Desk Lamp Fluorescent Facts

Desk Lamp Fluorescent

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Will a fluorescent desk lamp work if I want to grow plants indoors? I am moving my 10 cayenne pepper plants inside (they are not doing so well out side) and I do not have a window sill that large so I need to use lamp because they need full sun. Will an ordinary fluorescent desk lamp be sufficent?

paulverbin replied: "i think i know what ur growning and no"

dadada replied: "no its not enough light try a compactfluorescent bulb you can get these anywhere"

Can I just use a regular fluorescent desk lamp to help grow herbs indoors? I'm curious if grow lamps for indoor growing are special in anyway, or if any old fluorescent lamp will do. Thanks!

IVY replied: "Grow lights have a stronger light than regular lights. Here's a link to grow lights. There are just the bulbs too. Good luck!"

Dan the brick man replied: "the only thing missing from fluorescent lights is the ultra violet part of the spectrum...i start all my seedlings with white light..."

Can you use a fluorescent light bulb in a desk lamp? I'm going to start some seedlings indoors soon and can't afford to purchase a gardening lamp. Could I put a fluorescent light bulb in my tabletop desk lamp?

Rich Z replied: "You can get a compact fluorescent bulb like a CFL that will fit your lamp and get it to turn on in your desk lamp. The problem is that it will not contain all the sunlight colors that your plant needs to grow. You would be better off buying a non-fluorescent "Gro-Lamp" bulb that does have the proper light spectrum and using that in your desk lamp. They are only a few bucks. You don't have to buy a huge fluorescent fixture for that purpose."

desiree gersaniba replied: "yes sir/madam their is now a flourescent light bulb around the electrical shops"

How do I rewire an old fluorescent desk lamp? I have an antique fluorescent desk lamp. I bought it as a kind of "basket case" because someone had yanked the power cord out of it and it pulled a lot of the wiring apart inside. I want to put new wires in and start using it. It has just 2 wire colors, white and black. It has a ballast with just 2 wires (both black). The lamp holds a regular 2-pin (at each end) straight tube. The switch to turn on and off has 4 wires coming out, one black and one white on each side. Any clues? I think I know how to do this but I want to make sure. Both wires coming out of the ballast are black. I wish it had a diagram on it like many of them do, but no such luck. No clue where the power leads went to, they were pulled totally out of the lamp. Then the other guy took it all apart, labeled some of the wires "B" "C" "D", but that's as far as he got.

Patricia B replied: "I think they sell sets where you can rewire lamps. Try a craft store for something like that."

Ryan W replied: "yea the do, but aslong as the wiring is 1.5mm then you're good to go go go. if not, you'll probably need new starters and all sorts. quickets way is to buy a slightly larger new floro, and replace the parts into your old "basketcase" model. hth ps.justmake sureit earthedto the outer casing if it is metal."

notme replied: "Looks like the design seems to be a "shortcut" from the standard way of igniting fluorescent tubes (also missing the igniter, i presume). Probably your best bet would be to locate the original connection for the power cord, assuming that wires haven't been pulled out of the balast's windings (i've had a case of the latter, with a desk lamp using an U-shaped tube and a similar kind of ballast - just 2 wires, serial connection on one of the wires going to the plug; unfortunatelly one of the ballast wires has been ripped out from the coil, and considering the time required to manually rewind it, i've decided to buy a new lamp w/o ballast, but using a standard bulb socket and CFL tube)"

Will a full spectrum desk lamp work as a plant light? I have a desk lamp that uses a full spectrum bulb. I was wondering if this lamp could double as a plant light. I have a basil plant in my room but it does not get much sun from the window. The gardening stores sell different types of fluorescent lamps including full spectrum. Is there any difference in the full spectrum desk lamp and the specialized plant light?

Lawrence J replied: "I really doubt it ,but you can check the light color, it should be listed and then compare . I would think that the wattage would be too low"

Farmer replied: "nope. it'll never work, especially for basil. hang your basil right outside the window somehow. it will love you for that!"

Mathew W replied: "The full spectrum light will work, but won't be as efficient as a plant light. Plant lights are biased toward the red end of the spectrum, which is what plants absorb most. Older types of fluorescent lights are very weak in the red part of the spectrum, and don't do much for plants. I've grown plants using window light with 100 watt (300 watt equivalent) 5500K compact fluorescent bulbs, and they grew like it was full sunlight. The most important thing is to bring the light close to the plant without burning it."

I have this fluorescent lamp on my desk called an OTT-LITE and after a while it starts to make this annoying b? it really pisses me off and my solutions so far are either adjust it to make it stop or turn it off if that doesnt work

Which is more energy efficient? Lights that are attached to the wall that come with the house or desk lamps? I don't know what is more energy efficient and I want to save money so I'm asking, are using 100w lights attached to the wall that are part of the house cheaper or using a 60w fluorescent bulbed desk lamp cheaper? And more worth the money? I would like you to explain the reasoning. Should I change the bulbs around? Also, I live in New Zealand.

theediblespoon replied: "The only thing that should matter is the type of bulb you're using. Use florescents. They last much longer than incandescents, and use MUCH less energy. That's because incandescents convert much of the energy into heat (that's why they're hot to touch), whereas flourescents convert it all to light."

