Posted on 03/28/2009 3:34:42 AM PDT by reaganaut1
[A] lot of people these days are finding the new compact fluorescent bulbs anything but simple. Consumers who are trying them say they sometimes fail to work, or wear out early. At best, people discover that using the bulbs requires learning a long list of dos and don’ts.
Take the case of Karen Zuercher and her husband, in San Francisco. Inspired by watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” they decided to swap out nearly every incandescent bulb in their home for energy-saving compact fluorescents. Instead of having a satisfying green moment, however, they wound up coping with a mess.
“Here’s my sad collection of bulbs that didn’t work,” Ms. Zuercher said the other day as she pulled a cardboard box containing defunct bulbs from her laundry shelf.
One of the 16 Feit Electric bulbs the Zuerchers bought at Costco did not work at all, they said, and three others died within hours. The bulbs were supposed to burn for 10,000 hours, meaning they should have lasted for years in normal use. “It’s irritating,” Ms. Zuercher said.
Irritation seems to be rising as more consumers try compact fluorescent bulbs, which now occupy 11 percent of the nation’s eligible sockets, with 330 million bulbs sold every year. Consumers are posting vociferous complaints on the Internet after trying the bulbs and finding them lacking.
...
In California, where bulbs have been heavily encouraged, utilities have concluded that they will not be able to persuade a majority of consumers to switch until compact fluorescents get better. That is prompting them to develop specifications for a better bulb.
The effort aims to address the most consumer complaints: poor dimming, slow warm-up times, shortened bulb life because of high temperatures inside enclosed fixtures, and dissatisfaction with the color of the light.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have had the exact same experience as you have had. Several of the CFL bulbs I left on 24/7 lasted 3 to 4 years.
Although I have had time-lag issues on outdoor lamps, the indoor fixtures have not been a problem.
I work with a guy who has the same problem. Hopefully LED's will be low enough in price in a few years so that they can be used instead.
Thank you, got a chuckle out of that!
I’ve replaced many of the bulbs in my house.
Comparing Dec.2008 light bill to Dec. 2007 , I used 35 kwh less in 2008. Of course the power co. had upped the rate so the 2008 bill was $5 more . Yippy
The only problem I have w/ the CFLs is their not burning at full brilliance for about 30+ sec. And not being able to use them w/ dimmers.
I’ll have to say the ones I’ve bought were off brand. Maybe GE, Sylvania, etc would perform better.
Dittos there. I’ve had good luck with CFs too.
I’ve had a couple of Feit bulbs fail within the warranty period and they replaced them. They did ask me if they had been used in closed fixtures.
I’m an architect and interior designer. My most recent project, a 3,000 s.f. apartment along the lakefront, is near completion.
The master bathroom has a whirlpool tub and 4’ x 6’ shower with 2 waterfall showerheads. Instead of a regular ceiling, skylight panels were used with warm daylight flourescents on dimmers above the panels. I was surprised how nicely this bathroom turned out; it actually does look like daylight coming through the panel (keep in mind the unit is on the 8th floor of a 12 storey building).
As far as LEDs, ropes of LEDs were employed throughout the rest of the apartment, particularly under top and bottom kitchen cabinets. The contractor gave me a “prototype” bulb (no labels except “Made in Japan”) and it has worked very well. When I brought it to Lowe’s and Home Depot to see if they had something similar, the associates at both places wanted to buy it from me.
BLOBBY’14.
Buy lots of bulbs before year 2014.
CFL’s get some smoothing of the light output from the persistence of the phosphors used. Different phosphors have different persistence and can be chosen to produce less flicker. LEDs have no inherent persistence (at least in human terms).
The only other way to minimize the flicker is filtering on the AC to DC power supply which takes relatively expensive and bulky capacitors. When cost is the main driver they'll take short cuts on this.
CFL’s are a niche product trying to be pushed mainstream, I have no issues trying to save money by saving energy, but these lights are only justifiable as a cost benefit if they are in lights that are turned on and left on for extended periods of time... A typical bathroom trip isn’t even long enough for them to “warm up”.
Congress should be impeached for mandating the retirement of incandecent bulbs.... they will be replaced when a truly better option exists, the marketplace will replace incadecent on its own whenever that happens.
My mother has a reading lamp by her chair, with a metal shade. The shade was too hot to touch when the lamp was on. She had a 100-W bulb in it. I got her a Sylvania “craft light,” i.e., a very white CFL bulb—6500K. She can read more easily, and the lampshade and bulb don’t get dangerously hot.
I had bad experiences with “Lights of China” and Feit bulbs, but Sylvania seem to be the best—and they have the color temperature stamped on the base, which I like a lot.
“Inspired by watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” they decided to swap out nearly every incandescent bulb in their home for energy-saving compact fluorescents. “
Suckers
I’m starting to wonder if, with the “push” for CFLs, quality is starting to suffer.
I was given my first set of CFL bulbs (5 or 6 of them), back in 1995 or 96 as part of a pilot program in my apartment building. They’ll all still working.
I had gradually ramped up usage of them, as my ability to spend the extra $$$ (relative to other opportunity costs) on them improved.
The older ones have largely worked well - probably not even a 2 or 3% failure rate outside of their stated lifespan - with many continuing to function well beyond. The newer ones, purchased in the last couple years, are absolute crap. Of a set of four bulbs (CFL bulbs embedded inside of a floodlight frame), which I bought only three or four months ago, have had a 50% failure rate.
I didn’t, and never will, buy these things because of the green/enviro argument. I bought/buy them because of convenience. I hate changing bulbs, especially in my current house which has a lot of recessed lighting that requires me to break out a stepstool everytime a bulb dies.
Having bulbs that last 3 or 4 or 5 times as long as incandescents isn’t just something that’s acceptable to me - it’s something I’m actually willing to pay a market premium for. But at this rate it looks like I’m paying a premium for bulbs that burn out faster than incandescents.
True enough, but they do produce some heat and are very intolerant to said heat. I tried some in enclosed light fixture that holds 3 bulbs. Within 2 weeks, I had gone through about 6 bulbs.
You and half the population. I actually have a visual perception disorder called scotopic sensitivity syndrome and under fluorescent lights I get nauseous and go to sleep - and that's after eye cramps, seeing weird light on paper and not being able to read under them. I'm starting the buy two box a week stockpile because there is no way I am living in an environment with only that as a light source. And as I researched LED, yeah, it's going to be just as bad.
The only things that should be considered in a decision to use a specific light source are first cost, second “will it do the job intended” and third how frequently will it need replacing, which is actually past of the cost.
Everything else is immaterial.
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