August 30th, 2006
10 Reasons Why Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs) Will Change the World
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Like most people, I hated the compact fluorescent bulb or CFL when it first came out, and to be honest, for some time after that. They were priced high but packaged in a gimmicky way that made me suspicious. Most hotels uesd them and it felt like it took five minutes for the light to come on and when it did, there was not much light, and it was not a warm looking lighting color. And then the price - at double or even three times the cost, who would take the chance on a bulb that would last years when there was little known about them? So I stayed away.
How wrong I was. Here is a great round-up of facts from FastCompany that may change the way you think of these bulbs.
1. If every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people.
2. Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity.
3. A $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.
4. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.
5. The single greatest source of greenhouse gases in the United States is power plants–half our electricity comes from coal plants. One bulb swapped out: enough electricity saved to turn off two entire power plants–or skip building the next two.
6. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.
7. Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $1 billion to buy about 2 billion lightbulbs–5.5 million every day. Just 5%, 100 million, were compact fluorescents.
8. In the next 12 months, starting with a major push this month, Wal-Mart wants to sell every one of its regular customers–100 million in all–one swirl bulb.
9. Early CFLs cost $25 per bulb (and still paid for themselves in electricity savings). The light they produced was bluish or pinkish, or varied; the phosphor coating had to be refined. The ballast–built into the bulb rather than in a separate fixture, as with traditional fluorescent tubes–hummed and didn’t cycle the electricity quickly enough; it had to be made electronic and miniaturized. Costs came down, as did size. The same wizardry that gives us Hallmark birthday cards that play “Love and Happiness” makes possible CFLs at $2.60 instead of $25.
10. A 60-watt classic bulb and a 15-watt swirl are identically bright–the swirl just uses 45 fewer watts. Source: FastCompany
We Say: What else? Whatever you call them - a swirl, ice cream bulb, or CFL, just buy one. It’s the easiest conservation you can do without much effort or cost. And best of all, its re-visiting a technology that has improved.
Before you go…try this one:
–How Big is Your Ecological Footprint?
(I’m a land-raping monster who consumes 4 planets a year.)
Blog Me, Seymour... says:
Good to know!
10 Reasons Why Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs) Will Change the World @ Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech…
August 30th, 2006 at 7:57 am
BEN says:
The last few CFL bulbs I bought only lasted a couple of years and weren’t nearly as bright as the regular bulbs that were in the same room. I think some of the regular bulbs out lasted the CFL. But they were cheaper end CFL bulbs I had bought from Ikea. So I’m guessing you get what you pay for when it comes to these. If your going to invest in a more expensive light bulb, go for the higher end CFL bulbs because the low end ones aren’t worth the money.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Ray says:
I find that the bulbs just do not last. I began replacing all my bulbs with them but they all are not created equal. In a commercial setting I replace them after about 10 months and at home I do see use for about two years. I really am not sure the 5 year lifetime is realistic.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:09 am
Joe says:
To commentators 2 and 3, be careful in buying CFLs that you’re not fooled by so-called “long-life bulbs.” These are NOT CFLs and will not last nearly as long as compact fluorescent. Look for compact fluorescent light bulbs that have the U.S.EPA’s Energy Star seal of approval on them, and you’ll be guaranteed that you’re buying a real CFL. At home, my wife and I have CFLs in our bedroom reading lamps that have been going strong for at least five years, and show no sign of letting up. We’re planning to change out all our ceiling can incandescents with CFLs when they burn out.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Kantor.com says:
Why to switch to compact fluorescents
August 30th, 2006 at 8:16 am
William says:
CFL are obsolescent technology at best. White light LED’s in the traditional bulb form factor will win the day. The use even less electricity, their color can be tuned and they last at least 10,000 hours.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:19 am
Steve says:
I tried the CFL bulbs in my bathroom. I found that while they may have lasted a little longer than conventional bulbs, when they did burn out, the literally “burned” out with sparks inside the tube and a wisp of smoke coming from them. These were GE bulbs and I was very surprised. Also, the packaging said these bulbs would only really last if you put them in areas where they were left on most of the time.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:19 am
Andrew says:
I bought my house about four years ago. The light on the front porch burned out twice in the first six months. I replaced it with a CFL and haven’t had to replace it yet. I’ve been swapping out other bulbs with CFL’s as they burn out. I’ve even swapped out the floods that light my yard with CFL bulbs. I still haven’t seen a CFL bulb stop working.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:23 am
mb says:
I bought 3 of the early lights, actually look like elongated regular blubs. One failed but the other two have been working for 4 or 5 years. Take a minute to get to maximum brightness but are great. I replaced al the ceiling lights this year with the curly blubs - actually too bright, have to remove a blub from most of the fixtures so I should really save now.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:27 am
Bill R. says:
I find that cf’s brightness is usually overrated: one advertized as able to replace a 100w bulb usually makes a pretty good 60w. That said, they do seem to be reliable and do use ‘way less electricity than regular bulbs. LED’s are supposed to be even better, but I haven’t seen any direct replacements yet.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:28 am
Ken Regal says:
I used these bulbs and hate them. It seems as though after 3 months they lose their brightness not to mention the light emitted is an ugly “Office” glow. I had one in my laundry room and it lasted about a year then died so there goes the 5 to 10 year nonsense.
vote for what kind of hair you would rather find in your food at:
http://www.angelfire.com/theforce/indermsbut
August 30th, 2006 at 8:30 am
jen says:
I have a siliar story to andrew’s. My porch light burnedou t every week! Put in a CFB and it’s been over a year. We actually recently replaced the CFB out there with a outdoor CFB with a plastic diffuser cover for the porch light ($10 well spent) it is much nicer looking from the street and in a open lamp we think it’ll handle ohio weather better, the one we took out went into a diff lamp. The bugs outside certainly don’t notice any diff.
