulbs with the circular CF types here, we've got a stock of around 20 somewhat used incandescents in a cupboard.  Sounds like I should wait a bit and sell them on eBay, eh?

I haven't had any issues with the new CF bulbs but, as was mentioned above, it was the ballast that mainly caused the hum issues anyway.  Plus, I'm always warm AND I love rooms that are very bright - a combination that leads to excessive A/C usage (which causes it's own "brown-outs" and noise), so I'm loving these new CF bulbs (at least after I got used to them).

I personally like the "cooler" colors, that is, the ones that seem more blue-ish, but I've got two in my bedroom that are very bright and exactly the same color as the incandescents they replaced so they DO exist!  (You just have to look around for them, and try out a few brands until you find some that are a color you like.)

A few quick comments from an energy auditor:

incandescent bulbs will still be available for special fixtures and applications, meaning: chandelier , rough service, colored bulbs and other decorative applications,...

Halogen bulbs are available and will be available since they give the minimum energy saving/light gain required by the new regs.  These are my favorite since when dimmed the give nice light.  (buy a good dimmer and ground it or it will give you noise.  OMMV on this)  I do this in my own studio without problems.

Yes cfl's have mercury in them but if you are connected to coal fired power (most of us) the amount of mercury going into the air as a byproduct of burning it to power a standard bulb is greater than that in a cfl.  Some small consolation,...  And many light tempuratures (what we think of as light color) are available the I find pleasant.  Pay attention when you get one.  I use "kitchen and bath" instead of "cool white" or "utility"

One thing we don't think about with incandescent lighting is heat load.  That 10% efficient item is putting out the excess 90% in heat.  This may be fine in the winter but in the summer you pay for it with the AC: on top of paying for the juice for the bulb.

I was talking to the VP of a local High School last week who was telling me about how changing their fixtures to efficient ones cut their electricity bill in half.  Granted a school uses a lot of light but that is scalable to a home,...

I also have a friend who has about a 10 year supply of bulbs and keeps buying.  He wants to get enough so he can die with extras to pass onto his kids.  He's also the same guy who pays for a separate trash service (around here it's a city function) so he won't have to recycle,...

Great logic!

Starise


 
I have more studio related problems with the erroneous stuff generated into my guitar effects due to their close proximity to my desktop tower. 

Agreed - the electrical interference from PCs is far greater than that from low energy bulbs. So is the hum caused by using single coils too close to an amp/powered monitor/bank of wall warts.