Shedding Additional Light on CFL Torchieres

After seeing the torchiere review in your November issue (EBN

Vol. 6, No. 10), I confess to cringing slightly when I saw the problems you had with the torchiere [from Energy Federation Inc.]. You were shipped one of the first production units, before we had even assembled some demo units for our lobby.

The flickering lamp problem is trickier. There is a problem with some circuit boards in our ballasts—contacting the metal ballast housings on occasion, perhaps from jostling that happens during shipment. Since shipping out the first 75 or so fixtures, we have been opening each package before shipping it, testing with lamps for a minimum of one hour. We have been experiencing this problem with about 5% of the ballasts, which translates to 15% of the fixtures, because there are three ballasts per fixture.

We are working to correct these problems. We also are using an improved switch with the 78W models we are now receiving. Hopefully, we are catching almost all the problems before we ship product to customers. We still do get some complaint calls, in part because these are difficult items to ship. But the ratio of problems to sales has dropped sharply since we started our testing.

We are planning on having some new models in, probably by late February or March: different wattages; more-stylish, lower-profile bowls.

I thought your piece was pretty charitable to us, given we would clearly classify the product you received as “defective.” Manufacturing is new and challenging. Can’t say it’s always a bowl of cherries, but it isn’t dull.

Bradley Steele, President

Energy Federation Inc. Natick, Massachusetts

Editor’s Note: We checked with EFI before publication, and they are moving ahead with new and improved CFL torchieres, including a lower-cost two-lamp version and one using a forthcoming General Electric 57-watt 2D lamp that will be able to use mass-produced, low-cost steel components of standard halogen torchieres.