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74 Comments
- seanthebond, on 10/10/2007, -7/+39I though CFL= Canadian Football League.
- nixonrichard, on 10/10/2007, -3/+15Your girlfriend must love you.
- grumpyrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11I have had 14 CFLs installed for over 2 1/2 years now in every fitting and lamp in our unit. None have blown in that time.
- jennamalia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10One additional tip that may prevent you from needing to recycle your CFL quite as often is to only use CFL bulbs in situations where you won't be cycling the light on and off.
I had a few bulbs burn out prematurely, until I discovered the following information from consumerreports.org:
"And don't use CFLs in lights that are on for less than 15 minutes at a time, like closets. Frequent cycling shortens their life." - crapuccino, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11Older ones can take a while to warm up. Newer ones are much better.
A whole 10 seconds to save ~49W of juice per room. For a house with 14 light fittings, that's 686W per house, and that's assuming only 60W incandescent bulbs. For those who feel they require operating-theatre levels of illumination, the savings are much higher.
Those 10s must be really important to you to sacrifice the planet so easily on the altar of your inefficient tungsten element. - crapuccino, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I have about 14 too. Well over 3 years and going strong.
- SunFyre, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7The number one reason to switch to these lamps is... laziness! I hate changing bulbs, particularly the recessed bulbs in my kitchen that require a ladder, a screwdriver, and... well... effort. If you're lazy like me, get yourself a couple of dozen of these.
- Spetz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Yup. Modern CFL technology has come a long way since the originals. Now they have an unjustified bad rep from people who tried the first generation and have dismissed them. There needs to be a way to turn these people back around. I've just succeeded in turning my parents around on the issue by buying and installing one and showing them how good they are now.
- thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6"They're supposed to last, what ... five years? I've thrown out about a dozen that blew out in the last year or so."
Get your electrical system fixed. I bet you went through tons of regular bulbs too. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7People are just gonna throw them in the trash, more mercury for us.
- paperfrog, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7> Are those the bulbs that take like 10 seconds to warm up or whatever before they turn on?
No, modern CFLs are pretty much instant-on, with no flicker. They must reach their operational temperature to operate at their rated efficiency, which is why CFLs aren't big energy savers for quick on/off applications like closet lights. But you won't notice the warm-up period with the naked eye. Takes 30-60 seconds, depending on the bulb. They're pretty civilized. - gak001, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Do they get switched on and off frequently? I hear playing dance party with CFLs reduces longevity.
- allaboutdatiki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Some CFLs are just crappier than others. I installed a set of outdoor CFLs in recessed fixtures on my front porch and they've been golden. Did my basement lights, too. No change in years.
But I've had to swap out a handful in my bathroom fixtures. Like Jenna mentioned, it's gotta be the on/off cycles that kill 'em. - Scottamus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yes they are the wave of the future. Specifically they are so damn expensive now that the only time they will be marketable is way off in the future. Your best bang for the buck is still CFL. I hope LEDs come down into the practical price range but for now they are a hard sell.
- ipxodi, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Instant on, yes. But not instant Full-brightness. Even the newest ones I've purchased in the last year or so from Home Depot or Ikea still brighten noticeably during the first minute or so. I'd guess probably a good 20% change in light output.
That's not to say they're bad in anyway -- I love 'em. But I do wish the dimmable ones were cheaper and more available since I have lots of dimmers in my house. - johnn11238, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Also - make sure they are not hooked up to a dimmer switch. This will make a CFL blow in about 3 - 6 months.
- hammerattack, on 10/10/2007, -2/+61. CFLs contain mercury vapor. The very environmental movement that is pushing us to adopt CFLs once told us that mercury - in any amount in any casing - is a plague upon the earth. You can't sensationalize an environmental issue then expect the turnaround to be easy.
2. Most people in the states see CFLs as being small cousins to the commercial florescent lights, and therefore (wrongly) associate them with the harshness, flickering and buzzing. What would really kick-start the CFL market is if people would just give away one CFL to each household in affluent neighborhoods (where people probably average 30-40 light bulbs in the house). When they see how good they really are, they''ll switch. Then the CFL will become a status symbol, and the poor (who are greater in number, but typically have fewer square feet to light in their domociles) will switch. It's called "trickle down economics", and it works surprisingly well.
3. Don't hold your breath if you think every incandescent should be replaced. ICLs have a warmth and tenor that you can't get from CFLs. They'll still be used for mood lighting until LEDs replace everything.
4.Remind women that their outfits will look different at the office than at home UNLESS they start using CFLs. No woman, no matter how pragmatic, wants to be guilty of a fashion faux pas. That's not sexist, that's just the truth man. - obrysii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3High pressure sodium bulbs are terrible for household usage, as their color rendering is horrible.
- hammerattack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3No equivalent toxins? My friend, you're sadly mistaken. LED's are laced with heavy metals. The process is known as doping and is precisely how semiconductors are able to work.
