Originally Posted by bspalteh
Has anyone tried using a CFL light for a bicycle headlight? I am using a 50W MR16 right now, but using a bit less power would be nice. If anyone does, do you use an inverter and run the light at 120VAC or do you have a 12V CFL?
Yes, using a CFL light for a bicycle headlight could work but in order to give it the best chance of working properly one would have to use a fluorescent floodlight reflector based CFL so that most of the generated light is reflected and redirected out frontwards onto the roadway surface. The main advantage is that with a 25W CFL floodlight reflector one gets about 700 lumens of light generated which is approximately in the neighborhood of 50lumens per watt as compared to 15lumens per watt via incandescent means of light generation