We have them in all our overhead cieling lights, since getting up to those is a pain in the butt. Most of ours came from IKEa but we’ve bought others. I just dont liekthe look of them in my livigroom is all, I use revelas there since most of the lamps are three ways anyway. I must have 8 or 9 CFBs in use and I too have yet to see one stop working after a couple years use. we have IKEA and more expensive ones and the only diff I see is the ikea ones have a little lag when turning on and don’t seen to be as bright as the ones I can no buy, but for a laundry room, wth, why not.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Eric Jones says:
I don’t buy the el cheapo CFL’s, but I’ve been using them for years. I’ve replaced one CFL in the past five years. All the others are still going strong.
One benefit no one mentioned was that CFL’s don’t produce tons of waste heat. Incandescence is probably the most inefficient way to generate heat possible, energy-wise, but try touching (or better, don’t try) a regular light bulb. Hot! Your air conditioner has to work that much harder to cool your house for every regular light bulb in it.
This is not a plus in winter either, since you can get a lot more heat out of your central heat unit for the same amount of energy your light bulb is wasting getting hot, so don’t think that those hot light bulbs are doing you any favors in winter either.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Ray P says:
Tried CFL’s in the past, was not impressed with the relatively short life. Also, the areas that they were used in were completely enclosed- no circulation of air (which probably contributed to the short life).
Can anyone confirm that the new ones by GE mentioned in the Fast Company article are able to function in these sort of environments?
August 30th, 2006 at 8:41 am
Eric Jones says:
I don’t buy the el cheapo CFL’s, but I’ve been using them for years. I’ve replaced one CFL in the past five years. All the others are still going strong.
One benefit no one mentioned was that CFL’s don’t produce tons of waste heat. Incandescence is probably the most inefficient way to generate heat possible, energy-wise, but try touching (or better, don’t try) a regular light bulb. Hot! Your air conditioner has to work that much harder to cool your house for every regular light bulb in it.
This is not a plus in winter either, since you can get a lot more heat out of your central heat unit for the same amount of energy your light bulb is wasting getting hot, so don’t think that those hot light bulbs are doing you any favors in winter either.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:41 am
Tom says:
I started buying these about 5 years ago when I moved in with my then-girlfriend because she constantly had a ton of lights on and I was brought up to only leave lights on I was actually using — since I couldn’t change her habits I decided to try to at least reduce the damage.
Our electric bill dropped 25% (about $20 a month at the time, enough to pay for 1-2 bulbs every month) and I figured that the savings paid for all of the bulbs in about a year. And that was when they were still $10-$15 each. I bought the whole range — 20 watt (100-watt equivalent) to 9 watt (40-watt equivalent) from a range of places — Home Depot, Ikea, etc. When I left that apartment to move into our house, I took all of the bulbs with me.
Not one bulb has died yet, 5 years later. A few of the older ones do need a minute or two to come to full brightness (they start at about 75%) but WHO CARES — I figure that just helps reduce how much I’m blinded by turning on a light in the middle of the night. Even my light-happy wife doesn’t mind that. The only place I don’t use them is in our outdoor fixtures and one dimmer lamp, but I recently saw dimmable CFL bulbs so I will probably get one soon.
I agree that white LEDs will be better, definitely. When they become available, I’ll be an early-adopter like I was with CFL (if my CFL bulbs ever die, that is), but for now the available, affordable technology is CFL and pushing people to buy them can only be a good thing both for them and the environment/energy supply. There is no reason for anyone to be buying incandescent bulbs anymore except possibly for outdoor or damp-location use like an unfinished basement.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Tom says:
I started buying these about 5 years ago when I moved in with my then-girlfriend because she constantly had a ton of lights on and I was brought up to only leave lights on I was actually using — since I couldn’t change her habits I decided to try to at least reduce the damage.
Our electric bill dropped 25% (about $20 a month at the time, enough to pay for 1-2 bulbs every month) and I figured that the savings paid for all of the bulbs in about a year. And that was when they were still $10-$15 each. I bought the whole range — 20 watt (100-watt equivalent) to 9 watt (40-watt equivalent) from a range of places — Home Depot, Ikea, etc. When I left that apartment to move into our house, I took all of the bulbs with me.
Not one bulb has died yet, 5 years later. A few of the older ones do need a minute or two to come to full brightness (they start at about 75%) but WHO CARES — I figure that just helps reduce how much I’m blinded by turning on a light in the middle of the night. Even my light-happy wife doesn’t mind that. The only place I don’t use them is in our outdoor fixtures and one dimmer lamp, but I recently saw dimmable CFL bulbs so I will probably get one soon.