Now, that being said... led's and cfls are about the same on the "evil scale", and the enlightened truth is that they're both harmless. Unless you eat them, or sniff the mercury vapor directly from the tube, there's nothing to worry about. - gak001, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My friend got a bunch of GE CFLs and they are virtually instant on (I think it says that they take .02 seconds) and the brightness is pretty powerful right away. His apartment is all CFLs. My mother has one that's kind of crappy and takes a couple of seconds to warm up. It all depends who you buy them from.
- scotty1024, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4CFL's are not the wave of the future: LED lamps are the wave of the future.
No short cycling issues, can be dimmed, no mercury, no phosphorus, no dangerous glass and they are available in warm, high noon and various other temperatures. They also have no UV, no infrared, less EMI (if you worry about your cellphone, spend more time worrying about CFL's), no acoustic noise, instant on/off, don't dim as quickly as CFL's and generally last considerably longer (10x or more).
And last but not least they are generally twice as energy efficient as CFL's (and getting more efficient each year.) - gak001, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Grow lights? Either you're being a douche or you like your place to be *bright*.
- Otto, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Yeah, I bought a couple of CFL's for the living room. They've improved, but not much.
When you can make them:
a) Bright
b) Work with my normal dimmer switches
c) Able for me to throw them away without having to have hazard gear
Then I'll be interested. As it is, I've tried 'em, I hate 'em. When they die, I'll be switching back to normal bulbs. - OverkillTASF, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3People talk about how CFL's are the wave of the future, and the environmentally sound way to go. However, there's this "short cycling" thing that kills them quickly. In my house, I generally live in the dark. Lights come on when it's pitch black outside only when I'm moving through a room. I have a couple task lights (A reading light, a workbench light, a computer desk light, a kitchen light) that actually get some extended use, but the majority of the lights in my house are cycled a lot. On for 4 seconds, off the rest of the day. Because of my energy conservation habits (Not because I'm a "conservationist", it just makes sense to me), CFL's don't make any sense for me, especially if I'm blowing out CFLs frequently. I would say that for people who make some even mild effort at not leaving all of their lights on all the time, CFLs are a waste of money, and much less environmentally sound than standard incandescent.
But if you're going to leave every light in the house on all day, sure, go CFL. - nepawoods, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Maybe it's my Tesla coil. I've got a filter in front of it, but you never know ...
- vypergts, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3If you live in Virginia, you can buy CFLs and other energy star appliances without having to pay sales tax this weekend. Other states probably have holidays like this too.
http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DE/RelatedProgs/sales ... - obrysii, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5It is your house, then. Poorly wired or poorly grounded fixtures kill CFLs easily. Or you are getting a lot of small, transient, surges down your wires.
- socialpyramid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Great article! When I was first writing about CFLs 10 yrs ago they cost around $25 each in stores. I had to keep adjusting calculations over and over through the years, until now I've seen them at big box stores for under a dollar. It's amazing how fast things change with economies of scale. CFLs are similar to Li-ion batteries now: common, people are told they should not just toss them out because of toxic contents, but they are still doing it.
Is it going to take strict producer takeback laws like they have in Germany to fix that problem? - ninsei, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3which incidentally also only has a 6% adoption rate ...
- obrysii, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Sylvannia CFLs are nearly instant-on-full brightness. But it varies from bulb to bulb--a minorly defective ballast will still work, but take a while to brighten.
- nbcaffeine, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I recycle them
... on to the concrete at the loading dock out back - Thuktun, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2My wife and I built our current house in 1998. Shortly after that, we decided to switch to CFLs whenever we had the opportunity.
I cannot remember having to replace a single CFL bulb yet! Some of those have been going for 7 years or so.
Maybe he has bad wiring or poor electrical supply from the power company. - obrysii, on 10/10/2007, -2/+45 milligrams (the average for a CFL) is hardly a high mercury environment. There are leaps and bounds more mercury in a old-fashioned thermometer or thermostat.
- an0nymous, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I've never accidentally broken a "old-fashioned thermometer or thermostat" on my living room floor. Lightbulbs? Yeah I've broken a few lightbulbs by accident over the years.
- Stratochief66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Have you asked them to start one? Or you could bring your own box and get the ball rolling. You could also just store them as the article suggests, get a good number together and ask your neighbors to do the same so that they can all be recycled at once.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+310 seconds? Are you hand cranking a generator for your electricity? All my CFLs take almost no time to start. They give a flicker from dim to bright in less than a second.
My outdoor ones take maybe a second to go full brightness but that is because they are much higher output. - hammerattack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm poor, so I had to guesstimate. Also, coming from poor parents, I automatically turn off the lights when I leave a room. Mind you, not because I'm worried about the environment. My mom would whoop my ass, then lecture me about her electric bill.
- BelXul, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Dugg for pointing out the mercury. I don't want that stuff leeching out of the dump into the groundwater, thank you.
- grumpyrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2They are only not bright if you trust the equivalent watt chart. If you read that chart with the same skepticism you would read a fuel consumption on a new car, you would be fine. I replaced the 60W globes with 75W equivalents and the room is brighter and you are still nearly 45W ahead of the old globes.
- nepawoods, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3They're supposed to last, what ... five years? I've thrown out about a dozen that blew out in the last year or so.
- EmailAddress, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4I bought a pack of 3, 26W General Electric (GE), CFLs from Walmart a long time ago.
Two of the bulbs died about two or three months later and all 3 were in the same fixture. There was no abuse of on and off continuously or anything like that, just regular use. Only the one bulb works to this day. So basically $10 for 1 bulb.
I read on the pack that I needed the receipt to send it to GE for replacement. Well since I didn't have the receipt, I assumed I couldn't send it back to GE for replacement. I got screwed. I got angry that I got screwed, because they were not cheap, so I tossed them into the trash can.
Five years my ass, the claim of their long life. - ChayD, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Odd, never had any problems with GE CFLs. I've got an 11 watt one in my desklamp, and it's been going strong for well over a year now with approx 5-8 hours usage a night. Sad to say, though that I brought two GU50 LED spots, and one's output has halved within 3 months, although I think this can be blamed on a badly designed voltage dropper circuit.
- dafragsta, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Which is the folly of man, represented all too well in the design of a friggin' light bulb! It's great! It uses less power, lasts longer, and costs only marginally more than a tungsten bulb, but we've got to count on people to do something they've never done EVER with enough commitment to keep them from poisoning themselves on the mercury within, they have to RECYCLE! OH NOES!
- Hellahulla, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I have a similar experience with them, about 5 (small box apartment) and all but one have been in place for over 3 years, the one I mention blew twice in a space of 3 months, however the one I have in now has been there for 2 years. Checked the wiring and such, all seems in order, so I have no idea, maybe two bad ones in the same fitting (could happen, I suppose)
- Rhodamine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Mercury is a toxic substance, and as a consumer it is important to be aware of the mercury content of the products you buy, know how to properly dispose of them, and understand the health risks to your family and the environment. In the case of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), it is important to note that these bulbs save 2-10 times more mercury from the environment than they contain by avoiding pollution from coal-fired power plants, and the amount in each bulb is not significant enough to pose a health risk in your home. Most CFLs have an initial mercury content of 3-4 mg (For comparison, a household mercury thermometer contains 50-3000 mg). Some low-mercury CFLs contain as little as 1.4 mg. Over the life of that same 20W CFL, it will use 550 kWh less electricity than the 75W bulb it replaced, which translates to about 6.5 mg mercury saved from the atmosphere on average. In certain southeastern and western states that depend primarily on coal for electricity, each bulb would save closer to 13 mg of toxic mercury emissions.
To learn more about proper disposal in your area if your CFL burns out or breaks, the EPA Energy Star Program provides clear clean-up tips and contact numbers - nepawoods, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2And it's not like my (or most any other) recycling center has a bin for CFLs.
- Otto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1These claimed to be 100W equivalent. I can barely read by them. My 60W normal bulbs are brighter.
- Hillsfar, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Keep an eye out for special deals. For example, every once in a while here in Southern California, a bunch of CFLs go on sale for very cheap, subsidized by our local Southern California Edison utility.
Just a couple of months ago, I saw 13W (equivalent to 60W incandescent) bulbs on sale - $1 for a pack of 3 bulbs - at my local Albertson's. I purchased 12 packs (there was no limit), so I have 36 CFLs. A year ago I saw a set of 7 various strength bulbs (including two halogen replacements) in packs at Costco for about $7 per pack. I bought 4 packs.
I never buy over-priced CFLs. - Rhodamine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Mercury is a toxic substance, and as a consumer it is important to be aware of the mercury content of the products you buy, know how to properly dispose of them, and understand the health risks to your family and the environment. In the case of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), it is important to note that these bulbs save 2-10 times more mercury from the environment than they contain by avoiding pollution from coal-fired power plants, and the amount in each bulb is not significant enough to pose a health risk in your home. Most CFLs have an initial mercury content of 3-4 mg (For comparison, a household mercury thermometer contains 50-3000 mg). Some low-mercury CFLs contain as little as 1.4 mg. Over the life of that same 20W CFL, it will use 550 kWh less electricity than the 75W bulb it replaced, which translates to about 6.5 mg mercury saved from the atmosphere on average. In certain southeastern and western states that depend primarily on coal for electricity, each bulb would save closer to 13 mg of toxic mercury emissions.
To learn more about proper disposal in your area if your CFL burns out or breaks, the EPA Energy Star Program provides clear clean-up tips and contact numbers - eh270, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I've always known CFLs would bite us in the ass. LED bulbs, which contain no mercury or equivalent toxins, are much better: they last longer, and the light is less harsh.
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