CFL"S We were sold a bill of goods on this bulb!

[Damn Yankee]

These bulbs are junk. We were told the CFL would last longer,give better light and be cheaper to run. I have had some that stop working in less than a year and one I have hums. If you break a CFL you are exposed to some mercury which is supposed to be bad for your health.

How can these bulbs be cheaper when they don't last as long but cost six times as much. Got some old incandescent bulbs that I have had for years.

Should of bought more regular bulbs.

What's your mileage been?

[franzas]

I've never been a fan of the swirl. They are very dim, dim to the point that they can't light a large room. (my parents switched to these a couple years back and the house stays pretty much dark because of it)

My personal preference is clear 100W incandescent bulbs for general use and halogens (don't know wattage) for ceiling lights/fans/spotlights etc. You will be amazed how much a room brightens up when you switch to halogens. I think they have some crazy long lifetime, so I would take them in a minute over the swirl bulbs.

[jimmib]

the light bulb thing is all about the lobby system in DC....the manufacturers got these laws passed to shove these bulbs down our throats and used false advertising to do it...I didn't buy into the CFL thing but kinda like the LED bulbs...will have to see how long they actually last...they just backed off on the deadline to phase out regular light bulbs...I guess the lobbyists didn't grease the right palms

[kudzu3]

They are junk! So are politicians. (can I say that?)

[moosedog]

I agree. This is worse than the 1.1 gal no flush toilets they made us buy in the 90s.

"It's for the children" ha ha

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I put them in the bathroom fixtures that have a dozen lights over the mirror. Wife can't turn off a bathroom light switch to save her life. Electricity bill went down and have not had any go bad since I bought them close to three years ago. I think they are too bright.

I will be buying the new LEDs for our canned lighting in the house. Very nice light and inexpensive to operate. Still a bit pricey.

[Forester]

Hate them! Skipped them mostly. We had a few and they didn't even last as long as incandescents.

Ended up skipping them and going to almost all LED in the house. Much better light and lasts nearly forever. Another example of the free market fixing what the government should have just stayed out of.

[Old TexMex]

It's just a failure to market it properly!
We had to install the bulb to see if it worked.
If you like your old bulb, you can keep it. Period.

[kwselke]

The first CFL I bought about 20 years ago I put in a lamp that was on a timer. It ran daily for about seven years and finally died when the lamp was tipped over and the bulb broke.

About 90% of the bulbs I've been using for the last 10 years have been CFL. Generally they are long lived, but I did get a 6 or 8 pack of them at Sam's which only lasted a few months each.

I find there is a wide variation of light quality and output, start up times, time to peak output, and useful life from brand to brand and from different models of the same brand. It also seems that light output from CFLs declines as they age. Even though I've been using CFL primarily of my own accord there are certain instances where I want an incandescent bulb.

[DeadAye]

As an *Added Bonus* - Most (if not ALL) are made in China.
The plants here in the U.S. that made incandescent bulbs are ALL closed or closing.

Yep - A great deal for someone.
Those lobbyists are certainly a blessing

[rburg]

I've had terrible luck with the CFLs. Some do seem to work OK. But they're all dim and low wattage rated things. I'm old. I need light to see. That doesn't happen out of a cfl, any cfl. I've got some LED bulbs and I like them. Its a harsh and bright light. Mine up up in the air, some way up and I really can't get up there to replace them.

Yes, we've been suckered and sold down the road. Those who voted went with the propaganda by the greenies. They accepted the idea we don't need much light to see. No, I'm not disposing of burned out bulbs the way they demand. I'm tossing them in the trash, along with dead batteries. Its the price you have to pay for forcing me to use defective products.

A couple of years ago I was at a community yard sale. I love those things. And a lady had a big case of genuine 100w bulbs for sale. She was dumping them because it was going to be illegal to use. So I bought the entire case, or what remained of it. Think of my wealth. 96 bulbs that come on bright and seem to last as long as I'd come to expect. My buddy Joe has hundreds of 100w and 65w bulbs. He has no guilt either.

Back before I retired my employer wanted me to toss out all the stuff he shipped back here from Kali. It included about 25 track light fixtures! And each one had a blue color spot light in it. He was a jeweler back then, and they were genuine diamond lights. It seems diamonds in a jewelry store look better under that kind of lighting. Think the opposite of the lighting you see in a used car lot or a gun show. My wife has them up in her sewing area. Except she likes the CFLs, so I put them in all her fixtures. I used the CFLs the electric company gave us to save money.

