It's time for miniature CFLs
It's time for miniature CFLs
Osram and Philips now introduce miniature CFLs for the narrow E14 fitting. Philips was the first manufacturer to introduce such a small lamp, but after a short time Osram introduced a 5W-lamp that is the smallest CFL ever made.
Philips won the race to be the first manufacturer in the world to launch a low-energy compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) with the standard narrow E14 base. The new quadtube CFL, with a built-in electronic ballast, forms part of Philips' PLCE product line, and will be available in a 9W rating. The lamp's nominal luminous flux is 400 lumens. The lamp will be available in some European countries.
Shortly after Philips presented its lamp, Osram announced that they will launch two electronic CFLs with E14-bases as part of their Dulux EL product line. The CFLs are available in a 5W rating (250 lumens, twin-tube) and 7W (400 lumens, quad-tube). While Philips claims they were first, Osram claims that their 5W lamp is the smallest CFL ever made. The diameter of the housing of the electronic ballast is only 30 mm, and lamp length is 121 mm (vs 42 mm and 130 mm for their 7W lamp).
CFLs have previously been available only with E27 bases (the standard Edison fitting), which has somewhat limited their use. The small fitting now makes it possible to use CFLs in many fixtures that require lamps with the E14 base, such as certain wall lamps or small table lamps. However, Philips' new miniature lamp is 7 mm longer than the 9W with an E27 base from which it is developed (129 mm vs 122 mm). This is a result of a slightly longer housing for the electronic ballast at the base of the lamp, whereas the width is the same (appr 40 mm). As for Osram, their miniature 7W lamp is also longer than the corresponding E27-fitting 7W lamp, but they have managed to make the ballast housing narrower.
All three lamps clearly represent a significant step forward in terms of possible applications, but in many cases the CFLs still will be too long.