I agree that white LEDs will be better, definitely. When they become available, I’ll be an early-adopter like I was with CFL (if my CFL bulbs ever die, that is), but for now the available, affordable technology is CFL and pushing people to buy them can only be a good thing both for them and the environment/energy supply. There is no reason for anyone to be buying incandescent bulbs anymore except possibly for outdoor or damp-location use like an unfinished basement.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:46 am
Tref says:
Waiting for your incandescents to burn out before buying CFL’s is like watching your money burn away.
Why wait for the power hogs to burn out? Replacing them ASAP will save you the most money.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:46 am
J. Coleman says:
I’ve had good luck with CFs, and newer ones have a more familiar yellow color then models from a few years ago. Keep in mind they are much more susceptable to flucuations in your power. This will affect their life adversely, and they are not supposed to be used in fixtures that regulate power to control the lightout put. Auto-on sensors typically pulse power to the socket so these are also bad for CFs.
LEDs will not replace CFs anytime soon in the effectiveness category for 3 reasons. 1)Edison bases with LEDs are not easy to come by yet. 2)they very expensive due to the cost of the white LEDs. 3)LEDs have very high directionality which is difficult to overcome due to the way LEDs work, other then packing more LEDs on the bulb, which increases the cost further(and is the primary source of the cost now). Light bulbs need to be omnidirectional, which CFs are and LEDs aren’t.
So despite the increased efficiency over CFs, I doubt they’ll show up in Walmart anytime soon.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:52 am
J. Coleman says:
I’ve had good luck with CFs, and newer ones have a more familiar yellow color then models from a few years ago. Keep in mind they are much more susceptable to flucuations in your power. This will affect their life adversely, and they are not supposed to be used in fixtures that regulate power to control the lightout put. Auto-on sensors typically pulse power to the socket so these are also bad for CFs.
LEDs will not replace CFs anytime soon in the effectiveness category for 3 reasons. 1)Edison bases with LEDs are not easy to come by yet. 2)they very expensive due to the cost of the white LEDs. 3)LEDs have very high directionality which is difficult to overcome due to the way LEDs work, other then packing more LEDs on the bulb, which increases the cost further(and is the primary source of the cost now). Light bulbs need to be omnidirectional, which CFs are and LEDs aren’t.
So despite the increased efficiency over CFs, I doubt they’ll show up in Walmart anytime soon.
August 30th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Mike says:
If I could ever find some CFL bulbs that are not yellowish colored i would buy them QUICK!! I tried some from IKEA, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart (GE Brand), and none of them are a bright white. I read it has somehting to do with the Lumens and Kelvin?? I wish someone would be able to clarify this one for me.
Tell me where some nice BRIGHT WHITE CFL bulbs are PLEASE!!! We have lights in our living room that take 5 bulbs each at 40w!!! plus another 2 table lamps.
Do they also have them for the halway light fixtures - the bulbs that look kind of like the big christmas light bulbs? for an enclosed area?
Mike
I wish this article would be updated with some of the above information, and how about some comparisons between different bulbs of the same wattage, lifespan, light created ( white, yellow, blue, green, etc ), price, where to buy….etc.
August 31st, 2006 at 4:04 am
Mike says:
Here is a good resource - it is the Kelvin chart
http://www.1000bulbs.com/page.php?s=KelvinTempExplained
most CFl sold in stores are in the lower yellow range
I think 3700-5000 would be the best??
Mike
August 31st, 2006 at 4:07 am
Speak says:
After reading this I happened to look at one of my lights at home and was surprised to find that all the ceiling lights are CF lights. I bought my house over a year ago and never looked into the domed ceiling light fixtures before now. The fixtures looked like they would be a pain to get access to the bulbs, and they are, which is probably why they were replaced with CF. This makes me feel really good about the previous owners of this house.
August 31st, 2006 at 4:31 am
Georgef says:
Flourescent bulbs involve toxic chemicals that incandecent do not.
Flourescent bulbs are much more sensitive than regular bulbs. They break easier, they overheat easier ect.
August 31st, 2006 at 4:46 am
Fluorescent Light Sucks! says:
Fluorescent lights are for penny-pinching, politically correct morons! The so-called “equivalent light” they give off is a joke! Not only do they tend to give off 50-66% of the “advertised lumens”, the quality of the light itself sucks! If you poor bastards are so broke that you need to resort to this “economy” to save money, why don’t you just go out and get another job?!?!?!?! You mindless sheep will follow any politically correct trend to feel better about yourself!!! Get a life! Sniff my butt, Baaa-Baaa.
If you idjits lined your helmets with tin foil like we told you to, the voices (in your head) telling you to do these things wouldn’t get through!!!!
Baaaa-Baaaaa!!!! Sniff-Sniff!!! Baaaa-Baaaa!!!
August 31st, 2006 at 7:17 am
John B says:
And let us not forget CFL’s main POLLUTION is electronic. Most electronic ballasts emit enough noise to kill a radio at 50 yards. Far worse then your average PC and CRT combined.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:34 am
Ben says:
I tink OLED’s with micro/nanotechnolgy will prove to outshine the lot of ya!