Anon replied: "Replace all your 100W bulbs with compact fluorescents of the same light output and you'll use about 10 times less power. It depends how much of the room you're using. Obviously one desk lamp will use less power than lots of wall lamps of higher power consumption, but if you're using the whole room, you might need the wall lights. Are you sure it's a 60W fluorescent on your desk? The bulb in my room is 11W which is equivalent to 100W on a normal lightbulb, and the most powerful I've ever seen was 15W"

chzmcgill replied: "The wattage of the bulbs is your main concern. It doesn't matter what type of light fixture you have really. The higher the wattage, the more energy consumption. Look at the watt rating and compare between a few bulbs. The lumens rating is the brightness. The higher the lumens rating, the brighter the light. Clear bulbs give off better light than frosted bulbs or soft lighting bulbs(has a yellow glow). I recommend the "pig-tail" type bulbs. They cost a little more but are a lot more energy efficient and last 5 times longer than standard bulbs. If you have ceiling fans or overhead light fixtures with numerous bulbs(all my fans have 4 bulbs and my dining light has 5) you can use a lower wattage bulb since 4 or 5 lights put off a lot more than just one. I wouldn't use anything over a 60 watt in the areas where a lot of light is required and use 40 watt bulbs in the lesser lit areas. I use 60 watt bulbs in my living room, bathrooms, and front foyer. All other lights in my house have 40 watt. I would use the pig-tails first, clear bulbs second, and frosted bulbs last. Just always remember, the wattage usage printed on the package is the most important # you need to look at."

Robin the energy saver replied: "Lower wattage bulbs use less energy of course. That does not mean they are more energy efficient. You need to look at the objective of your lighting (are you trying to light the entire room, or just a small part of the desk surface). If you only need to light the desk surface, then you'll need a smaller amount of light than to light the whole room. A desk lamp would work better for that. Next the type of light matters. Again, for a desk, you could probably use a more directed light in the desk lamp (shining down only). The most energy efficient highly directed light is LED lighting. You should be able to get an LED light that provides the same downward lighting as your 60w fluorescent light but that only uses about 3-4 watts. That's the most energy efficient option around today. But your next question ('and more worth the money') is important to consider. It's actually not economical to change from an incandescent bulb to a compact fluorescent unless the light gets used for at least an hour a day. For instance, the lights in my furnace room get turned on for about five minutes once a month when I go in there looking for something in storage. It will take several hundred years for the act of upgrading one of those incandescent bulbs to a CFL to pay off. In summary, if you want to light just the desk, you probably can get by with about a 20w fluorescent bulb or a 3-watt LED bulb on a desk lamp. If you want to light the whole room, two 13 watt CFL bulbs will do the trick (or change that one 100w bulb to a 23 watt CFL, same light output, much less energy use). Either way, you'll do far better than with a 100w light. As long as you use the light for an hour or more a day on average, it should be worth your while. One of the links below is for a CFL calculator that helps you figure out whether it's worth your while to upgrade incandescents to fluorescents."

honestguy602 replied: "Convert all of your light fixtures to fluorescent fixtures that use a combination of electronic ballast and t-8, or even better, t-5 tubes. These will be the most efficient. Also, consider changing your switches to occupancy sensors, as this will provide a fail-safe for when you forget to turn the lights out as you leave the room. There is also a capacitor based product on the American markets, which you install on a two pole breaker. It reduces your total motor load (the highest power drain in the house) by about 30-60%. Look into that."

will a fluorescent lamp work as a grow light? my Grow light has not come yet, and i need a light for my plants... will a fluorescent light work? It a regular desk light with a fluorescent bulb shown here:>

steven a replied: "yes. I've been growing my Venus Flytrap under a light like that for a little over a year now and it does terrific...maybe not quite as well as a grow light but I'm not that rich"

L. . V. E. replied: "hmm i will give you my opinion if you share whatever you are growing ; ]"

wellaem replied: "you need a full spectrum flourescent light to grow plants, which the one pictured is not. You are better offf to just use a widow shelf until your grow light arrives."

captnron1950 replied: "the cool white is in the middle .I use 2 - 4foot bulbs hung on chain one inch from plant and it works well. If you are growing pot you will need a timer set at 12 hours light per day Tomatoes need14 hours per day. Find light charts for the plants you are growing and the time cycle."

Desk lamp problem, lamp or bulb? I bought a desk lamp that uses the U shaped fluorescent bulbs. When I go to turn it on, it takes a few seconds, flickers a few times before turning on, sometimes there's even a small pause between flickers. Rarely, but it happens, the light does not turn on, and I would have to turn it off and back on for it to turn on. Does the problem lie in the bulb or the lamp it self?

Pukey replied: "It sounds to me like the socket itself, like it doesn't make a good connection with the metal contacts on the bulb. take it back to where ever it is you got it and ask for either a refund or another one."

beccagirl06 replied: "My guess its the lamp. My parents had a similar problem with a large fluorescent fixture in their kitchen. We replaced the bulb and it still happened. It would be cheaper to just replace the bulb, so I would try a different bulb before buying a new lamp but keep the receipt in case you need a new lamp."

juano19 replied: "This is a sign of the bulb wearing out. You have a two pin bulb that has a starter capsule built in. The starter might be going bad, but it is not replaceable separately. If there is blackness and dark gray around the base in the glass tubes then you have a bulb that is wearing out. Get another bulb and that should fix it."

What is the best kind of desk light for reading? I'm currently looking to buy a new desk lamp. My question is: which kind of light is the best for reading? I currently have an architect lamp with an incandescent bulb, which can create glare when the light reflects off of glossy pages. Is there any particular light that you would recommend? Could it simply be a matter of keeping my current lamp and simply changing the bulb style, or should I be switching my lamp to something halogen/fluorescent, etc? Thanks for your help.

mikethelightingguy replied: "Halogen is the best lighting to use when reading. With that being said, if you like your current lamp, you can certainly get a halogen bulb which will fit into the regular incandescent socket at a local lighting store or home depot/Lowes. Look for a 60-100 watt halomax bulb. If you are looking for change, I'm sure you could find an affordable desk lamp at your local IKEA, Lowes, Target, or one of the online stores such as BackBayLighting.com or Bellacor.com"

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