[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

I’ve had at least two sputter and spark before burning out LONG BEFORE the life stated on the package.

[allmost]

Yeah, they don't quite live up to the stated lifetime. I seem to replace them more often than incandescents. Archaeologists in the future will define this insane age by the thin layer of mercury covering everything and inside everyone IMO.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The lifespan of a CFL bulbs largely depends on how often it's turned off and on. If you turn your lights out, on leaving the room (as we've all been told to do, countless times) — your CFL bulbs will burn out long before the numbers of hours use touted on the package.

I once combined a screw-in light sensor switch with a CFL bulb porch light. I had to replace the bulb in a couple of weeks. Then I noticed the problem. The sensor switch turned the CFL bulb on, when the sun was setting. Then the light from the bulb caused the sensor to turn the bulb off again. And so on — for about 20 minutes, until it got dark enough to end the cycle. The switching on and off reduced the life of the CFL bulb from an advertised 8,000 hours to about 150 hours.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***I’ve had at least two sputter and spark before burning out LONG BEFORE the life stated on the package.***

Same here. They go flicker, flicker POP! One lasted about thirty days. They do NOT last near as long as advertized.

[sionnsar]

I’ve had at least two sputter and spark before burning out LONG BEFORE the life stated on the package.

I just retired one of the very first installed in this house, about a decade ago. (And the poorest light quality.) Ran 24/7 except during power outages.

Two others died in that decade -- don't know about the life because I haven't been recording "on" times. But I've replaced a LOT more incandescents in that same period.

Yes, one emitted a bit of smoke when it died (burning electronics does tend to stink -- I'll never forget when my TV caught fire). Don't usually leave them on when we're away, but I will take a much closer look at containing fixtures now.