;)
August 31st, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Not That says:
cut your electric bills
Use a compact fluorescent bulb instead of your normal incandescent bulb. Not only will you save money, but you’ll be helping the environment….
August 31st, 2006 at 1:46 pm
CP says:
“And let us not forget CFL’s main POLLUTION is electronic. Most electronic ballasts emit enough noise to kill a radio at 50 yards. Far worse then your average PC and CRT combined.”
What did you smoke for dinner John B? My whole house is filled with these bulbs. And not just the swirily ones. Aside from that it takes a minute or two to get to full brightness, I have yet to hear a single buzz coming from them and some of them are 3 years old now. I think I’ll pat myself on the back for lowering my electricity costs 40% from the same period last year simply because I changed to CFL’s. I think you made the “radio pollution” part up.
But I digress I didn’t change all the lights to save the world. It saves me money. And they don’t blow out every other month.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Alan says:
I’m a big fan of CFLs, but I in my experience all CFLs are not created equal. I have Westinghouse & Commercial Electric branded bulbs that have lasted for years. On the other hand the “LOF” bulbs I have purchased did not last very long. I have an early made-in-Japan CFL bought in 1988 that is still going strong. I still like incandescents in areas like living rooms, but even if you don’t particularly care for the light from CFLs they can still make sense in areas like entryways and basements, or as porchlights, or in places where the light fixture is hard to reach. Be careful in using them in a fixture with a screw-on glass shade, I have found that if the shade contacts the bulb that can cause the bulb to break.
September 2nd, 2006 at 8:30 am
Tom Weishaar says:
Here’s one for you…I recently had a flood CFL burn out after only a couple of years. There was a customer Service phone number on the bulb. I called it and Commercial Electric is mailing me a bulb free with out any hastle what so ever. I would say they’re the best customer support I’ve had all year.
September 4th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
Mike and Lisa says:
Here is my personal experience with CFL’s.
The bulbs are in no way as bright as they claim to be. I am not replacing them as frequently as traditional bulbs. They are positively a lot cooler as far as emitting heat. I don’t believe the quality of light is as good as the traditional bulbs, but where we live Southern California Edison is getting away with robbery. I will try anything at this point to save on the electric bill. We have had a heatwave and everyone’s electric bill has gone into deep orbit.
To the person that made post #25, someday when you grow up and move out of your parents house/garage and have to pay your rent or house payment, pay for your own insurance, stop driving a beat up VW and start working a real job that includes overtime, start dating a WOMAN and stop watching Star Wars DVD’s and popping your zits and have a spoiled ass bratt that blows all of their parents money…Not until then will you realize it is YOU who is the moron.
I’ll pass on the butt sniffing, I don’t want to change your diaper.
September 14th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
Jessica says:
If you want to calculate how much you can save on your electric bill, and how much global warming pollution you’ll reduce by switching your bulbs to CFLs, check out the light bulb calculator that we just built at Environmental Defense.
Next week, we’ll be adding a host of other tools to help you find specific CFLs — whether it’s a particular shape of bulb (one that will fit in wall sconces) or the color of the light it gives off.
October 12th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Art says:
I went through a lot of dimmable cfls before I found a bulb that works well — GE model #21710. It uses 15 watts to produce the same light as a 65 watt R-30 recessed floodlight. Sam’s Club is selling them online for 3 for $27. I just installed 70 in all the dimmer recessed fixtures in our house and they work great.
Stay away from Greenlight cfl bulbs. Their bulbs are cheaply made, have a high failure rate and their dimmables are terrible.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
John says:
When you calculate the savings from using a CFL bulb I think you should consider a couple of things that I don’t see mentioned. First, the time value of money needs to be in any formula for calculating savings, a true present value comparison is required. For instance a CFL used in a bathroom that only burns an hour or two a day might last twenty years, I wouldn’t want to spend a bunch of money today to save a few dollars twenty years from now. Second, to make this calculation you need to consider exactly how long you really leave your lights on (most of the lights in my house are rarely on for more than an hour a day - I have incandescent bulbs that are over 17 years old) Third, remember that CFL’s, like all fluorescent bulbs, contain mercury so, when they burn out you will need to take them to the local hazardous waste center. Fourth, the rated life of CFL’s (assuming that they are energy star bulbs) is based on minimum three hour burn times (switching the bulb will reduce life) and further the performance is based on the base of the bulb being up (like in a ceiling fixture not a lamp) and an ambient temperature of 75 F. Note, if the bulbs are not energy star rated then the advertised life could mean anything. Fifth, if your CFL’s really reach their rated life, then they will probably be technologically obsolete before you have collected all your savings.
Bottom line, if you have some bulbs in your house that are on a lot (6 hours a day or more) then you should consider fluorescent bulbs. The other case for CFL’s is if you are trying to live “off the grid” and need to save every last Watt and you don’t care what it costs ’cause you just want to be “green”.
October 23rd, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Jessica says:
For folks still hunting for a CFL that they like — try out Environmental Defense’s recently launched searchable light bulb guide.