Out front we have a porch light. Its an LED that draws 3w, day and night all year long. I seem to have enough money in my bank account to finance that.

[G-Mac]

Originally Posted by rburg

I'm tossing them in the trash, along with dead batteries. Its the price you have to pay for forcing me to use defective products.

Yeah, that'll teach 'em.

[bullmack]

They suck in the cold as well - take forever to warm up - if at all. I'm switching over to LED's. Much brighter and I like the whiter light LED's produce.

[Fishslayer]

Originally Posted by Damn Yankee

Should of bought more regular bulbs.

What's your mileage been?

Depends. Some actually give out some good light. They come in different "temperatures." My wife actually LIKES the murky yellowish "daylight."

As for mileage, I think a lot depends on your grounding/fixture. I had a fixture that just ate CFLs and some last a long time. My wife jumped on a whole bunch of "dirt cheap to free" offers from the electric company a few years ago and we have (I am NOT kidding) over a full storage crate full of the things.

I'm a fanboi for the LED technology. When I buy a new bulb it's LED. The one over my reloading press is a few years old. Great light, lots of it & uses 9 Watts.

[TucsonMTB]

Our experience has been quite different from that of the original poster. After replacing our conventional bulbs early in the 13 years we have lived in Arizona, our electric bills have been quite low, compared to nearby neighbors.

In Arizona it's not just the electricity to run the lights. Heat loading on the air conditioning from the hot light bulbs is worth considering. So, we bought into CFL's early on.

Some of the CFL's we have purchased at our local Home Depot and on eBay have been great, others not so good. On average, we have been happy enough.

The quality of the light and time to reach full brightness for the CFL's has steadily improved over the last dozen years. So, we seldom wait for them to fail before replacing them with a brighter, faster to reach full brightness, and usually cheaper, lamp.

Recently, LED's have become more affordable. They are virtually instant on at full brightness and produce very nice light, pretty much like an incandescent lamp!

We have replaced most of our bright overhead flood lamps with LED versions. The quality of light and the instant full brightness they offer is wonderful!

As a bonus, unlike CFL's, individual LED's even dim quite nicely. The group of 6 in the kitchen ceiling generates a whining sound when dimmed, so they are back on a conventional switch.

The better quality CFL flood lamps that the LED's replaced in the indoor fixtures were a nice upgrade to the early, lower performance models in the patio flood lamp ceiling fixtures.

Yeah, I have a box of used, still functional but replaced CFL's in the garage. If you are in the Tucson area and want them, drop me a PM. We can meet at the Starbucks in Oro Valley to make the transfer.

I believe there are still two (2) conventional incandescent lamps in the house. They are in a ceiling fan in the garage where I work on our bicycles. The remote controlled fan lighting circuit does not work well with CFL's or LED's and I am not planning to replace the fan.

[NYlakesider]

"CFL"S We were sold a bill of goods on this bulb!" Quote from OP.

Yes, that is getting to be S.O.P. for certain parties.

Will not say more as I do not want to get into trouble.

[RonJ]

I use CFL's selectively around the house. The one in our dusk to dawn light has been going for nine years. The porch light has been doing it's job for about 5 years. We've had the least luck with the ones in the toilet for some reason.
I use incandescents in the living room because our lamps are on dimmers.

[kwselke]

Originally Posted by RonJ

I use CFL's selectively around the house. The one in our dusk to dawn light has been going for nine years. The porch light has been doing it's job for about 5 years. We've had the least luck with the ones in the toilet for some reason.
I use incandescents in the living room because our lamps are on dimmers.

I've had problems with CFLs in my bathroom also. I figured it was from the steam and humidity from hot showers. The other place I use incandescent bulbs is in my range hood. I figured the heat and hot exhaust from the vent were aging the CFLs prematurely. I also have an incandescent bulb in the light fixture at the base of my stairs and a slow starting CFL in the fixture at the top of the stairs. Try coming up those stairs in the dark, I'll flip the switch at the top and have a full second to get on target before the light at the top comes on.

[LVSteve]

I would use more CFLs but I wander around the house in the dark regardless of bulb type. I have them in the outside fixtures I'm required to have on by my association and I use them in the main family room because they put less heat in the room than an incandescent. That is a consideration here in Las Vegas.

