Posted on 01/25/2011 1:42:00 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Calif. Discovers Fluorescent Lightbulbs Burning Out Faster Than Predicted
State government concludes that it will not realize the savings it expected
It was all flowers and roses when the state of California launched its $548M USD program to help promote consumer use of compact fluorescent lamps. Manufacturers and utilities were onboard because they received bonus pay to enact rebate programs. Citizens were happy as they received cheap CFL bulbs, which promised to save them money on power expenses. And the politicians were happy, as they looked sufficiently "green" to satisfy the eco-minded voters.
Now that utopian vision of futuristic lighting has dissolved into rancor and disappointment. A multi-million dollar program by the state designed to evaluate the actual results has concluded that energy savings were not as good as expected and that utilities were being over-rewarded for their performance.
At the heart of the problems is the fact that utility provider Pacific Gas & Electricity Corp (PG&E) has forced to cut estimates of CFL life average lifetimes from 9.3 years in 2006 to 6.3 years. The shorter-than-expected lifetime was due largely to people turning CFL lights on and off, and the fact that CFL bulbs were often put in disadvantageous locations like bathrooms or recessed lighting.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytech.com ...
I have had one CFL burn out in the last 5 years. I’ve never had one of those corkscrew-shaped ones burn out. I’ve never had one break, and they are all over my house. They out do incandescents by years. [However, I do have incandescents over my bathroom mirror because of their brightness.]
True. Also poisonous when they break.
Just to pi$$ off the greens, I also use 500 watt hallogens. They provide entertainment too when they roast an unlucky fly that gets too close.
We've had a lot of success with CFLs over the past decade and more. One of the earliest, ran 24/7 in the garage except for power outages, started failing last month. Except for decorative lamps, and one rarely-used lamps, we're 100% lamped with CFLs (except kitchen & garage fluorescents) -- low color-temperature bulbs give a nice light.
We've had 4 bulbs die in the past decade. Let's say we double that rate to 8 in a decade -- that releases the same amount of mercury in 70 years that I did in under 10 when I broke two old fever thermometers as a boy.
But other folks are reporting very different experiences and I wonder why. Could it be lower "power quality" (power factor, etc.)?
Quit buying those chinese bulbs from dollar stow.
Actually, you need to complain to you power company, sounds like they have your transformer set too high. If you are normally at 125 volt, when a bit of a surge comes down the line, there goes the 120 volt bulb. Best set at 115 volts.
Rural REAs are the worst. Especially if your on the end of a line. Had an REA that had some disposal well on 440 3 phase somewhere up on our line which would surge like the devil now and then. Found out they had our transformer set at 125, when would surge it sometimes hit 135, we too would go through incandencents like poop through a goose.
Well said!
LOL!
I'm surprised that they don't have a lefthand thread!
Things have changed in the past dozen years, mowowie. Many (not all, floods in particular) come on almost instantly. They have also started rating "color temperature" -- the lower-temp ones available today resemble incandescents quite closely in the light they produce (though we generally use them only in shaded fixtures).
If all you can find are slow-start high-color-temp (bluish-white or worse) lamps, you need to go to a different store. The one you're going to is ripping you off.
[ they work in very cold environments
I have noticed people’s opinion of “very cold” varies considerably. What sort of temperature range do You consider “very cold”? ]
Inside of the freezer part of the refrigerator....
BTW one major retailer really pushed hard for these bulbs and supported them early on. The same one who likes to have companies produce things overseas or outside the USA to meet it's price. It is a company ran by liberals and panders to the Green Earth Worshiping Movement. Some Conservatives still looking at this corporation with rose colored glasses still think of it as a conservative corporation when in the past decade it has been anything but.
Thanks. Here “very cold” is somewhere between -30 and absolute zero. This time of year, normally, the freezer is warmer than outside.
Everything in California is burning out faster than expected, including their IQs. Pretty sad, it was THE place to live in the 1950s thru the 70s. You couldn’t pay the average person to live there now. This is what you get under liberalism: a collapsed economy, an ignorant populace, and you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting an illegal alien.
Old and busted: The California Raisins.
New hotness: The California Dim Bulbs.
It could be our wiring, we’ve had some trouble with weak circuits.
I don’t mind them in some areas, in others, they don’t do so well. Bathrooms especially.
It’s kind of a trial and error thing. We have one on the porch that’s been in for over 6 years. Longest lasting one to date. Others subsidized by Edison, didn’t last a year.
I’ll use them where they don’t fail so quickly and incandescents where they do. I did notice a drop in our power bill when we had installed them practically all over the house, but there’s a trade-off.
Good to hear that some find them successful, I’m not against them per se, just suspicious about the longevity claims.
Regards,
SZ
What brand?
True. I have no idea what those cost, but I bet it'd be cheaper for me (knowing big-city goobermints) to offer to go around with a portable generator and a hair-dryer for the low, low price of $1,500 a light.
i have a red and green pigtail bulb onin my driveway fixtures. they have lasted for at least 2 years in colorado. i also use them in downstair bathroom, closets, and in my basement model building work area. BUT, i leave them on all the time in the basement and i also have four 4ft dual flourescents and multiple 100w gooseneck lamps for close in work.
Michele Bachmann Declares War On Light Bulbs (2008)
http://wonkette.com/372895/michele-bachmann-declares-war-on-light-bulbs
Michele right again
I checked my lamps. Most of my spiral-type bulbs are “Globe” brand. The other two are Sylvania. The Globe brand, which I never heard of, has lasted just as well as the Sylvania.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.