# Advice on what size Compact Fl lights for basement room



## bushwickbill (Jan 17, 2010)

I am in the process of doing a reno and am at the stage where we are deciding what size bulbs to buy. The room is a Basement room with a small window on one wall, So not much natural light to begin with. The dimensions are 14 by 14 by 8 ft high. And We just put in 6 5 inch halo pot light cans. Basically two pot lights along three of the four walls. The owner is not going to be using a dimmer switch and he wants compact Fl bulbs. I don't know what size bulbs to get I do not want the room to be under lit or have too much light. So can someone give me a safe number of watts to go with. I tried to convince the owner to go with a dimmer and some proper halogen bulbs, But he is insisting on compact fl to save money on power draw.
Thank you for any help I can get.:thumbup:


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

bushwickbill said:


> I am in the process of doing a reno and am at the stage where we are deciding what size bulbs to buy. The room is a Basement room with a small window on one wall, So not much natural light to begin with. The dimensions are 14 by 14 by 8 ft high. And We just put in 6 5 inch halo pot light cans. Basically two pot lights along three of the four walls. The owner is not going to be using a dimmer switch and he wants compact Fl bulbs. I don't know what size bulbs to get I do not want the room to be under lit or have too much light. So can someone give me a safe number of watts to go with. I tried to convince the owner to go with a dimmer and some proper halogen bulbs, But he is insisting on compact fl to save money on power draw.
> Thank you for any help I can get.:thumbup:


Get the ones that are marked 100watt equaivalent , I think they draw around 30 watts each


----------



## Electric_Light (Apr 6, 2010)

bushwickbill said:


> I am in the process of doing a reno and am at the stage where we are deciding what size bulbs to buy. The room is a Basement room with a small window on one wall, So not much natural light to begin with. The dimensions are 14 by 14 by 8 ft high. And We just put in 6 5 inch halo pot light cans. Basically two pot lights along three of the four walls. The owner is not going to be using a dimmer switch and he wants compact Fl bulbs. I don't know what size bulbs to get I do not want the room to be under lit or have too much light. So can someone give me a safe number of watts to go with. I tried to convince the owner to go with a dimmer and some proper halogen bulbs, But he is insisting on compact fl to save money on power draw.
> Thank you for any help I can get.:thumbup:


Whatever wattage you get, you'll have to get a reflector type with a matching shape and size of the can. Reflector type CFLs run hot and to combat output reduction with rising temperature, it is often constructed with amalgam lamp. 5-10 minutes warm and ramp up during the first minute is quite slow, but they hold the output once fully warmed up. This maybe a cause of a MAJOR dissatisfaction.

Non amalgam type warms up faster, but they suffer in efficacy/final output.


----------



## Johnpaul (Oct 2, 2008)

Too late now to worry. For maximum lighting the double tube CFL cans would have provided a lot more light. Bigger is better with the wider reflectors. Even with CFL's I would still put in a Lutron dimmer.


----------



## Electric_Light (Apr 6, 2010)

Johnpaul said:


> Too late now to worry. For maximum lighting the double tube CFL cans would have provided a lot more light. Bigger is better with the wider reflectors. Even with CFL's I would still put in a Lutron dimmer.


Even if you put it on "maximum" setting, it isn't a straight through wire and phase is still modulated. 

If you use CFLs not specifically designed to be used with ordinary dimmers, you can experience flickering, buzzing, or damage to CFLs and/or dimmers. 

One sure thing is that it will not dim. 

Lutron makes CFL dimmers, but they require dimmable CFLs, which in turn require CFL rated dimmers.


----------

