GreenMonster

I thought it was interesting as I'm starting to put CFL's ( compact fluorescent lamps) in some places in my house.

Full story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/business/02bulb.html

o3jeff

I bought a couple packs at Costco last month for about $3.50 for six bulbs, can't tell the difference in the light they give off, hopefully they will save money for me.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Still hate Wal-Mart... I was in one of their stores around Christmas. 40 acres of merchandise for sale, 4,000 customers, and 8 cash registers; only 4 of which we open.

GINge!

I've actually replaced a lfew of my CFL with incandescents. I have a 5-light fixture over the dining room table I wanted on a dimmer switch, and CFL's can't be dimmed well.

Do you really find the light the same? I find the CFL gives off a kind of sickly yellow-green colour.

astro

I replaced all of my non-dimming lights with CFLs, including my 3 Outdoor lights.

I am using all different wattages, from 9-23. I find the big ones, the 23s to be MUCH brighter than a 100W incandescent bulb. I also find the light to be much whiter, more like having an HID bulb.

I don't know how much it's saving me, but i am happy with the light, and any savings is good with me

dom

I thought they were pushing the Canadian Football League.

My house is about 75% of the way there.

eclipse23

50% for me, as the blow out I replace them.

moeronn

I have been replacing the incandecents with CFLs as they burn out. Unfortunately, they don't fit real well in all fixtures, since they're a little longer. Also, it may be due to problems with the electricity, but they don't seem to last any longer than standard bulbs at my place.

Scribesoft

First thing we did after building our home 2 years ago was to replace 100% of all the no-name bulbs the builder used with CFL's..

2 weeks ago I replaced ALL of the CFL's to Reveal's.. I'm not saving any energy anymore, but I got rid of that damn nasty yellow color we had throughout the house. Everything looks better now. I have yet to find a CFL which has a comparable light output/color combination to the Reveals. Until they can match the quality of a regular WHITE colored bulb, I'll stick with the old fashion bulbs.

Now, If I can only find a 14/16 foot step ladder so I can change one of the burned out bulbs in the cathedral ceiling in the family room, I'll be all set. A big, high ceiling seemed like a great idea until I had to change one of the friggin bulbs

I'm going to use the old CFL's for my shop light in the garage.. they seem to take a beating much better than normal bulbs.

dallison

i still ain't shopping at wal-mart

csmeance

i use the CFL ones from home depot that are 4 bucks each. They give a 100 watt output and draw 28. They give a erally white output, like an HID without the blueish tint. The color rating is daylight i think. BTW these can't be dimmed.

GreenMonster

No... It's not the same, but I started using 'em 'cause I keep one light in the kitchen on all night, and I got tired of changing the incandecent every couple of months. This light (15w) is inside a white globe, and it looks good tho'.

I got some 15w's to start off, and they were "soft white"... Yellow light. I've got some lights behind white globes so I'll use those in em.

I've got some "cool daylight" GE's in 26w that are more "blue" in color... I like those (my brother stole one for his nightstand already).

I didn't like that 26W in the living room, so I'm probably not going to put them every where... I'll use incandecents in the "trumpets" on the ceiling fans, but I'll replace the bulbs in the central globe w/ a CFL, so I'm still going to have a mixed use of lights.

SpeedyV6

Fixed.

But I still shop at WalMart for things like bulbs, air filters, paper towels, generic Advil, etc.

doopstr

We use them but find that we don't like them for some reason in all rooms. Maybe I just need a lower wattage one in those rooms. Still experimenting.

BTW, it seems that Walmart now has other shapes besides Ice Cream Cone Swirl.

driver centric

Been using them for a while, love them. I do wish they made a CFL light closer to the incandescent GE "Reveal" color temperature. I've tried the daylight CFL ones by GE and the light they produce is just too blue, it actually makes the illuminated space feel darker compared to an incandescent bulb in my opinion. As more of the incandescent bulbs I have around here give out, I'll be replacing them with CFLs. In addition to lower energy use, I like that they also don't put off as much heat, that's really nice during the hot summer months.

GreenMonster

Info on "Colors" here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact...nt_lamp#Colors

I like the reveal too, and have some around the house...

fast-tl

Damn it, we fell right into their trap. This weekend they were on the endcap of an aisle, with a prominent display. We picked up a 3-pack to try in the family room, where I am right now. It's enough light, but the color's a little off. I'm adjusting though.

fast-tl

Our plan is to replace the incandescents one room at a time with the CFLs.

F.Rizzo

Check the wikipedia link above for the definitions of "colors" for CFL's as it has good info.

I kinda know something about lighting...
Most residential applications should use 3000K (warm) and below to mimic the output of regular incandescent bulbs. "Daylight" bulbs (4100K and above) are too "cool" to use in a house, and most people find the irritating.
Unfortunately, the "elcheapo" type bulbs that they sell at wal-mart usually have really bad Color Rendering Indexes (CRI) and look poor when installed. Plus they use junky ballasts that give off an annoying hummmmm. The best application for these type bulbs is inside a fixture with a lens or cover to help diffuse and soften the glow and hide the noise.
If you step up to the non- china Sylvania bulbs or even better - Panasonic bulbs, you will be really surprised at how good they look. They cost more, but the average CFL lasts at least 10,000 hours and a incandescent barely makes it to 1000 hours - even less for "reveal" and Halogen bulbs. Also - CFL's are great for outdoor use, like porch and post lights that stay on all night.

BustedJack

that's awesome. I've been using a ton of these bulbs for about 3 years now. Do they really save money........... a little bit.
I hope they sell 12 packs for $6

soopa

i used to have alot of CFL's, but like others said, i find them soo yellow.

maybe they've improved.

for now though, i've reveals in most of our standard light sockets.

Moog-Type-S

I did this a couple of years ago.
I noticed the drop in the elec. bill too.

driver centric

I haven't seen any of the Sylvania Daylight CFLs in store. I'm pretty sure their Kelvin rating is lower than the daylight bulbs GE makes; I'll have to give them a try.

GreenMonster

I just bought a couple of cheap made in China 23W CFL's for 74 cents a piece

Walmarts not fucking around... they had 2 different types out in the aisle.

The GE 15w (60w equivalent) 2 pack I bought awhile ago was $6.44...

GreenMonster

F.Rizzo, good info

I figured there was some downfall to the cheap ones, so I only bought 2. I'll probably use those for the porch lights.

Yeah, I've got some 6500K GE daylights that I like even tho' they are blue.

I'll have to look around for some of the Sylvania and Panasonic ones. My only experience has been with the GE's so far.

doopstr

I don't think I've ever seen a Panasonic light bulb. Where do we get those?

I'm surprised some of you think they are too yellow. The ones I got at HD are nowhere as yellow as the regular bulbs in my house.

F.Rizzo

Also - there are a lot of other screw in CF bulbs in the market.
Need to brighten a room? EIKO makes a 105 watt screw in CF bulb that is the equiv. to a 500 watt incandescent bulb !

1000bulbs.com is one of the best on line lighting stores there is. (they have great Xmas lights also - but order early) http://www.1000bulbs.com/category.php?category=2086

They used to sell Panasonic CFL's on line, but there are no prices listed currently. I get mine from a local lighting supplier. You can look up a dealer rep on the website: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs...00000000005702

Fibonacci

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/20...entives-urged/

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

The market is heading in the direction of the most appealing product.

svtmike

x 471890547809341740137854. CFLs absolutely suck suck suck.