Who here uses CFL light bulbs?

[Sphexi]

Well, I replaced 8 or so bulbs around my apartment with 13w CFLs. On average each bulb is only on two hours or so a day, so that's 16 hours a day of usage, about 500 hours a month. The old ones were 60w each, that would've been 30kwh of usage a month, compared to the 6.5kwh now. At the rate we pay per kwh (9 cents or so) I'm saving $2 a month or so.

Plus, they last a heck of a lot longer, so in 6 months they've paid for themselves, everything after that is just gravy.

 

[Staples]

I use them in my house because they use less energy. The other benifit is that the are a lot cooler than incandescent bulbs and less heat is produced. Less heat produced = less money spent on the AC.

I mostly use 22watt bulbs.

My electricity bill fluctuates so much so I can't see a difference but I am sure there is one.

 

[Staples]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: cker
I use 'em all over the place. Power here is pretty cheap, and I'm big on turning off unused devices -- so I didn't notice a huge drop in power bill. It kinda depends on how you live -- I tended at the time to run few lights, often only one bulb active in the apartment at a time. I need to get my hand on some of those dimmer-compatible CFs mrrman is talking about, since my main light now is an incandescent chandelier with about 200-250 watts worth of bulbs.

Overall I got a better result from turning down the thermostat on my electric hot water heater. My only CF gripe is some cheap bulbs have really bad color, and it takes the bulbs a while to come to full brightness when it's cold (I tend to keep my home cool in the winter). I didn't know that CFs take a few minutes to come up to full brightness in the cold, so I was a bit concerned when I woke up one morning and every light I turned on was dim and flickery.

One nice feature is that since they radiate less heat you can put a brighter bulb into a fixture that is only approved for a low-wattage incandescent, like a recessed ceiling fixture or a sealed ceiling fan globe.

Oh. There's dimmable and not dimmable?

Good to know. :thumbsup:

I have only seen the diamable ones on the net. They are a little pricy. If you try to dim regular CFL bulbs, it will have no effect. They will stay on and just as bright.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Just an FYI... CFL's use mercury.

Not much (a few milligrams)...but be careful handling a broken bulb.

Edited to put in better info: Also look into recycling them when they do burn out.

check out www.earth911.org for recycling / HW services in your area.

 

[0roo0roo]

not worth using dimmer ones, those cost as said. i've been using cfls for a while, ikea started making them cheap early on so most of my lights are from there. rest are from ge. ikea has tons of different lamps made for em from the start, plus some use the smaller type screw bulbs. and yea colors gotten better over the years. but really cheap weird brand ones might give you sh*t color still. they've gotten better at quick starting, early ones like the panasonic ones i had took a couple minutes to reach full brightness, those were annoying. the only conventional bulbs i use are in the bathroom and for the dimmer outlets. ge enrich or whatever for warmer colors.

and you don't really need dimmers. lights are cheap these days, just buy multiple lights to fill a room with light, it looks better anyways, and just turn on lights as needed. ambient/fill/task lighting.

we had 5 burn out in our kitchen. Im not sure why. Regular bulbs last WAY longer. When it burned out it smelled really bad. Im thinkin somethings wrong. Or we just bought crappy bulbs...

yup cr@ppy bulbs.

 

[ForumMaster]

oh dang it. i thought you meant Cold not compact. i accidently voted for no although i do use it. almost out entire house has them except for one halogen lightbulb outside in the motion light.

 

[dawks]

Originally posted by: ta8689

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: sandorski
Should have read the thread before voting "WTF...."

I've been thinking of picking some up since most of my lightbulbs are now burnt out and would like to save some $$ too. How are they for life span?

I've never had one burn out on me; Usually either I've replaced the lamp or the bulb itself got broken somehow before they burned out. The ones I picked up today, for instance, use 20W of power, are rated at the same light output as standard 75W bulbs, and are supposed to have a 12,000-hour lifespan.

Nate

We had one burn out, but it's a light that stays on 24/7.

we had 5 burn out in our kitchen. Im not sure why. Regular bulbs last WAY longer. When it burned out it smelled really bad. Im thinkin somethings wrong. Or we just bought crappy bulbs...

Yea, you got a crappy bunch, or you have weird electrical problems. Good CFL should last 3-6 times longer then conventional tungsten bulbs.

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: sandorski
Should have read the thread before voting "WTF...."

I've been thinking of picking some up since most of my lightbulbs are now burnt out and would like to save some $$ too. How are they for life span?

I've never had one burn out on me; Usually either I've replaced the lamp or the bulb itself got broken somehow before they burned out. The ones I picked up today, for instance, use 20W of power, are rated at the same light output as standard 75W bulbs, and are supposed to have a 12,000-hour lifespan.

Nate

Good to know. Personally I don't trust the Hour Rating on lightbulbs anymore, they never last more than 6-12 months regardless the claims. I'll certainly pick some up.

I had one on my hallway that runs 5-8 hours per day and lasted about 4 years, I think. Not as long as advertised but longer then a tungsten bulb lasts. Might be due to the fact we have it in a glass globe, like any electrical device, heat is not a good thing.


My parents used to use a 300watt quartz bulb to light our tv room. Now they get by with a 13watt CFL. I have a feeling that knocked our powerbill down a few $$.

Apparently if you go to some countries in europe, all you'll find is CFL bulbs since their electricity is more expensive then in NA.

