Energy saving lightbulbs

[SneakyStuff]

What are your thoughts on them, do you have a preferred wattage, and have they saved you money wile providing the same quality of lighting?

 

[SneakyStuff]

bump, very curious about personal experiences

 

[dullard]

I like them. I use the ones that replace 60W normal bulbs.

Why do I like them?

1) The CFL bulbs I bought give truer colors and I can see the difference in items such as navy blue vs slightly faded black. I can't do that with a normal bulb.

2) I can leave a light on 24 hours/day (for my cat to see its litterbox in an otherwise completely dark room, too dark for a cat to even see). I don't like stepping in messes and I don't like paying for a normal bulb's costs.

3) My last electric bill gave me an energy credit (free money to me) for using too little energy.

4) I'm not an idiot using CFLs in ways that they weren't intended: such as cold locations or areas where you flip them on/off repeatedly.

 

[funkymatt]

the new CFLs are pretty decent. You can get the 640 lumens (equivalent to a 60 watt bulb) for about 23 watts/hr. The older CFLs have a delayed light and are certainly not practical for places like a closet. The power company sent us a new one a couple years ago and it was instant on, this made me switch all the regularly used bulbs to CFL.
LED bulbs are still too expensive to justify the savings, I think they're about $30 for a 600 lumen bulb.

 

[Baked]

13 watt for 60 watt luminosity. Costco (at least in CA) had a promotion where you can get 10 CFLs for $1.50 OTD. I bought 20. They've been great. They last much longer (10x according to the box) than regular bulbs and I like the softer light. I have them in virtually every light in the house.

 

[Fern]

So far I'm not liking the CFLs at all.

I own a small commericial building and thought they would end up saving me money. I also put some in my house.

The damn things burn out too fast for me.

Fern

 

[Jeff7]

23W Neolites, they're the best CFLs I've ever used.
They come up to full brightness very quickly, have only 1mg of mercury, have a high color rendering index (82) in any color temperature, can be used in recessed fixtures, and are only about 1/8" longer than a regular incandescent bulb.

Originally posted by: Fern
So far I'm not liking the CFLs at all.

I own a small commericial building and thought they would end up saving me money. I also put some in my house.

The damn things burn out too fast for me.

Fern

What brand, and how frequently do they get turned off and on?




I'd also like to add in, I don't like the idea of banning incandescent lights. They are still quite useful in certain applications. For example, I have a storage room in my apartment, and it uses an incandescent light. I have no plans of changing it out, since it's only ever on for a few minutes. It would not last as long as a CFL would in the same application.

My oven also has a light in it. I'd like to see a CFL survive that without having the casing melt off.

Outdoor lighting. An incandescent doesn't care too much about the weather, and I have yet to see a good fluorescent spotlight or floodlight available in a competitively small package.


I also think part of the stigma against CFLs is because cheap ones tend to have a pathetic color rendering index, making colors appear a bit odd. I'm not talking about color temperature either. Those Neolites come in 2700K color temp, which is close to what an incandescent looks like, but the 82CRI is maintained across the various temperatures they offer.
If you want to see an extreme example of bad color rendering, look at something underneath a sodium-vapor street lamp. Nothing looks at all like it's supposed to. There though, you're looking at a CRI approaching zero. The spectrum of a sodium lamp is pretty limited. And on that note, check out this excellent site.

 

[BigJ]

For those who have issues with recycling them, just letting you know that ALL United States Home Depots are now accepting CFLs for recycling. You can bring your old or broken CFLs to the returns desk and they'll take care of them for you.

 

[funkymatt]

Originally posted by: Fern
So far I'm not liking the CFLs at all.

I own a small commericial building and thought they would end up saving me money. I also put some in my house.

The damn things burn out too fast for me.

Fern

you should buy the ones with the lifetime guarantee.

"i could take a dump in a box and slap a guarantee on it, but you an i both know i sold you a guaranteed piece of shit"

 

[Jeff7]

BigJ, thanks for that info, that's nice that they're doing that.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
BigJ, thanks for that info, that's nice that they're doing that.

Just to further clarify, it's any and all CFLs. Doesn't matter what brand they are or where you bought them. The program just started on Monday.

 

[Howard]

http://sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm

 

[Soundmanred]

I really like them. I bought a bunch and replace them as the old incandescent bulbs burn out. I like the light they give off much more than the old bulbs, and they've lasted alot longer. I have a light that's on 24 hours a day (40w equivalent above the toilet) and it's been on for over 2,800 hours so far.
I have no reason to go back to the old ones...

 

[randomlinh]

i've always liked them except for the time it took to get to full capacity. I've replaced as much as i can, and in places i shouldn't have probably (like outdoor lights.. but we leave it on all night, so it's really nice not to have that be an incandescent. So far, it's lasted through two winters

I just replaced some globes in the bathroom w/ some cheap 4pk/$7 at costco. this is the "morning bathroom" so it tends to have intervals of 20-30 minutes of being on, so i figure it's worth a shot. They are slowly taking longer and longer to fully light up.

We also have tube florescent lighting in the basement. and it's nice to have some light on all the time, but it's more than needed. So I went to ikea and got a couple of hanging shades and stuck them on a powerstrip... secondary lighting now. it won't be a huge difference in the cost, but at least i feel like I'm doing something to cut back what i can use.

 

[Soundmanred]

They still sell ones that take time to warm up? Mine come right on, and noone can tell the difference in turn on time, only the quality/color of light produced.
I was at my aunt and uncles last weekend and they had one in their kitchen light and it took a minute to get to full brightness. I went out and bought them a new pack to show them the difference. They didn't know the technology had gotten better!

 

[Throckmorton]

I love the light from them. It's the same warm color as incandescents if you get the "soft light" versions, but I think the spectrum is more even or broader, so they show colors better.

What I don't understand is why all CFLs don't have the plastic casing like Ikea bulbs do, that will prevent them from breaking, and virtually nullify the mercury threat

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: Fern
So far I'm not liking the CFLs at all.

I own a small commericial building and thought they would end up saving me money. I also put some in my house.

The damn things burn out too fast for me.

Fern

Probably something wrong w/ your electrical system, or you got the cheap ones? The ones I bought from Costco have been excellent. In addition, there's a difference between FL and CFL. The C stands for compact. I've tried the non-compact FL before and they suck.

 

[0roo0roo]

ikea

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I love the light from them. It's the same warm color as incandescents if you get the "soft light" versions, but I think the spectrum is more even or broader, so they show colors better.

What I don't understand is why all CFLs don't have the plastic casing like Ikea bulbs do, that will prevent them from breaking, and virtually nullify the mercury threat

you mean a glass globe that makes it look like an incandescent? not all ikea have that, its only an option. it reduces light output for one, and its only used for decorative bulbs where you can see them if that matters. most ikea bulbs are bare, and thats fine. they sell them for reasonable price and they have them as small as 3 watt for the accent lighting lamps, also with the the smaller screw base. ikea has tons of lamps that work well with cf.

 

[Scarpozzi]

For the last 4 years, I've had 40 watt bulbs in my lamps and 60-100 watts in the overhead lights. (Overheads are rarely used)

It's not worth it for me to reaplace them yet. I haven't been pleased with the cfls yet. Cost is higher and the light isn't as good. I may switch up, but it's going to be a little longer before I find a bulb my wife and I can tolerate.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I love the light from them. It's the same warm color as incandescents if you get the "soft light" versions, but I think the spectrum is more even or broader, so they show colors better.

What I don't understand is why all CFLs don't have the plastic casing like Ikea bulbs do, that will prevent them from breaking, and virtually nullify the mercury threat

A CFL will not show colors as well as an incandescent.
Incandescents have a Color Rendering Index of 100. I've seen expensive CFLs with CRI ratings of 98, which is pretty close. The Neolites I linked to are rated 82, which is still quite good. Once you get to around 70 though, you'll start noticing some odd colors.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Baked
13 watt for 60 watt luminosity. Costco (at least in CA) had a promotion where you can get 10 CFLs for $1.50 OTD. I bought 20. They've been great. They last much longer (10x according to the box) than regular bulbs and I like the softer light. I have them in virtually every light in the house.

Here in NorCal, (PG&E territory) A box of 10 of the 13 watt, 60 watt replacement CFL's runs about $6.50. I buy them in a Costco that is in a PG&E service area for the $7.50 instant rebate, (they're normally $14/10) then send in for the rebate from my local electrical utility. (I get $10 for every $20 I spend, and get 2 rebates annually)
The ones I got from Costco put out 900 lumens, and even though it doesn't specify color temp on the box, they're pretty much a warm white, so about 2700K, which is pretty typical for these. I wish they were available in a daylight spectrum for the same price...that'd be sweet.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: Fern
So far I'm not liking the CFLs at all.

The damn things burn out too fast for me.

I don't know if that says anything about your electrical system or the brand of bulbs you buy, but I put Sylvanias in just about every lamp in my house when I bought it 5 years ago and haven't replaced one yet. The most heavily-used ones are on about 5-6 hours a day.

 

[XZeroII]

Every bulb in my house is a CFL. Spent about $60 on them when I bought the place. I love them. I have all daylight CFLs and love em.

 

[imported_Imp]

I use two 13W bulbs (60W equivalent) for my room, and a 7W (40W equiv) behind my monitor for backlighting. I don't pay the electricity bill, so I don't know what the savings are, but 120W compared to 26W in my room alone, you can do the math. Lighting quality is excellent.

Do not forget that you can choose your lighting color temperature. If you want blue-ish, noon hour light then find some 6400K bulbs. Want less blue, more office like, go for 5400k. Want to mimic an incandescent, go for ~3000k (IIRC). It's written on the box somewhere with names like cool, warm, daylight, etc. Google for their rough ****K values.