Chattanooga mentioned bathroom lights, and they are a game. When my wife and I first moved into this house the multi fixtures in the bathrooms were populated by 60 W clear bulbs. The master bath had twelve of the darned things. I got sunburn just brushing my teeth. I replaced them with 40W pearl lights and the room was still fit for interrogations. Since my wife passed I have allowed bulbs to die to get the illumination down below supernova bright.

[2152hq]

I've got a lot of the curly-que bulbs inside and out. They last years. Some have been up and running for 10+ years.
I don't like bright lights ,,I used to put 25W and 40W incandescents in stuff anyway,,no brighter than that. So the cfls are fine with me. I'm a sunglasses on a cloudy day kind of guy.

The cfl's are a little slow and dim at first outside in the cold but they come on OK after a bit. I'm not out there in the 4 degree weather to inspected the lumins anyway, so what do I care.
I use florescent in the shop lights, always have.
I still keep a 75w incandescent in a cheap single fixture draftsman light in each shop that I can use for heat to make epoxy bedding material kick over and harden quicker if needed. They're good for that.

What I didn't care for was changing dead incandescent bulbs in outside fixtures every couple of weeks or so. They didn't hold up at all no matter what I used.

[madbuyer]

Originally Posted by Forester

going to almost all LED in the house. Much better light and lasts nearly forever. Another example of the free market fixing what the government should have just stayed out of.

Until we get hit by the EMP from the sun....then all electronics are junk unless you build a faraday cage to protect them.

[FishingPilot]

We started buying these for our outside lights because I get tired of changing them (pain to get the ladder out and remove the globes and change the bulbs). In the past two years we have had 3 start smoking and burn holes through the ceramic portion at the base. I just don't trust them inside my house.

[rwsmith]

Some used to claim to work with dimmers (I have 3 in my house). I've had such a horrible experience with CFLs that I haven't dared try them in my dimmers. Anybody have anything to say??

[TucsonMTB]

Originally Posted by rwsmith

Some used to claim to work with dimmers (I have 3 in my house). I've had such a horrible experience with CFLs that I haven't dared try them in my dimmers. Anybody have anything to say??

Some are marked as working with dimmers, but the amount of power they need is so small that it is hard to get them to dim with any of dimmers we have used.

Some of the newer dimmers claim to work better with CFL's and LED's, but we have not tried them with CFL's.

I can only tell you that the newer dimmers we have work well with LED's, unless you have several on the circuit. With more than about three in the circuit, we have experienced an annoying high pitched whine from the lamps themselves.

[Comrad]

LED bulbs are the way to go.

[Peter M. Eick]

CFL's are fine if you use them right. That said I hate them, but I do use them.

Don't let them get hot.
Don't turn them on and off a lot
Don't put them upside down
Don't subject them to vibration
Don't put them on a dimmer.

Those are the key points. Used properly, they will go for years, many years which is why I hate them. Some old ones are so dim I should just toss them but they work so why waste money.

[the ringo kid]

If al gore is making money off them? thats all I need to not buy them. Ill use candles instead if I have to?

[photobiker]

I'm with Ron. The earlier ones we got didn't last very long, maybe a year. We have a few lamps on timers around the house that have CFL bulbs to give the house a little light. I'm a seasonal guy. In the winter give me the incandescent bulbs for light and heat. In the summer I'll switch a few of the incandescent bulbs out for those squirrely duddle things. The problem we have is we don't stay in a room long enough for those things to heat up and make light and when we do we are generally reading and we both need all the light we can get these days, you know that older thing. Waiting for a reasonable price to get a few of LED bulbs to try. My incandescent bulb collection will get me through the rest of my life. I do have a nice collection of red, yellow and green LED lights but they don't seem to really work well in the home environment .

[therevjay]

Originally Posted by kudzu3

They are junk! So are politicians. (can I say that?)

They lied to us? No! your kidding!

[millisec]

CFL's are like anything else... buy junk get junk. I usually buy the soft white, instant on and have not really had a problem. Now at one point I bought some cheap, no name, ones at Walmart and they were total ****. Bad yellow color and burned out as fast as incandescents. In my old work room I used 4 100w eq CFL's in soft white and they are better than the halogen light I used to use (they lasted about 3 years). I just recently got a new house and so far I have been going the LED route at least in places were 60w eq works well. Still pricey but since the price dropped to within reason ($8.99 at one point at lowes for utilitech 60w eq). I really like the bright clean white light and they only suck 9w and put out 800 lumens. Life expectancy is 22.8 years at 3hrs a day. Now if the rest follow with big price drops it will be good. Top on my list is putting LED's in 14 halogen cans I have.