In answer to questions about the calculator tool on our site — it’s meant to give you a general impression of the potential savings, so that’s why you won’t find all those details included. On rated life, we use 6,000 hrs as the default life of a CFL. Most CFLs actually last much longer. If you want total savings over the life of the bulb, you’ll need to calculate out the price of the CFL against all the incandescents that you’d use to replace it; doing so would actually increase your total savings (over and above the savings on your energy bill). We decided not to include those costs to make this calculator as easy as possible to use. We didn’t want to make a tool that forced you to go hunt down a bunch of numbers in order to understand how much you can save!
November 15th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Geek Philosophy » Blog Archive » Light bulb talk says:
[…] Via Fark, I found a great little write-up on CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Bulbs). Mel and I had bought a bunch of these a while back at Costco, but hadn’t bothered to install them. After reading The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki, we decided to finally install them. […]
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 pm
The Good CFL » spazeboy says:
[…] Alice @ Real Tech News has posted an article today quoting 10 Reasons Why Compact Flourescent Bulbs (CFLs) Will Change the World: Like most people, I hated the compact fluorescent bulb or CFL when it first came out, and to be honest, for some time after that. They were priced high but packaged in a gimmicky way that made me suspicious. Most hotels uesd them and it felt like it took five minutes for the light to come on and when it did, there was not much light, and it was not a warm looking lighting color. And then the price - at double or even three times the cost, who would take the chance on a bulb that would last years when there was little known about them? So I stayed away. […]
January 7th, 2007 at 7:33 am
CHARLES says:
Is a special type dimmer required to use DIMMABLE FLORECENTS?
I use x-10 to control my lights. in the past regular compacts failed. Thanks
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:53 am
Larry says:
I went thru and replaced a good 80% of the lights in my house with CFL bulbs. I’m disappointed to say that most are failing at a quicker rate than the old style. Seems like they still need to work on the technology a good bit for CFL’s to be worth the money. Some of these bulbs were quite expensive since I first thought the cheaper brand was the reason for the high failure rates.
April 15th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
n2y2 says:
At one time, I aggressively replaced nearly every light in my house with CF’s. They began burning out in 6 months. After a year I had 8 dead bulbs. Figuring I had purchased a bad lot, I returned them to the manufacturer for replacements, and those burned out just as fast.
I have replaced some fixtures with tube florescence lights and they do well, but I am finished purchasing expensive CF’s to have them go dead before they make up their extra purchase cost.
I will wait for LED’s to become widely available.
April 30th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Pea Brains will believe anything! says:
You politically correct sheep continue to buy up all those CFLs, so you feel good about yourself.
But wait! I forgot, you people who were dropped on your head as babies forgot that the amount of mercury in each bulb is great enough that many states are already have to set up a haz/mat recycling program for your “wonder-solution” for greenhouse emissions… Oops, the cure is 10 times worse than what ails us! Try doing some research before you proclaim the next miracle cure for a complex problem!
I agree with Fluorescent Light Sucks! up there, the light quality of the CFLs sucks so bad that I wouldn’t use those pieces of crap if you gave them to me & paid my electric bill.
And shame on you mindless sheep for saying that this is a “Green” action!!! It isn’t, but it is just another delusion of grandeur in your life that you need to feel good about yourself being “Green”…..
As for “Mike and Lisa” up there who stated “but where we live Southern California Edison is getting away with robbery. I will try anything at this point to save on the electric bill.” have you ever thought of moving? Obviously, you chose to live there, so if you don’t like it, move! Duh!
Like Jim Duncan stated up above:
Perhaps if the people who provided the alleged “first-person testimonials” wore their helmets lined with tin foil (like they were told to!) they wouldn’t have had these strange thoughts transmitted to their (alleged) minds by aliens!
Baa-baa, sniff my butt, Baa-baa!
May 10th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Lily says:
whatever anybody says, CFLs are the best!
May 21st, 2007 at 10:42 am
Walt says:
All you guys can have your CFLs. As long as you know where the local bulb recycling facility is. After everybody throws their burned-out mercury filled CFL bulbs in the trash, will we still be able to eat fish in a few years? LED technology is the future.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Being a Little Green Is Easier Than You Think! | Your Real Estate and Loans Education says:
[…] Surely you’ve heard or read about compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs). I know all of the mythical downfalls… Poor light quality, flicker, long warm up time, shorter than promised life span, way too expensive, etc. […]
June 19th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Errant Thoughts » Blog Archive » Too funny for words... Warcraft ipod terror alert says:
[…] In totally unrelated news, 10 reasons to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. I love the things myself; the only places I don’t like to use them are hallways and stairways, pretty much, where you have the lights on for a very short time and can’t necessarily afford a few seconds of warm-up time. […]
June 28th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Ray C. says:
Okay, so I get the energy savings and the relavite number of watts to produce the same lght, and I get the longer life. The two things I wonder about is what we’re going to do with these CFLs when they do start burning out, to dispose of them properly. Even though they contain only tiny amounts of Mercury, it’s still there and if we successfullly convert millions of bulbs. there will eventually be millions of bulbs worth of mercury that as of now is headed for landfills. Secondly, how much energy does it take to produce a CFL? Are we really saving energy if they take more to produce? Maybe they don’t, maybe it’s only modestly more, I don’t know, I’m not being facetious, I’ve never seeen anybody write on the relative energy use in producing them.
