They don’t last longer. I bought a CFL floodlight last fall, 8000 hours it says on the package but it stopped working within the last two weeks.
Well, sometimes it happens with incandescents too. Sudden power fluctuation into the lamp seems to ruin it.
Their lumen rating is highly optimistic, they don’t last as long as claimed, and the color it emits gives a morgue atmosphere. I kept trying the bulbs and went back to the old fashioned ones.
You bought ONE bulb that died, therefore THEY don't last longer? (I've had incandescents do the same thing.) Of course they last longer! I've got about a dozen in my house and some have been going for 5 years.
For other folks:
The brand I have looks just like regular bulbs in color.
If you think one size is too dim, buy a larger wattage. That's not hard to figure out.
My experience was the same. Bot a package and put three in sconces at various places to see how they worked. Two went out within a year. The sconces are not used as much as other lighting, so we actually got far less mileage than with our regular bulbs. We are trying a new batch for the same reason I tried the first ones. Sconces can be more difficult to get to and it would be nice to not have to change bulbs more than every several years or more.
A one data point sample. You should be a researcher.
Exactly. The claims of longevity on these bulbs is a farce. They fail in more ways than I can count, and my average on them is about a year. I have some incandescents that are several years old. Some of those don’t last long either. But CFLs on average don’t last any longer.
We have CF bulbs in near constant use doing fine after three years.
I outfitted my house with CFLs. (1) It’s true they don’t last in lights with dimmers. A couple of hours max. (2) It looks like the lifetime of CFLs is about the same as incandescents. I’m looking at an overhead light right now with 3 out of 4 CFLs burned out.
I personally prefer the light from the CFLs, but I wonder if they save any money at all.