Dedicated Compact Fluorescent Fixtures:
The Next Generation for Residential Lighting

Evan Mills
Center for Building Science, MS/90-3058, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Berkeley, California, USA, 94720

Michael Siminovitch and Erik Page
Lighting Systems Research Group, MS/46-125, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Berkeley, California, USA, 94720

Robert Sardinsky
Rising Sun Enterprises, 0040 Sunset Dr. #1, Basalt, Colorado, 81621, USA

Presented at the 3rd European Conference on Energy-Efficient Lighting,
Newcastle upon Tyne, June 19-21, 1995

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Abstract

This paper presents a rationale for seeking increased use of dedicated pin-base fixtures for compact fluorescent lamps in residential applications and outlines the need for a national strategy to accelerate their adoption. About three billion light fixtures illuminate AmericaÍs 96 million homes. Each year, 500+ domestic and foreign manufacturers collectively sell about 165 million residential fixtures with a retail value of over four billion dollars, half of which are imported. Approximately 60% of U.S. residential fixture sales are hardwired and 40% are portable. In terms of energy use and market sales, ceiling-mounted fixtures and table lamps emerge as among the most significant segments of the market. A fundamental market barrier for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) is that screw-base systems often perform extremely poorly once installed within fixtures. Our measurements show up to a 75% loss in nominal CFL light output when the suboptimal thermal and optical environment within fixtures is accounted for. We also find that the ideal CFL lamp type varies as a function of fixture type. With hardwired, dedicated CFL fixtures the lighting designer has the opportunity to develop a marriage between fixture and source leading to appropriate aesthetic and photometric integration, necessary functions if CFLs are to have a lasting place in the residential market place. Dedicated fixtures designed for optimal thermal and optical operation of CFLs also offer a solution least likely to allow a ñsnap backî to less efficient incandescent sources.

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