[sonora]

CFLS are on the way out. LEDs are here and will be the future. Sonora

[S&WIowegan]

I agree that a lot of the CFLs were/are junk. Our house is full of spotlight cans on both floors which generate hellish amounts of heat. So I replaced burnouts with CFLs which were claimed to last 7 yrs. I soon noticed that was bogus so I date each one when I install. Some have lasted beyond 7 yrs. but I haven't bothered to calculate an average life.

My wife desperately needed a totally new kitchen which was full of spot light cans. We tore them all out and put in new cans and LED lights. They're great and all the switches have dimmers. My old eyes like lots of light.

The biggest problem with greenies is they often get suckered into thinking some new product will save the world. They go all out to get federal mandates only to find out later....never mind.

I confess I'd love to see a horde of fanatical greenies lay siege to Dick Burg's home. Fortunately they wouldn't dare burn him out....air pollution and global warming don't you know. I can see Dick standing on his porch giving them a good dose of his 'tude!

[kwselke]

Originally Posted by S&WIowegan

My wife desperately needed a totally new kitchen which was full of spot light cans. We tore them all out and put in new cans and LED lights. They're great and all the switches have dimmers. My old eyes like lots of light.

The biggest problem with greenies is they often get suckered into thinking some new product will save the world.

I see CFLs make one a greenie and LED are old school. Right.

[dcxplant]

CFL's leak UV radiation also, some of them pretty badly. Skin damage has been reported.

I'm slowly going all LED. Expensive, but they are bright, long-lasting, use a thimble-full of electricity.

What I like best about LED's is that they are really cool to run also. When you live in Phoenix, every bit helps to keep the heat down during the summer.

[Coldshooter]

Home Depot sells an LED by CREE an American made emitter which is better than any CFL I have ever seen. For exterior lighting Lithonia makes fixtures with CREE and CrEE has some area lighting. US made extremely good quality not cheap but the electrical savings will pay for the difference. I replaced a Mercury Vapor fixture with a $300 LED and save $25 per month with our electric costs.

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Originally Posted by FishingPilot

In the past two years we have had 3 start smoking and burn holes through the ceramic portion at the base. I just don't trust them inside my house.

Same here. I have had four do the same thing. One popped real loud and a hole burned through on the side of the ceramic base and then started smoking pretty bad. It took us an hour to air out the living room. If we hadn't been home the smoke would have probably killed our dog.

The package usually says how they can be mounted. Some can not be mounted upside down or horizontal...read the package.

Here is what one Texas Congressman had to say about these Chinese bulbs:

Important information about energy saver light bulbs - YouTube

[Fishslayer]

Originally Posted by kwselke

I see CFLs make one a greenie and LED are old school. Right.

Not necessarily. Intent is key here.

If you buy a Prius to save money on gas you're not necessarily a "Greenie." If you trade straight up for your '69 Goat believing you are saving the planet, you're probably a Greenie and, possibly, eligible for a "special needs" discount.

Preferring LED to CFL could mean...

You appreciate a superior technology.
You prefer a quality light.

As mentioned, I have a crateload of CFLs the wife acquired for nearly nothing. I intend to use those up in applications not requiring good light because I'm a cheap bastich. Given a choice of incandescent or LED I'll take the LED for the same reason.

[goldenlight]

I have had a few CFL's fail on me, but I still have some that are 15 years old, or more. The first ones I bought.

In general I like them, especially when I buy 8 HONEST 60 watt equivalent (800 lumen) for $6.88 plus tax. None of them have failed yet.

I think LED bulbs are a waste of money, at their current prices. Eight dollars EACH. I don't think so. I will be using CFL's, until the price on LED bulbs comes down quite a bit.

The amount of mercury in a CFL is a few milligrams.

[Old TexMex]

Kerosene is getting harder to find, wicks are about out of the question. I'd say my drum of white gas and two yards of wicking will last MY life out, but what about my daughter...I hope she finds a practical man...

[blujax01]

Like anything else, you have to do your research.

Yes, the ones in the clearance aisle at Wal Mart ($4.95 for 8) are junk. They're pale white, take forever to come up to full brilliance, and burn out prematurely. Gee - surprise, surprise...

And they're not going to irradiate anyone. The technology is no different from the long tube fluorescents that have been hanging in your basements and garages for the past 50 years. Ballasts and sealed tubes exciting an inert gas, only on a smaller scale.

