Dusk to dawn light to CFL

[QRTRHRS]

The dusk to dawn light on my barn started acting up going off and on. A known to be good sensor did not help. Seems like these lights go about five years then are throw away items.

I decided to put one of those glass globed barn lights with the metal protector on the outside with a CFL bulb. I wanted to direct the light down if possible so I took the old dusk to dawn housing down and pondered on it a bit. After removiing the transformer and circuitry, I bugged out the sensor on this one and another that I had laying around.

Turns out, you can wire the red to your positive on the light fixture, tie the commons (white) together and connect the black from the sensor to your hot coming in from the panel. At least that was common to both light housings I had.

Using some self tapping screws, I secured the light fixture to the metal bracket and metal part of the globe. After finishing up the wiring and securing the globe/fixture to the head, I hit the breaker, covered the sensor and viola, light!

With only a 20 watt CFL, I have plenty of light in the front of the barn. The original sensor turns it on and off. Sure beats running one of those 175 watt mercury vapor or a lessor wattage high pressure sodium.

 

[Mace Canute]

If anyone is interested here`s a comparison of output between HPSV and CFL. Where it says 70W(90 Watts actual) etc the first number is the nominal size of the lamp and the second number is the actually wattage the lamp and ballast use.

HPSV Chart
70w(90Watts actual)- 6000Lumen 67Lumen/Watt
100w(124Watts actual)- 9500Lumen 76Lumen/Watt
150w(199Watts actual)- 15000Lumen 76Lumen/Watt
250w(300Watts actual)- 29000Lumen 97Lumen/Watt
400w(468Watts actual)- 50000Lumen 107Lumen/Watt
600w(660Watts actual)- 90000Lumen 136Lumen/Watt
1000w(1140Watts actual)- 140000Lumen 140Lumen/Watt

CFL Chart
26W- 1700Lumen 65Lumen/Watt
42W- 2600Lumen 62Lumen/Watt
65W- 3400Lumen 52Lumen/Watt
85W- 4200Lumen 49Lumen/Watt
105W- 6900Lumen 66Lumen/Watt
150W- 8200Lumen 55Lumen/Watt
200W- 10000Lumen 50Lumen/Watt

 

[QRTRHRS]

If anyone is interested here`s a comparison of output between HPSV and CFL. Where it says 70W(90 Watts actual) etc the first number is the nominal size of the lamp and the second number is the actually wattage the lamp and ballast use.

HPSV Chart
70w(90Watts actual)- 6000Lumen 67Lumen/Watt
100w(124Watts actual)- 9500Lumen 76Lumen/Watt
150w(199Watts actual)- 15000Lumen 76Lumen/Watt
250w(300Watts actual)- 29000Lumen 97Lumen/Watt
400w(468Watts actual)- 50000Lumen 107Lumen/Watt
600w(660Watts actual)- 90000Lumen 136Lumen/Watt
1000w(1140Watts actual)- 140000Lumen 140Lumen/Watt

CFL Chart
26W- 1700Lumen 65Lumen/Watt
42W- 2600Lumen 62Lumen/Watt
65W- 3400Lumen 52Lumen/Watt
85W- 4200Lumen 49Lumen/Watt
105W- 6900Lumen 66Lumen/Watt
150W- 8200Lumen 55Lumen/Watt
200W- 10000Lumen 50Lumen/Watt

But here's the thing at least in my way of thinking. Maybe I have been buying cheap dusk to dawn lights but they go maybe five years and start to blink. By then, the circuitry is not worth pursuing. I had the light fixture and the CFL on hand. If the light burns out, I can always replace it with an LED. I have CFL task lighting around my house with bulbs lasting way longer then the dusk to dawn light.

If the bulb burns out I can simply replace it. No need to change out an entire fixture. I have plenty of sensors around if the sensor goes bad. Sure, the CFL is not as bright but I can see a skunk if one is around before I walk into it which is all I need.

 

[Mace Canute]

If the HPSV luminaire is a quality one it should last decades but the lamps themselves do start to cycle on and off as they age, it's just a characteristic of them, and all that's need to correct that problem is a new bulb. Mind you even amongst the good ones the odd head is just garbage. Everything built to a price point, eh.

Your description of how you converted the HPSV luminaire to a non ballasted lamp was good and I'm sure will be very helpful to other who wish to try it.

 

[williaty]

So the take away from your post is that the HPSV is actually a lot more efficient than your new CFL and you're going to be paying extra money to run your CFL.

I prefer metal halide to HPSV. Still very high efficiency but I can get them in "white" light with a high CRI. Makes it look very nice in the area the illuminate and it helps a ton if you have to back a trailer up at night, try to fix something at night, etc.

 

[sld]

I've used a 175 watt mercury vapor for years. I think I'm on my second bulb in about 16 years. I have one more bulb and they seem impossible to find. I recently had the sensor go out but was able to find another one.

When this light finally quits working I have my eye on an LED version. The only problem is it's about 130.00 bucks.

TLED602 Series LED Lighting Dusk to Dawn - Exit Sign Warehouse

 

[williaty]

Mercury vapor lights have been banned, which is why you can't find lamps for them anymore. Idiots who don't understand much science saw the "mercury" in the name and became sure they were going to kill us all. In reality, they have less mercury than other lighting technologies we still continue to make. On the other hand, they're a crap source of light with a CRI under 10, so in one sense it's not that big of a loss. Sure were cheap though!

 

[EddieWalker]

In my experience, all the sensors that are built into the dawn to dusk lights fail fairly quickly. To get a good sensor, you need to buy it separately and mount it in a junction box before the light. This is how I've seen commercial jobs done and how I do it for my own place.



In the picture, you can see the junction box at the top of the post. It's facing North, and away from my other lights. I ran the wire from the panel to the junction box, then from there, to three lights that I want to come on at night. I used regular outdoor lights with LED bulbs in them. I'm not a fan of CFL bulbs because they don't seem to last very long. My experience with LED bulbs is that they are worth the upfront cost and so far, I've never had one stop working on me.

Eddie

 

[Gary Fowler]

In my experience, all the sensors that are built into the dawn to dusk lights fail fairly quickly. To get a good sensor, you need to buy it separately and mount it in a junction box before the light. This is how I've seen commercial jobs done and how I do it for my own place.

View attachment 422833

In the picture, you can see the junction box at the top of the post. It's facing North, and away from my other lights. I ran the wire from the panel to the junction box, then from there, to three lights that I want to come on at night. I used regular outdoor lights with LED bulbs in them. I'm not a fan of CFL bulbs because they don't seem to last very long. My experience with LED bulbs is that they are worth the upfront cost and so far, I've never had one stop working on me.

Eddie

I agree, I wouldn't give 2 cents for all the CFL bulbs ever made. I have them in my master bathroom because they were supposed to last a long time and about once a month I have to replace one or two of the bulbs. When I run out of CFL's I am replacing them with LED bulbs. The longest one bulb has lasted is about a year. I think it is the cycling on/off a lot in the bathroom that gets them so quick.

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree, I wouldn't give 2 cents for all the CFL bulbs ever made. I have them in my master bathroom because they were supposed to last a long time and about once a month I have to replace one or two of the bulbs. When I run out of CFL's I am replacing them with LED bulbs. The longest one bulb has lasted is about a year. I think it is the cycling on/off a lot in the bathroom that gets them so quick.

I read somewhere that CFL bulbs need to be mounted upright to last. If you mount them in the ceiling, facing down, they overheat and quickly fail

Eddie