CFLs

[mickeyd]

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs : ENERGY STAR

<H4>ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs:

• ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.
• Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.
• Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.
• Are available in different sizes and shapes to fit in almost any fixture, for indoors and outdoors.

</H4>
I have converted about 75% of my home with CFL bulbs. I have been replacing the older incandescent type bulb with these guys over the last 5 years or so. I have never had to replace a CFL bulb yet as they say that they should last 5-10 years each.

My local electric company is currently providing a $4.00 off in-store coupon if you purchase a 4 pack. A 4pack retails for $9.99 ($2.50 each), but with the 40% off coupon my cost per item is reduced to $1.50 each! I loaded up today with several packs. Check and see if your local utility is also offering it.

Even w/o the 40% discount, these are a good buy. Is anyone else here using these oddly shaped guys? What has been your experience with them?

 

[Nords]

Is anyone else here using these oddly shaped guys? What has been your experience with them?

What odd shape are you referring to? The skinny "U" shape or the twisted pair that mimic the profile of an incandescent bulb?

We actually had a CFL burn out a few months ago, but it was a SDG&E freebie that had been through two moves since 1996. It owed us nothing, and SDG&E gave us two of those bulbs so now we're using another 11-year-old bulb in the fixture.

We've put CFLs in just about every fixture in the house. We started with the lights that are on for at least an hour or two a day but we've also put CFLs in the rooms that get hot during the summer. We even spent extra money on CFLs inside glass globes for the light bars over our bathroom sinks-- much less heat production and much more habitable.

Spouse is really looking forward to mainstream LEDs...

 

[mickeyd]

What odd shape are you referring to?

I am refering to the "mini-spiral or twist" as they refer to it in the link.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i've been replacing incandescents with cfl's as the old bulbs die and my edison stash runs out. i recently tried using three 100-effective-watters which i need to light up the tiffany reproduction in the kitchen but they were annoyingly noisy.

i haven't had any noise problem with the 60 watters. is the noise a common problem to this product or did i just happen upon bad bulbs?

 

[justin]

I've got em all over. The local elec company recently partnered with home depot and they are currently offering a deal where $3 gets you 4 60 watt equivalent CFL's (NVision brand I think). I picked up two more packs, since a few have burnt out, and our oldest ones are approaching 9-10 years I think.

 

[unclemick]

About 70 - 80 % of the house by now - Wal Mart and Lowes have periodic sales. No coupons - that I have stumbled across yet though.

60 watters mostly.

heh heh heh

 

[Zathras]

We have them in every fixture in the house Love em. We did have some issues with some CFLs that were a 'generic' brand in that they took a good 30 seconds to a minute to warm up. However, the sylania/GE brands seem to do much better.
The short warm-up time isn't as bad as it used to be, I think we are just getting accustomed to it.
Oops, one fixture we have an old fashioned bulb in is the motion sensitive floodlight outside.

 

[travelover]

I use 'em everywhere inside except with dimmer switch or in closets, furnace room etc. The new ones sure are an improvement over the early ones that flickered and buzzed.

 

[tightasadrum]

DW refused to have any of them in her house, something about the harshness of the lighting. So I put some in the stairwell going to the basement, and slipped one into a downlight in the hallway between two incandescent lights. My reasoning was to see whether she would notice any difference in the down light. I was careful to choose a low temperature bulb that had exactly the same bulb profile around it. That was six months ago, and she hasn't noticed it yet.

My next step is to begin replacing existing downlights, and there are many, all through the house one at a time when she's not at home. One day when the subject comes up again, but NOT from me, I may mention that it's funny she doesn't like them since the house is full of them. Nah, I think I'll just let it be my little secret.

By the way, I had two of those spiral types go out in the basement stairwell within a few months. My conclusion: do not scrimp on your CFL purchases, buy good quality bulbs from a reputable manufacturer.

 

[TromboneAl]

We can get them for 75 cents/bulb at sales around here. They are very good, but I've had some burn out.

 

[Texas Proud]

My first purchase of them were not good.. bought a 7 pack from SAMs and 6 of them were burnt out in less than a year.. the 7th is still in my mom's kitchen 5 years later...

My second batch have turned very yellow... one of them did start having a noise and got thrown out... one burnt out in two years. Two still going.

My third purchase was a single bulb... it is a 'sunlight' bulb and is very white, but looks a little strange...

 

[bongo2]

My experience has been pretty poor with these. They may last 3 years on average if some of them go 10 years to make up for the 30-40% of mine that have not lasted a year. They do also go dim and yellow after about 2-3 years, and the quality of light can vary even within a pack. Every couple years I will buy a few packs wondering if they've finally got the bugs worked out, but my last purchase a few months ago has soured me again.

 

[Raygun99]

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps may be released and contribute to air and water pollution.

Any idea how to dispose of them when they die?

 

[mickeyd]

use 'em everywhere inside except with dimmer switch

I understand that they now have a special CFL bulb that works on dimmer lights.

 

[WanderALot]

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps may be released and contribute to air and water pollution.

Any idea how to dispose of them when they die?

Our local county has a hazardous waste disposal site where you can go drop it off. I believe it's now illegal to dispose of old batteries (not just rechargeable, but also alkalines), so I just throw everything into a shoebox and take it down there once every few months.