July 6th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Bob says:
Enclosed is an email I sent to Liveearth concerning CFB’s, which may impact us all.
Dear Liveearth,
Please note that I have a concern about CFB bulbs. First, I must note that I do use some CFB’s and fluorescent tube lighting, but refrain from 100% use. The risk is that the bulbs contain mercury, which is known to wreak havoc on the nervous system and mind. The bulbs purchased today, will find their way to landfills and water supplies in years to come. Many garbage collection sites ban them from disposal at their refuse areas, but it would be very hard to stop. These bulbs do save energy, but is the offset worth it? Are we facing new super fund sites like we had in the 80’s and 90’s, with major ground and water pollution? This news is not very well known by the public, but the CFB packages do have a warning for mercury, and breaking a bulb in your home is considered contamination. Another question for home use is, does the gas in these bulbs leak over years, which is why the bulbs lose their lighting capacity? If so they would be a major danger to residents when used in high quantities indoors. Perhaps we should consider if we will be directly poisoning those trying to help the environment. Further studies should first be done, before we jump or are mandated to use these bulbs, like the EU has done.
Thank you,
Bob
July 9th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Tim says:
Well, my experience has not been so good with these bulbs. Tried quite a few different ones and the average life that I’m getting is no greater than the incandescents that I’m replacing, at much higher cost, so I’ve mostly switched back…. very frustrating. The last batch I bought have the “energy star” label, and say “Lasts up to 7 years”…. how about 7 months! Maybe I’m getting cheap bulbs, but with the experience I’m having, I don’t want to spend the money for the expensive ones in fear they will do little-to-no better. Glad to hear someone’s having good experience with them.
Tim
August 18th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Jim says:
I have replaced most of my home bulbs with CFs, but the listed lifetime of the bulbs is way overstated. I have not yet had a CF last more than 2-3 years max, and these were guaranteed to be 7 year bulbs! Most are made in China (of course), and they do not tell you how to redeem the warranty.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Captain says:
I started reading the responses to this, the early responses being posted in 2006 with people talking about using their CF’s for years.
So most of those folks bought their first CF’s in/around 2003-2004…
Well it’s 2007, you can buy much newer and improved CL’s at Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and even cheaper now.
We won’t know for sure how these new CF’s hold up until people start posting here in 2010 at the earliest to report back their long term results.
Oh yeah, and to the LED folks, it’s gonna be a long long time before they are commercially viable, so lets just get off that horse right now.
Finally, there is a poster on this board who has gone by the name of “Pea Brain”, among other names, who seems die-hard ticked off at us for trying CFL’s. Why in the world would someone get so angry about this? He even posts misinformation to try to artificially get his negativity across.
Good Luck,
Captain
September 4th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Captain says:
Let me clarify one thing before “Pea Brain” replies…
When I said
“We won’t know for sure how these new CF’s hold up until people start posting here in 2010 at the earliest to report back their long term results.
”
Obviously we will only here some negative results, someone got a bad batch that only lasted a year, or perhaps has a highly fluctuating or dirty electrical source. We will *not* be able to do a full assessment until the 5 year achievers will be able to chime in….2013, get back at me.
Captain
September 4th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Incandescent Light says:
I’ve tried CFLs at intervals since they were introduced. They have gotten better, but they are still inferior to incandescent bulbs in light quality and brightness. What we aren’t told is that it takes more than 20 times the amount of energy to manufacure the CFLs, which, when combined with the fact that the longivety of the things is more market hype that reality, the energy savings pretty much disappears. The manufacture of CFLs is far more polluting, which is why the vast majority of them are produced in China, to avoid pollution laws. If you really want to save enerty, simply decrease your need for lighting, using conservation techniques that have been around for years.
Think about it. If CFLs were as reliable as we are being told, the market for the items would become so low it would be uneconomical to replace the relatively few replacements that would be needed after we have all switched. Your disire to be “green” is being exploited.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Lars says:
I bought 6 23 watt GE CFLs at Sam’s and found that 2 of the 6 did not work. I returned the pack and bought another. All 6 worked but 2 burned out on the same day about 10 weeks later. The other 4 were dead within 6 months. I bought 4 14 watt ones of a generic brand, and 2 of them died within 4 months. THe other 2 are still burning after 7 months. Now I’ve bought a 6 pack of Sylvania 23 watt CFLs to see if THEY have greater longevity. If they don’t, I’ll go back ot fluorescents and wait until the technology improves.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Lars says:
I bought 6 23 watt GE CFLs at Sam’s and found that 2 of the 6 did not work. I returned the pack and bought another. All 6 worked but 2 burned out on the same day about 10 weeks later. The other 4 were dead within 6 months. I bought 4 14 watt ones of a generic brand, and 2 of them died within 4 months. THe other 2 are still burning after 7 months. Now I’ve bought a 6 pack of Sylvania 23 watt CFLs to see if THEY have greater longevity. If they don’t, I’ll go back ot fluorescents and wait until the technology improves.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
myron says:
I have been using the CFL bulbs for a few years now in my house. The Electric bill is much lower, but…. I find the bulbs die much sooner than their advertised life span.
