nytimes.com — The retailer is determined to push energy-saving light bulbs with the help of some unlikely partners. And its ambitions extend even further, spurred by a sweeping commitment from its chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., to reduce energy use across the country.
Jan 2, 2007 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJan 2, 2007
Considering this has nothing to do with LED bulbs, how is your comment relevent?
robdavyJan 2, 2007
My wife has a Day Home (looks after kids) in our basement. The lights have to be on down there 11 hours a day, 5 days a week.We had 8 incandescent bulbs (60w) when we started, using 5.2kwh a day of electricity (104kwh a month)We now have 8 CFLs (13w) using 1.1kwh a day (22kwh a month) and cost about $15 ($7.50 or so for a pack of 4 bulbs)We're paying about 12c/kwh here, so:Without CFLs: $12.48/monthWith CFLs: $2.64/monthSaving: $9.84/monthWe paid for the bulbs in 6 weeks, and now we save ten bucks every monthSure, it doesn't make a huge lot of sense to change the bulb in a lamp you use once a week for a couple of hours, but anything you use everyday (think kitchen, living room, office, etc) it pays for itself very quickly
bobmysteriosoJan 2, 2007
I use them to illuminate my basement for my cats. I think I have a single 15w maybe in a fixture. Its on 24/7. I have been in my house 1.25 years and its going strong. It came from my apartment which, it had been running for at least 1 year there. Prior to that I got 2 years out of one that was also on 24x7.So, maybe if you just leave them on all the time they get better life. Defeats the purpose of the energy saving but at least its less costly than if I had an regular bulb running 24/7.
betojfJan 2, 2007
you are buying cheap chinese crap.... get philips lightbulbs!
timtheenchanterJan 2, 2007
CFLs have come a long way since they first came out. You just need to get quality bulbs that match your needs. They come in many different styles, colors, temperatures, lums, etc. It?s not just daylight 5000K and up any more. You can also get 2700K bulbs that match the incandescent. As for color quality, you need minimum 5000K to get true daylight color and you can?t get that in an incandescent bulb. I?ll have to admit that at 5000K and above, the light is harsh so choose carefully where you use what type.In low light settings, I agree that the CFLs comes up a little short in that I can see them blink. For those, you might want to try LED lights. They?re far more expensive but very worth it especially if you need that 5000K and up natural lighting. Plus they use even less energy then CFLs and they just don?t seem to die.So what do you say we do a little research on alternative lighting and give them another try?Just some friendly advice :-)
Closed AccountJan 2, 2007
Absolutely, though this tactic has been used to the detriment of many suppliers in the past Wal*Mart is doing a good thing using their muscle. I buy everything I need in Wal*Mart including food, stationery, daily footwear, bulbs, simple electronic appliances and so on and so forth. I'm single and I don't intend to go broke buying groceries that are pricier than they need to be... That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
maanwiJan 3, 2007
I've recently purchased several of the GE brand bulbs and they are okay, however, the light quality is still inferior to that of the incandescent. It really doesn't matter if you use the "daylight" balanced ones or not - they are always either a little too yellow or a little too blue. I hybridized the lighting in my home with a mix of low wattage regular lightbulbs and CFLs and have found it a decent compromise. CFLs do lose some of their lighting power as they age and they take longer to warm up - you'll obtain less lumens on a 5 year old bulb (if it really lasts that long) than what you started with, so don't go with the really low lumens producers.
mouskyJan 3, 2007
Yes, it's called positive PR and pulling people into your stores on the hope that they will buy other items. Nothing new here. Move along.
kickingback77Mar 1, 2009
Now if they would only focus their efforts on reusable bags at checkout instead of those plastic bags we would be better off.<a class="user" href="http://www.purelyproducts.com/">http://www.purelyproducts.com/</a>