Posted on 03/28/2009 3:34:42 AM PDT by reaganaut1
I tried them out too in my house to see if I could save some $$$$ on my monthly power bill, and so far so good. Not one has failed yet after over a year of service, whereas it seemed like I was changing a regular light bulb very other week.
Why should people in waterlogged rural Maine be subjected to the same restrains as places on Federal waterfare, like Las Vegas?
I, too, have bulbs that have been going for almost 5 years. The warmup time varies. Some brands I have had, especially a few years ago, came on right away. Some of the newer ones have an obvious 15 second warmup period. And the electrical savings was also obvious. We have a couple 5-bulb fixtures that we run all evening.
If you buy cheapos that burn out fast, return them. The stores will get the idea and stock better bulbs. Put the date on them when you put screw them in.
But I do hope LED bulbs eventually replace them. The color of the LEDs is horrible, but they will figure out how to mix colors to get a more natural light.
I've been using them for 2 years now. Some of them are on 16 hours a day. I've replaced maybe 8 now. Not bad.
They are in recessed can lights and the vast majority are 14 watt bulbs replacing 60 watt incandescents. Electricity is expensive where I live and the bulbs pay for themselves many times over in energy costs.
You get what you pay for. Buy cheap CFLs and get poor quality both in reliability and light.
The ones I use come on really fast. Because of that they can be used in hallways, etc. They have no detectable flicker and would be safe for lighting moving machinery.
Same here. A couple of failures that never worked but overall I’m quite happy with them. In some cases they’re far better.
I used to change the old standard bulb over my stove about once a month but the CFL i replaced it with has been there for nearly a year. I also have one outside. It’s slow reaching full brightness during the winter but I’m OK with that. Also the light from the good quality bulbs is no different than the old standard bulbs.
I went to a Green Building training a few weeks ago, and learned about "double flush toilets." I told them I already have double flush toilets. I frequently have to flush them twice!
I have to spend my work week under fluorescents. No way am I going to live with them at home.
Kind of like the 1.5 gallon toilets you need to flush three times...
There's a good part of the problem right there - off brand bulbs such as 'Feit' or 'Lights of America' are junk. Stick to GE, Phillips, or another known brand.
That said, there are places where these CF bulbs are not desirable. The CF floods I put in the kitchen take about 8-10 minutes to get to full brilliance so I naturally leave them on once they're there. They will be replaced by incandescents in the future. Many are also subject to poor operation in cold areas if they light at all.
They have their place, and that place is not everywhere.
Bought new bulbs, replace them biweekly. How is this saving anything? Not saving money, not saving landfill space, and destroying my eyesight because I can’t read under them.
New light bulb FAIL!
In five years the next environmental terror will be mercury poisoning of ground water from the improper disposal of these bulbs. So... New taxes, another recycling bin, new crimes on the books, a new division of the EPA, and a new “White House Office of Interior Lighting.”
I don't care if anyone wants to use CFLs for whatever reason they deem important. But if you tell me that I have to use a CFL, I will tell you where to screw it in.
Well guess what, the things are junk. they die 10X faster than a std bulb and cost 5X as much...it cost me more replacing bulbs in 1 year that died than I would save in 20 years of reduced electrical consumption.
I'd still go for it if they get the damn things to work, but I'm done with it for now.
Next time your north of the 49th stop by Canadian Tire (a hardware retailer) and get some real shower heads.
Pun intended?
Yes, it makes perfect logic to put a lighbulb where the sun don't shine.
That’s what a lot of people in my town find out. Our 120 volt is actually 124 volts and it burns out 120 volt bulbs fast. I’m an electrical contractor and I always use 130 volt bulbs.
Mine have been good, too, sometimes lasting years. I had several with bad screw-in bases but the rest worked from the minute I put them in lamps.
Long before they became a political issue, I replaced a about two thirds of the bulbs in my house with CF bulbs, at a time when they were far more expensive. Right now they’re in sconces, indoor garage lights, and several overhead fixtures. I’ve not used them in other applications, like reading lamps with three light levels. Overall, they’ve worked very well where I’ve placed them. The greatest benefit I’ve received is not having to change light bulbs.
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