 

[OAG]

Ace Hardware here (Dublin, OH) has the CFL that work with dimmer switches. The look the same except the package says something like "works with dimmers". Don't recommend Ace as source (too high priced) only for the fact they did have dimmer capable ones.

 

[laurence]

I use them, but have had several burn out already. So much for lasting 7 years! Still, the price on sale has become well worth it.

 

[travelover]

I understand that they now have a special CFL bulb that works on dimmer lights.

Yes, but I haven't found a reasonably priced dimmable CFL yet.

 

[Puzzley]

I found out quickly that the really inexpensive ones are poor quality, and fail very quickly. I bought a bunch of them at Lowe's because they were about $1.50 apiece, but most had failed within 60 days. Name brand ones (read more expensive) such as Sylvania are still going after a year. At first I thought it was because the cheap ones were made in China, but the Sylvania ones are made there too!

 

[RunningBum]

I've put a few in lights that would stay on awhile. I don't believe they are very good in lights you'll only have on for a few minutes because of the power draw when they come on. Reducing heat in close quarters is another good place to put them. I worry about the talk that traditional bulbs will someday be banned because there are places those are more appropriate.

My ideal spot was my living room where I have two wall sconces, with an up light and a down light each. I turn those lights on from dark til bed time. I put one in and it worked fine, though the light wasn't as soft as I'd have liked. Put the other 3 in, and all 4 just get a weak flicker and never come on. Why would this be? Is the fixture not giving enough power?

For disposal, if you just don't have anywhere to dispose of them I've heard to wrap them in a plastic bag so any breakage is contained.

 

[samclem]

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps may be released and contribute to air and water pollution.

Any idea how to dispose of them when they die?

Raygun: Is there a reason your nouns have hyperlinks?
Anyway:

My county has a "hazardous waste collection day" once per month, they'll accept these bubs and all kinds of other stuff.

On a note related to CFLs: I was surprised to learn that CFLs are much more energy efficient than LEDs. Present generation LEDs available for home lighting give approx 20 lumens/watt, a CFL gives 45-60 lumens per watt. Want to save the earth? Replace your fixtures: the frumpy T-8 4' tubular fluorescents give 85-95 lumens/watt. For comparison, a 100W incandescent bulb gives 17 lumens/watt.

I'm sure LED-based lighting will improve, but right now it costs much more than CFLs, is less energy efficient, and the light quality (color rendering) is worse. At least at present the LED-based lights seem to be a good bet only as long-lasting energy-efficient replacements for incandescent/halogen lights in highly directional applications.

 

[Raygun99]

But don't you end up with mercury in the land fill? Does that polute the water table.. No one is talking too much about disposal.. Only energy .. Wonder how much the clean up will cost if it get to be a hazardous waste?

 

[samclem]

But don't you end up with mercury in the land fill? Does that polute the water table.. No one is talking too much about disposal.. Only energy .. Wonder how much the clean up will cost if it get to be a hazardous waste?

Check into recycling the bulbs--it can be done fairly easily in most populated places. Regarding the mercury--yes, it is nasty stuff, but using CFL bulbs reduces mercury in the environment if your power is produced from coal (as most US electricity is) A CFL contains approx 4 mg of mercury. To power it over its lifetime, a coal plant will release another 3 mg of mercury. To power an incandescent bulb over the same timeframe would release 10 mg of mercury.

Since the 1980s, most landfills have been constructed with liners of various types as well as leachate collection systems. These are not foolproof and mercury from various sources in landfills can still contaminate groundwater. Still, I'd guess that most of the mercury in a broken fluorescent bulb ends up evaporating and therefore in the air--just as it would have from a coal-fired power plant. From there it can contaminate the environment in various ways. So, use CFL bulbs and recycle them when they die. If your county/municipality doesn't have a recycling program, ask them to start one (and tell them you'll leave your HAZMAT in boxes outside government buildings until they do. Just kidding!)

 

[Sue J]

I had been looking for the dimmable CFLs for months, I even contacted GE. They told me that WalMart, Lowes, Target and Home Depot should have them in soon. I found them at WalMart a few weeks ago and I bought 4 of the 15 watt (60 Watt equivalent). They are called GE Energy Smart Dimmable and they were $11.77 each.

I've put them into 2 different ceiling fan light fixtures. The store also sold a larger wattage version but those did not fit in our fixtures. I'm very pleased with the brightness level and the color of the lighting. The only drawback is that our ceiling fans and their lights are on remote controls. You have to hold the button longer than normal and when the light comes on it's not the full brightness. It's not in a dimmed mode, it's just that the CFL takes a while to fully light. After about 30-60 seconds (I haven't timed it, I just know that it's a noticeable pause) the light is full and very bright.

I thought the cost was high ($25 for 2 bulbs including tax, per fixture ) but I had been looking for these for a while and really wanted to try them. One of my pet peeves is when my husband and sons leave lights on in empty rooms. With these being CFLs I'm far less bothered ...... even though it cost $50 to put them in.

I'm thinking that in the long run it's worth it.

Our city has it's own electric company and twice a year they give us free lightbulbs. When CFLs were very new our city started giving them out as an option. I've been sold on them for at least 10-12 years, using them originally in the light over the kitchen table. We've had them long enough that we have had a few burn out.

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

I've heard that putting CFLs into enclosed fixtures is a bad idea. Anybody know why? And anybody doing it with long-term success?