Using 3-way CFL bulbs in a standard socket?

lopezri · Aug 5, 2009

Hi all you CFL'ers. I've grown once before with CFL's but I need some advice.

I've been trying to find some cost effective 150W daylight bulbs that don't require a ballast to run them.

I found some 3-way 50/100/150 W daylight bulbs at Lowe's today and I talked with a guy there about using them in a standard socket but he wasn't too familiar with them. Hmmm. . . I guess he's not a grower.

Anyway, so my question is this. . . will a 3-way CFL bulb work in a standard socket, and if so, any idea at what wattage (try saying that real fast 10 times in a row) would they illuminate - 50/100/or 150 W?

Hope someone can help!

Thanks in advance for your help.

lopezri · Aug 5, 2009

Sorry all, but I have to bump it up. I'm surprised there isn't an answer to this on the internet. You'd think energy star would have something on this.

Fallen Buckshot · Aug 5, 2009

yeah it will work in a regular socket but i dont think unless you have it in a turn style lamp nob will it go thru the difft 50/100/150

lopezri · Aug 5, 2009

Fallen Buckshot said:
yeah it will work in a regular socket but i dont think unless you have it in a turn style lamp nob will it go thru the difft 50/100/150

Cool. Thanks. Do you think it will illuminate at 150 W then or is it going to be a lower one?

Fallen Buckshot · Aug 5, 2009

it will prolly do the 50 unless you have a 3 way lamp socket course it could go the other way and be 150 im not sure how they are stepped if they got 50/100/150 like on the package or start 150\100\50\off

lopezri · Aug 5, 2009

Fallen Buckshot said:
it will prolly do the 50 unless you have a 3 way lamp socket course it could go the other way and be 150 im not sure how they are stepped if they got 50/100/150 like on the package or start 150\100\50\off

Hmmmm, that's a good question. Have any idea where I could get some sort of socket adapter to make it a 3 way?

Also maybe you could answer this. . . I've got 100 W CFL's in now. I have 6 bulbs and growing 6 plants. Would that be enough?

breakneck · Aug 5, 2009

lopezri said:
Hmmmm, that's a good question. Have any idea where I could get some sort of socket adapter to make it a 3 way?

Also maybe you could answer this. . . I've got 100 W CFL's in now. I have 6 bulbs and growing 6 plants. Would that be enough?

3-Way bulbs are just dimmable. If you place it in a standard socket it goes to the highest setting -as there is no dimmer switch limiting wattage to the ballast.

lopezri · Aug 5, 2009

breakneck said:
3-Way bulbs are just dimmable. If you place it in a standard socket it goes to the highest setting -as there is no dimmer switch limiting wattage to the ballast.

Oh yeah!!! That sounds promising!!!!!! So do you think that 6 of them on 6 plants in a bubbleponics setup would be plenty? Or how about 4 150 W and 2 100 W?

breakneck · Aug 5, 2009

What are the actual watts used by those bulbs? They are 100w equivalent correct? I recommend at least 80 actual watts of CFL /plant.

lopezri · Aug 6, 2009

Well . . . the 3-way 150 W Daylight CFL's didn't work in a standard socket. They just kind of glowed a little, never brightened up. I guess the brightest they will get is 50 Watts. I looked all over today trying to find 150 W daylight bulbs. Maybe they're outlawed here. They have 300 W soft white CFL's that don't require a ballast but nothing past 100 W in a daylight bulb. Go figure. Guess I'll have to order them. With all this expense I should have just shelled out the bucks for a HPS fixture of some sort.

Any other comments would be appreciated!

k925eastside · Feb 18, 2014

Somehow i ended up on this page so i decided to comment. I have a sylvana super saver 3000k 3 way light output 600 1200 2150 lumins energy used 12 22 33...50/100/150 watts using only 12/22/33 watts at 120 volts. I plugged it into my standard socket it seems that its the brightest because as someone else mentioned there is no dimmer resistor in the lamp so it goes on full normal power. Just wanted to confirm that info for anybody that wants to know

rmarlin · Mar 15, 2015

lopezri said:
Hi all you CFL'ers. I've grown once before with CFL's but I need some advice.

I've been trying to find some cost effective 150W daylight bulbs that don't require a ballast to run them.

I found some 3-way 50/100/150 W daylight bulbs at Lowe's today and I talked with a guy there about using them in a standard socket but he wasn't too familiar with them. Hmmm. . . I guess he's not a grower.

Anyway, so my question is this. . . will a 3-way CFL bulb work in a standard socket, and if so, any idea at what wattage (try saying that real fast 10 times in a row) would they illuminate - 50/100/or 150 W?

Hope someone can help!

Thanks in advance for your help.

I know this is old, but I still haven't found an answer to it online. So I came up with my own solution. I bought the Utilitech 3-way 50-150w (550-2150 lumens) 5000k CFL bulb at lowes, and the packaging stresses the "3-way socket ONLY" bullcrap. I plugged it in my regular socket and compared it to a smaller 1600 lumen 5k cfl, and it was dimmer. So I took a strip of tin foil and folded it a few times to cover both of the bottom contacts and it lit up like crazy.

dream2003 · Mar 19, 2015

My 34 watt 2700k are the same payed $1.50 a bulb, tried them out and only half the bulb worked did some research on the design of the bulb and tried the tin foil and the hole bulb lit up

Using 3-way CFL bulbs in a standard socket?

lopezri

Well-Known Member

lopezri

Well-Known Member

Fallen Buckshot

Guest

lopezri

Well-Known Member

Fallen Buckshot

Guest

lopezri

Well-Known Member

breakneck

Calyx LED

lopezri

Well-Known Member

breakneck

Calyx LED

lopezri

Well-Known Member

k925eastside

New Member

rmarlin

New Member

Attachments

dream2003

Well-Known Member

Similar threads