I think the bulbs themselves are OK, but they are using the lowest quality (think cheap) parts inside to be the ballast and the electronics are burning up. You can see where the voltage regulators get hot and discolor the plastic to a yellowish color. No ballast and the bulb itself is useless. More HazMat in the landfill because of a 3cent savings at GE(or whatever brand) on each bulbs parts.
I have some 12volt CFL’s that run on regulated solar power and none of them have burned up. I think it is a ‘Dirty AC Power’ problem coming off the grid that kills the bulbs.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:15 am
mary says:
I have tried several different brands of CFLs in the last year. We have cannister/recessed lighting in most of our home. No matter which bulbs I use, Lowe’s brand, or GE, Philips, etc, they burn out in just a few months. Is it my wiring that is causing the problem?
October 10th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Linde says:
Buy CFL bulbs at Home Depot. They’re about as cheap as you can get anywhere and better quality. I’ve used about 4 different brands and Home Depot’s are consistently the best. About $10 for a 4 or 6 pack. Most of the bulbs in my entire house (built new 5 yrs ago) are CFLS and I haven’t had problems with any of them. The lights I have had problems with were the Circline fixtures. It’s not the bulb, it’s because of a cheap ballast but the ballast costs more than the entire fixture. Just buy regular light fixtures that work with incandescent bulbs and use all CFLs. Some are even dimmable.
October 16th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Danno says:
The ones they sell at Lowes tend to burn out quickly, I have had at least 5 burn out after only a few weeks use whereas similar use with the old style they last months
November 4th, 2007 at 4:46 am
Danno says:
The ones they sell at Lowes tend to burn out quickly, I have had at least 5 burn out after only a few weeks use whereas similar use with the old style they last months
November 4th, 2007 at 4:47 am
Tom says:
I have bought quite a few of the cfl’s, and I could best describe my experience with them as “unpredictable”. They seem to usually burn out much quicker (my outdoor motion activated flood lights have burned out especiallly quickly), often do not fit well into lamp fixtures, and the floodlights also take a while to warm up.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Clive Matheus says:
Oh to live such a dream….!
My house runs on these, but it pans-out the same folks. Since NA buyers think more about profit than quality, this panacea got killed by Asian slip-shot quality. Now we have more house fires, poor to inconsistent light quality, more logged visits to optometrists, and yes, I do remember the days when an incandescent bulbs outlasted this crap. Unless you’re over 55, you’d never know this, since cheap quality duped and prepped us in that market too. Ignorance is bliss. Oh, buy the way, GE Phillips (whatever X-American brand) sold the rights to use trade names to cheap manufacturers too. Humph! GE making light bulbs? It just might too much for them to employ staff on this side of the ocean, they’d rather pay sweat-shop labor, than work-out a deal at home.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Ed Kirshner says:
Here’s a short critique of the bogus argument that there will be a reduction in toxic mercury into the environment with CFL’s due to the energy reduction from coal plants:
(1) The EPA figures are incorrect for several reasons. The basic one is that they assume 100% of electricity in the US is from coal plants. Not true. 50% of electricity does not come from coal plants in the US and coal plants are now being mandated to reduce their mercury emissions by between 70% and 90% over the next several years.
(2) Places like California produce little energy from coal plants, so CFL energy reductions will not cut much mercury there.
(3) The 5mg of mercury generally claimed for CFL’s is largely a goal and not the current reality which can be 300% to 600% higher, depending on the manufacturer. The EPA assumes just 4mg.
(4) CFL’s are made in China with energy from mostly very dirty coal plants that emit much more mercury than US coal plants. At least 25% of a CFL’s energy savings is likely needed to make them there.
(5) CFL’s made in China spill as much mercury into the environment as goes into the CFL’s.
(6) CFL’s are delivered here on ships using bunker oil, the worst mercury producer of the fuel oils. Incandescent bulbs are still almost all made here.
(7) There is no recycling program in place or planned that could handle the number of CFL’s proposed. And after many years, even the industrial recycling programs only handle 25% of the mercury from fluorescent lights.
(8) It is likely that if any major recycling program is set up, the CFL’s will be shipped back to China for reprocessing.
Thus, a massive CFL program will put a massive amount of toxic mercury into the environment and very likely into our kid’s bodies. And the EPA says that a sixth of them already have too much mercury in them. Given the danger, it might be wise to believe the EPA in this case.
December 24th, 2007 at 7:10 am
The Sinful Dollar » Archive says:
[…] Things I hate more than the Jimmy Fallon include hearing about the same old mucus over and over and over again. That’s why I turn off the television after a few minutes of political analysis these days - makes each tooth feel like they’re going to implode at once. But what I’m thinking about today is the fuss about CFLs, compact fluorescent light bulbs. That’s so last year. And they are still gushing over CFLs! I am really, truly, sincerely sick of hearing each and every blog writer extol their doubt turned love for them. Stop with the ”save money by screwing in a light bulb” articles already. Punch the next CFL article writer in the face for me. Thanks. […]
January 13th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Bill says:
The ten reasons are the most stupid put. these are banking on mythical assumptions about the cause of global warming - somthing we truly know little of or even the cause.