 

[Kadarin]

I've used them for a few years now... the two lights I have on most often in my apartment are CFLs. They rock.

 

[dug777]

I don't like the light they give

Recessed halogen spotlights all the way

 

[mrrman]

the dimmable CF lights can be bought on Ebay as I have never seen them in a store...Ebay Item number: 110013924678

I even asked at Home Depot and they didnt even know that they existed

 

[sswingle]

Dont use them much yet, but will be replacing more and more with the CFLs

 

[desy]

I've changed over most of the commom used lights to them .
Now I don't feel so bad when my kids leave the lights on all over the place. Used to be 300W they were wasting now its 75W.
I don't think they work well in the cold? So my garage is still regular and I have some drop down pendant lights in the kitchen that would look goofy with the twisty bulb in there so I just lowered those from 100's to 75's.

 

[dullard]

About 1/5th of my lights in my house are compact flourescent bulbs.
[*]I use them in my computer room because they are brighter (the room is in the basement and needs it) and since I use that light so often.
[*]I use them in my storage room to have light on 24 hours a day. My cat's food/litter are in there and there is no light from any window, so even a cat couldn't find them in the dark. I didn't want a normal bulb on 24 hours a day in a room I don't use.
[*]I use special daylight colored CFLs in my walk-in closet. I like the color produced by those bulbs more than any other bulb. I can differentiate clothing colors so much better in there than the dim normal bulbs I used to have. For example, I used to have to guess if an item was a dark midnight blue or if it was black. With the daylight colored CFL, I know instantly.

The cost savings of CFL is less than people might think. For one, decent quality CFLs still cost far more up front than normal bulbs. Also, remember that energy produced by normal bulbs heats your house in the winter so you don't need to run your furnace as much. Any savings by a CFL using less energy for me is just offset by needing to spend that much more to heat the house. That latter point depends of course on what climate you live in. CFLs make a lot more savings in the south than they would in the north.

I still wish they came on instantly. The half second delay always bothers me. Plus, when I show people how wonderful they are, they often judge based upon the dimmer warm-up minute and hate the bulbs. I've tried the mixture of normal/CFL as mentioned above to get the instant light + benefits of CFL. However, the result was an odd yellow on one half of the room and a wonderful white color on the other half.

That said, True high intensity LEDs are the light bulb of the future. They will be far superior to CFL bulbs.

 

[elektrolokomotive]

I hate the light quality. They make everything look dingy. I use halogens when I can, and GE Reveal or Full Spectrum lamps in my incandesant fixtures.

 

[Madwand1]

I've use the "daylight" / "full spectrum" CFLs all around for a few years now. I like the colour better than the yellow off normal light bulbs, and the power efficiency. I agree that they could be better spectrum-wise, and hear that they are going to get better.

Do not use these in any sort of dimmer circuit even if it seems to be OK, unless the mfg says they're dimmable. What happens is that the dimmer circuit typically let through some power even in the "off" position, and these lights continually try to turn on. This is a sure way to burn them out quickly.

Do not use them in ceiling enclosures with no airflow. Take off the covers if you want to do this. Heat is a killer for them, and will reduce their life to much lower than normal lights.

 

[sdifox]

I have CFL all around. Dollarama has Sunbeam CFL for 1 dollar each, I think they are either 9 or 11watt ones, bright enough for me.

 

[eelw]

I want to try this monster 45W CFL bulb.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dullard
The cost savings of CFL is less than people might think. For one, decent quality CFLs still cost far more up front than normal bulbs. Also, remember that energy produced by normal bulbs heats your house in the winter so you don't need to run your furnace as much. Any savings by a CFL using less energy for me is just offset by needing to spend that much more to heat the house. That latter point depends of course on what climate you live in. CFLs make a lot more savings in the south than they would in the north.

You could say the opposite about summer though. Less heat produced = less energy needed for A/C. For me though it's not so much about cost savings. If they just break even (including the higher cost of the bulbs) I'm happy. It's about energy savings too. I like to avoid wasting energy however I can. That's one of the reasons I drive a fuel-efficient car.

I still wish they came on instantly. The half second delay always bothers me.

Yeah, that's the one downside.

 

[Thraxen]

We have a CFL in a closet that has now been on for about 14 months straight.

 

[Sensai]

are there any dimmable CFL flood lights sold at costco or online? in the house i bought, 14 flood lights in 3 rooms are attached to dim switches

 

[So]

I have a CFL in my desk lamp. A cheapie that I got for free, but it's been working reliably for ~5years.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
We have a CFL in a closet that has now been on for about 14 months straight.

why would you have a light in a closet turned on 14 month straight???

 

[swtethan]

I have them downstairs and in my room. They give out much better white light than any bulb i have ever used. It doesnt matter to me the energy savings, but my rooms have looked a lot better with the bright white.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Thraxen
We have a CFL in a closet that has now been on for about 14 months straight.

why would you have a light in a closet turned on 14 month straight???

It has a cat door in it and that's where our cat's litter box and food dish are located.

 

[natto fire]

I have been using them for a few years, but sometimes I doubt the wattage claims, as the ballasts can feel quite a bit warmer than my 11w incandescent bulbs. The light output is obviously greater, however. Also, this was with the "Bright effects" bulbs I bought 4/7$. The Sylvania bulbs I bought a couple years ago did not exhibit this.

And yes, they they do have mercury in them, but they can last as long as 8000 hours. (About 8 times that of a 75w tungsten incandescent) I actually enjoy the color...