You can learn to think in "Lumens" instead of "Watts". Learn the differences in "Color Value" and their typical applications.

Or you can sit in the darkness and curse the light...

[Texas40]

The are junk. I dislike the light hue. They are not as bright as a good old incandescent bulb.
I buy a few boxes of the regular old bulbs each time we hit the store for supplies. I plan to stock up on them just like ammo.

[wheelgun28]

Yeah more government regulation!!

What can we regulate next?

A simple item that works, replaced with a complex expensive thing that doesn't. All for no real reason just feel good nonsense!

Big government at its finest.

[Jessie]

For the most part they're overpriced junk. Although, I have a couple of them that start bright ( unusual ) and have lasted for a few years now. There are several different types with a couple being ok but most not. Slow to warm up and produce brighter light, short lasting and expensive. I'm trying some very high dollar LEDs now and expect to get more longevity from them, well see.

[bgrafsr]

Originally Posted by RonJ

We've had the least luck with the ones in the toilet for some reason.

Well of course they won't work in the toilet. They aren't waterproof you know.

[Jessie]

Originally Posted by bgrafsr

Well of course they won't work in the toilet. They aren't waterproof you know.

Nice catch...lol

[smutt]

CFL's are going the way of the Dodo bird. They've already been replaced for sale by LED bulbs at Costco.

[rwsmith]

I posted this on another thread, but it seemed to fit here as another example of another government boondoggle that was forced on us.... 'Green toilets".


When we built a new lab/office building we were required to use the new '1 gal/flush' toilets. To make a long story short they didn't work, always plugged up. Plumbers were in the bathrooms constantly. One time I took a trip to the head and noticed a gang of workmen standing around outside the door. I started to go in and one of them said, "You don't want to go in there, pardner, there's **** all over the walls in there." It turns out that they had tried to use a compressed air lance to unclog the lines and it backfired with predictable results.

Some month's later they were pulled out and replaced with 'real' toilets.

[LoboGunLeather]

I finished building my house in May, 1999. One of the last things done was installing light bulbs in all the ceiling lights, etc. Almost 15 years later now, and I have replaced quite a few light bulbs over the years, but I am amazed that quite a few of the originals continue functioning and have never been changed.

I bought two new desk lamps for the office about 3 years ago. Each came with CFL bulbs. Both have required new bulbs at least once per year since. So, I'm not buying into the "CFL bulbs last longer" argument.

As for being less expensive to operate, I haven't noticed any reductions in my home or shop bills. In fact, they continue to go up every year as higher rates are applied.

If and when a change to new technologies (CFL, LED, etc) results in an measurable reduction in power consumption I am willing to be that public utilities companies will be pressing for, and getting, increases in rates and minimum charges to offset any possible loss in operating revenues for them, thus offsetting any possible savings for customers.

Assuming the federal law mandating the end of the incandescent light is successful, then I will expect lobbyists for LED manufacturers to be pouring campaign donations into politicians' hands in return for sponsoring legislation outlawing those dangerous, mercury contaminated CFL bulbs and requiring everyone to use the modern, environmentally friendly, and safe LED bulbs (that only cost a little bit more, you know, so it's really for the good of the people).

[blujax01]

Originally Posted by LoboGunLeather

...
As for being less expensive to operate, I haven't noticed any reductions in my home or shop bills. In fact, they continue to go up every year as higher rates are applied.

....

(1) You are saving power in consumption. We have been conditioned to think of light output as "watts" when that is actually the power the bulb consumes. Light output is measured in "lumens."

The 60 watt incandescent bulb consumes 60 watts of electricity in order to emit 800 lumens of light.

An equivalent CFL consumes 13 watts of electricity and emits 900 lumens of light.

75 watt incandescent puts out 1180 lumens. A 20 watt CFL, 1200 Lumens.

So an incandescent bulb uses 4 times the electricity to put out the same amount of light as the equivalent CFL.

Sorry - I'm sure the whale oil guys had just as hard a time changing over from "inches per night" to watts.

[nawilson]

I just resent being forced into getting either CFL or LED bulbs. If they're really as great as we're being told, then why force them on us? If they really will last longer, use less electricity, and save me money (until the rates go up to compensate for lost revenue... most power companies are guaranteed to make a profit), then we consumers should choose them on our own without governmental help. Kind of like we did when we chose electric lights over whale oil...