The main reason to switch should be of economical consideration. In the end, does it save me money to switch and how fast will it save.
January 21st, 2008 at 7:44 am
Murderers! Hypocytes! says:
Murderers! Hypocritical Murderers!!! You CFL proponents are all a bunch of Hypocritical Murderers!!! Disposing of those suckers pours more mercury in the ground than we know what to do with!!!! Many states are already setting up hazardous material recycling programs for your “wonder Solution” (that will save life as we know it!!!!). As your solution causes more harm than good, how can ANYBODY in good conscience use these heavy metal polluters????
“Pea Brains will believe anything! ” stated it correctly (up above), I guess:
“You politically correct sheep continue to buy up all those CFLs, so you feel good about yourself.
But wait! I forgot, you people who were dropped on your head as babies forgot that the amount of mercury in each bulb is great enough that many states are already have to set up a haz/mat recycling program for your “wonder-solution” for greenhouse emissions… Oops, the cure is 10 times worse than what ails us! Try doing some research before you proclaim the next miracle cure for a complex problem!”
DUH!!!!
He hits it right on the head - You MUST have been dropped on your head when you were babies!!!!
And the light from them still SUCKS!
January 21st, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Jason Petty says:
SOSLightBulbs.com recently got this press release concerning mercury content in CFL’s. We thought this could be of interest to your readers.
———————————-
Use even less mercury with MaxLite’s™ low mercury compact fluorescent lamps. Reinforcing its goal of producing the lowest mercury CFLs, MaxLite™ was one of the first in the industry to participate in the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association’s (NEMA) initiative, “Voluntary Commitment on Mercury in CFLs.” Participants in the program pledge to limit the mercury content of their self-ballasted CFLs (residential use only) with less than 25 watts to 5 mg. and those with 25-40 watts to 6 mg. per bulb. MaxLite™ CFLs utilize only 1.2 to 2.5mg of mercury per lamp; half the amount present on the tip of a ball point pen, as compared to typical CFLS containing 4 mg. of mercury.
Always ahead of the curve, MaxLite™ has created a unique procedure to control the amount of liquid mercury in its compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). In its burner production, MaxLite™ accuracy is achieved by the utilization of a sealed tool akin to a medical injection tube. This permits defined quantities of liquid mercury to enter it each time the fluid is drawn. Then the identical amount of liquid mercury is infused into the burner. One amalgam dice is placed into the mercury control of the amalgam lamps. The amount of mercury is also fixed as the amalgam dice’s weight is controlled by amalgam manufacturers.
The low mercury quantity is the least amount MaxLite™ deems feasible for a compact fluorescent lamp to maintain a long and productive life.
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 am
Jay says:
CFL bulbs are dangerous. I had some in ceiling fixtures, one day I turned the light on and heard a pop, the bulb then began glowing red and was smoking from the base. When I pulled the bulb out of the fixture, the plastic base had turned black and melted. It was a good thing it happened while I was still in the room or it could have burned down my house. After that, I threw all the CFLs in the garbage and went back to the good old fashion bulbs that give off better light anyways.
P.S.
I never noticed any difference in my electric bill before or after the CFLs either
February 8th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Carl Echols says:
I have tried CFL lights for my outdoor dusk to dawn lights and they burn out in about 3 DAYS. Gets really expensive and 2 lights per week not to mention having to change the bulbs twice a week. I’m back to incadescents for life.
March 15th, 2008 at 8:09 am
John Gammel says:
I have most of our house converted, Ib the kithen very high use track lighting 8 bulbs have lasted quite a fwe years. However the swirl bulbs in the garage seem to last a year or less. I am concerned about the Mercury we know everyone doesnt recycle. I am considering going back or trying the New LEDs
April 11th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Vern says:
You guys will lose your vision in like 10 - 15 years because of that horrible flickering those lights emit. There is no need to invent a bike when we already have one. I personally don’t care about all those savings you ppl talking about, I’d rather save my vision than paper.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Vern says:
O ye and something else. Do you know those lights emit small amount of radiation? Thats why it says on the package that “these lights my cause interference to some household electronics”. - how about some CANCER in addition to poor vision ha? All that money you saved on your electricity bills will go towards your medical bills… And also the statement “A 60-watt classic bulb and a 15-watt swirl are identically bright–the swirl just uses 45 fewer watts. - Misleading! See, they use the term “bright” In general terms you’ll think - how much light it emits - not true. It says how bright the light itself is and not the VOLUME of light you get. They can be the same brightness but emit a lower VOLUME of light.
Good fluorescent lights are sealed (no radiation) electronically controlled (it’s like higher refresh rate on your monitor) and they are full spectrum (close to natural sun light) they cost a lot more. Not 5-10$ vision busting #(*^$!
April 13th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
ASK says:
CFLs are not my favorite choice!! They are good though
May 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm