Self Ballasted CFL's

[Dirt]

I was thinking maby I could get a bulb like this,http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2CUU5, bypass the ballast's in my existing fixtures, get a medium screw in base, and then I would have fluorscent lighting in my bays. This just sounds too easy to me. Or is it really that simple? Any thoughts?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I had four MH fixtures that used the small 175W bulb. Those lights always had something wrong with them, biggest POS I ever owned. I bought some of those CFL bulbs from 1000bulbs, threw away the transformer and capacitor, and wired to the socket. They work great, and yes it's that simple.

 

[Randy]

It is that easy. Check out these bulbs.
www.1000bulbs.com/55-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents/

 

[Dirt]

I'm happy to hear this. The only place I seen "self ballasted bulbs" is in the granger book. When I look at the pictures of the bulbs from other companys, they all look the same. Are all CFL bulbs of this size self ballasting? The 175w MH fixtures that I have now have the E39 mogul base. What I would really like to find is a self ballasting bulb with a E39 mogul base, instead of the medium E26 base. That way I wouldn't have to change the bases in my fixtures, just rewire them.

 

[Randy]

No problem. They make an adapter for that very purpose

www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=...=aps&hvadid=3532992197&ref=pd_sl_5omyftm57m_b

 

[I.B. Washincars]

1000bulbs has the mogul base bulbs. Go to their site and do a search for "mogul cfl"

 

[MEP001]

I don't think you'll be happy with the output or quality of the light. especially if they're Fluorex with has a color temp of 6500K. On paper it looks like a lot of light, but the light is that weak, bluish color like the old mercury vapor ones, not very pleasant. It's worth a try though, the CFL's are pretty cheap.

 

[chadrpalmer]

funny, i was looking for some specialty bulbs, everyone is talking 1000bulbs.com, so i decided to go to their site and order...they are about 15 blocks from my store! guess i will skip the shipping.

 

[Rudy]

What wattage CFL would translate to the output of a 175 Metal Halide? I see CFL come in 85 and 100+ Watt versions.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Thye bulb you linked on the 1000Bulbs site says its equivalent to a 250watt incandescent bulb. I doubt anyone is lighting their bays with an incandescent. A typical 175Watt Metal Halide according 1000Bulbs site produces 13,000 lumens as opposed to the 3600 the hyperlinked CFL produces. There is no doubt they will reduce your electric bill as well as dim your bays.

 

[MEP001]

What wattage CFL would translate to the output of a 175 Metal Halide?

There isn't one. As GoBuckeyes pointed out, they were intended to replace incandescent for energy savings and are rated as such. You would have to do the math in lumens and use several CFL's to replace a metal halide.