Thread: Blacklight tip...

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I just wanted to give you all a tip I figured a few months ago. Many of you use blacklighting in your displays as I do, but sometimes the fixtures and lights can be a little expensive and other times they're just too big or inconvenient to fit in our displays. If any of you have tried you will know that the incandescent black lights just don't work the same... not even close.

So, for those of you who are not familiar with them, I want to let you all know about compact fluorescent blacklights. The ones I'm familiar with are made by FEIT Electric. These compact fluorescent blacklights work freakin AWESOME! Exactly like the 18" tube counterparts. They're true fluorescent bulbs, so they work just like they should and the best part is you can use them in any standard socket. I've seen them on eBay in the $10 range, but you can also find them at Menards for about $6. It's well worth the investment!

I hope this tip helps even a few of you.

that's awesome! i've been looking for something like these for a long time!
thanks for the tip!
btw, dumb question, would lights like these work on a dimmer?

Originally Posted by jlb307

btw, dumb question, would lights like these work on a dimmer?

Actually, not a dumb question at all. I work in real estate management and we are currently moving towards changing all incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent. Dimming is a very big problem with the compacts. They dim to a certain point, I believe near 60% to 70% of full capacity, but then shut off below that. The assumption is that at that point there's just not enough juice flowing to spark the ballast. They're working on currecting the problem, but I highly doubt these compact blacklights will get much attention in that aspect for a few years.

Good tip!

Also, beware of the incandescent "blacklight" bulbs that are sold around this time for a few dollars.

They are not true black lights, give off no florescent glow, (just a feeble purple glow) and get extremely hot and can catch stuff on fire.

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

Good tip!

Also, beware of the incandescent "blacklight" bulbs that are sold around this time for a few dollars.

They are not true black lights, give off no florescent glow, (just a feeble purple glow) and get extremely hot and can catch stuff on fire.

Those incandescent bulbs are the ones I'm talking about. They're horrible and don't work a lick. They're simply purple party bulbs.

Here are pics of the ones I'm talking about... and no, that's not my hand. I found those pics online.

I used these last year, and they worked great.

I came so close to buying some of those last Halloween and chickened out at the last second - they had them on Amazon.com and they were very inexpensive. I was thinking about using them to replace my front porch light - I wonder if they would give off enough light to see to give out treats by? Amazon had them on sale in packs of two if I remember correctly, so I was going to get an orange one, too, in case the black light one was not very bright. I tried one of those purple party bulbs one year and it was awful, I had to change it halfway through the night.

Wow...good advice there joker. I have been hunting down a florescent blacklight for my fcg, but I don't wanna spend $40 on an 18" light. I could use one of these CFL's for the season.

Question though... does the compact florescent lights cover as big of an area as say an 18 to 24" florescent light. Would I have to double them up to get good coverage?

Originally Posted by Effie

I came so close to buying some of those last Halloween and chickened out at the last second - they had them on Amazon.com and they were very inexpensive. I was thinking about using them to replace my front porch light - I wonder if they would give off enough light to see to give out treats by? Amazon had them on sale in packs of two if I remember correctly, so I was going to get an orange one, too, in case the black light one was not very bright. I tried one of those purple party bulbs one year and it was awful, I had to change it halfway through the night.

I plugged mine in and it was pretty bright indoors. Not enough to ruin the ambiance, but just like a regular tube blacklight. It should be enough light to see things on the porch. But they're only $6 at Menards, so you should buy one and try it one night before the big day. No sense waiting until the last minute. If it's not enough light, I'm sure you could find another use, or just return it. That's one convenience you don't get with Amazon. Price permitting, I will always buy something local versus online simply because of the returnability of the item. If the price online is just too good, then so be it, but how much cheaper than $6 each can Amazon be, right?

Originally Posted by CMGhost

Wow...good advice there joker. I have been hunting down a florescent blacklight for my fcg, but I don't wanna spend $40 on an 18" light. I could use one of these CFL's for the season.

Question though... does the compact florescent lights cover as big of an area as say an 18 to 24" florescent light. Would I have to double them up to get good coverage?

Thanks CMG! Like I just said to Effie, they're pretty bright, almost like an 18" tube light, but I honestly have not compared them in the same environment against the same scene yet. I will by mid-October before my party, but I'm assuming that'll be too late to answer this question.

I'm going to guess and say that it's not quite as much light as an 18" tube simply because of the difference in volume of tube and gas. However, I just did a quick Google search and most 18" black lights are listed as 15 watts, the exact same as these compact fluorescents, so perhaps they are exactly equal.