Review of OttLite HD 100 watt replacement CFL
The OttLite is a brand I’d not seen, and decided to try a bright white CFL. I’ve had some requests for reviews of whiter color bulbs or daylight bulbs.
Overall – it’s very white and looks to be a 100 watt replacement. It claims to be instant on, and is. It claims to use 25 watts, and on my killawatt, it reads 22 watts. Package claims 8000 hrs. Box indicates a 1-year warranty.
Good Bulb for your office or reading chair, but not the living room or dining room.
The light reminds me of the new LED Christmas lights. During the day, it’s fine, at night, it’s kind of odd – like a huge LCD computer screen light.
Tim Lookingbill said,
March 7, 2010 @ 12:42 pm
I’ve got four of these and use them for digital color photography and imaging research and have to say they aren’t instant on from my experience.
Mine I bought from Lowe’s hardware all start out a bit dim and noticeably bluegreen. However, after about a minute they reach there full brightness with another 5 minutes to shake the bluegreen tinge making my white walls look quite neutral with just a tinge of off white.
One concern I have about this particular Ottlite model is after it’s been on for several minutes all four emit a kind of scorched electrical chemical smell similar to overheated computer and LCD circuits that irritate my sinuses to the point I get this metalic taste in the back of my mouth. I can only smell this installed in clip on utility lamps tilted down so their back vents point upward for when I use them for photography. I can’t detect this odor when installed in regular upright living room lamps.
Turning them off and letting them cool down to handle I noticed the same odor smelling the bottom plastic housing near the screw-in post on all of them.
Just FYI,
Tim Lookingbill
Dirk Trelevan said,
March 31, 2010 @ 5:28 pm
OTT lite is a brand of spectrally pure lighting. It is typically sold for use in areas where color reproduction is important. Art and graphics work areas, photograhy etc.