It sounds like such a simple thing to do: buy some new light bulbs, screw them in, save the planet.
But a lot of people these days are finding the new compact fluorescent bulbs anything but simple. Consumers who are trying them say they sometimes fail to work, or wear out early. At best, people discover that using the bulbs requires learning a long list of dos and don’ts.
Take the case of Karen Zuercher and her husband, in San Francisco. Inspired by watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” they decided to swap out nearly every incandescent bulb in their home for energy-saving compact fluorescents. Instead of having a satisfying green moment, however, they wound up coping with a mess.
“Here’s my sad collection of bulbs that didn’t work,” Ms. Zuercher said the other day as she pulled a cardboard box containing defunct bulbs from her laundry shelf.
I don’t mind the fact they are expensive to purchase, they are fairly ugly, etc.. But what I do mind is the fact they do NOT put out the light they claim. Older folks who need bright light are beginning to stock up on regular lights and auxiliary lamps, just so they can see to read, sew, etc..
Grandmother in SC
We changed over our house about two and half years ago — replacing lights we used regularly straight away, and those that we didn’t use a lot as they burnt out. We have had to replace three or four our of about 40 bulbs that have been in over that time — there seems to be no rhyme or reason in that they weren’t the most used lights — so I presume it was manufacturing faults etc. However even allowing for that, we have saved heaps each month — far more than the bulbs cost.
But from our viewpoint the best thing is that in our main family room which (God bless the soul who designed it) has 19 40-watt bulbs, we have gone from changing what felt like a bulb every other night (it was probably one every two weeks — but it felt like a full time job) – to two in two years. The Joy is Immense!!!
PS — we might not have the really cheap bulbs here in New Zealand that you do in USA — our CFL cost about $3-$5 a bulb — compared to about 90 cents for the usual kind. That may mean we have more reliable ones.
Got my money back when I returned one of those fluorescent bulbs that was guaranteed for 5 years that burned out in two years…because I had saved and filed the receipt. Ha! Small victory.
Not only do all of the compact fluorescent bulbs I have tried put out less light than claimed and burn out far earlier than claimed, they are nearly impossible to dispose safely. Any fluorescent bulb contains mercury gas and the coating inside the tube may also be toxic. Just try to find a facility or company that will dispose of them so as not to pollute the very environment they purport to save. Lotsa luck. If you find such places, pleas post them here.
4, Home Depot in Canada and US have drop boxes at their service desks. I’m a senior and have been using CFLs since they were available. Light output is fine as long as you get the right levels 13 W CFL = 60 W incandescents. Failure rate? 5% if that. Have heart LEDs are on the horizon, once they get the problem of color temperature problem licked and the price drops from +$100. No environmental issues and they go almost forever. We buy our curley ones at the dollar stores for about $2 each
5%? I have more than that in my house alone! I’ve now taken to saving my sales receipt but — seriously? — Have you tried writing to the company to PROVE that the bulb you have burned out less than a year after purchase? after the third bulb, this is just plain ridiculous! And while they are now coming out with ‘day-light’ CFBs, the light quality is still yellow-ish, and dimmer, and some still won’t work below 40 degrees. Not to mention the size — I can’t use even the candle-base in my light fixtures due to the larger size than candelabra sized bulbs.
The main problem with CFBs is that incandescents are being phased out, so they are practically MANDATORY. With the disposal problems, communities are going to have to provide a safe way to dispose of these bulbs, as THOUSANDS are going to be thrown out in a day or week or month. While the mercury in ONE bulb may not be seen as a problem, just as one plastic bottle is not seen as a problem, after a time, it adds up!
Don’t get me wrong, I do use them all over the house, it’s just they are less than satisfactory.
JE
I have had several burn out early. Also had one break; it scares me to think of that mercury on the floor where children play. In the long run this may be a good and necessary transition; but looking at what a disaster ethanol gasoline blends are turning out to be; and the low flow toilets that don’t work; we should keep healthy level of sketicism for governmental decisions
If push came to shove ordinary lamps are more recyleable than any of the new ones containing mecury. I think the ecologists better take a closer look at this issue. The small positive aspect of this is the industry making money with these high priced devices.
Was at a coffee shop yesterday and my wife pointed out that all the bulbs were compact fluorescents but they had yellow paper lamp shades. It didn’t have that “sterile look”, at all. Quite the contrary, it was warm like a coffee shop should be.
#7 My premature failure rate is about 5% (as in first year) As for temperature, I have used these lights in outdoor fixtures and they worked fine at -30c (typical Canadian Prairie winter) after they have been on 5 minutes. Oh don’t put CFLs in motion detector fixtures, the SCR switch in the fixture may fail. Our church uses BIG CFLs in the lights, they are quite bright.
#11,
MOST also don’t work in fixtures with dimmer switches, although I understand they are coming out with some that do, but they are higher priced.
Yet another government imposed solution that wouldn’t stand a chance competing in a free market. Kind of like seeing how long NPR would exist without an open source of government funding or Ethanol without its government supplied thumb on the scale.
Generally, DON’T use a CFL in a dimmer circuit it can damage the electronics in the CFL. There are dimable versions, a bit more expensive. And there are candelabra bases and vibration resistant models for ceiling fans
[i]nd there are candelabra bases [/i]
However the BULBS themselves are about twice the size of candelabra bulbs, making them unusable for most fixtures that use these base-sized bulbs. In my house, I have eight fixtures that are enclosed or of limited space between the fixture and the glass shade, that these CFB’s will absolutely NOT fit, even with the right base size.
I was told that you should not use CFLs in places where you expect the lights to be on for < 10 minutes. Turning CFLs on and of repeatedly causes them to wear out quickly and the "start up" cost of a CFL is very high compared with turning on a traditional bulb. In our home, we use a mix of CFLs and regular lights. The laundry room and all closets have regular lights. The office and beadrooms have CFLs. I've had few problems with CFLs wearing out or not working. YBIC, Phil Snyder
My family began using CFL’s in the early 90’s. I’ve been well-pleased with them. My mom still has one in her lamp by her sofa that has been going since ’91.
We too began using CFLs in 1990 when I worked for Sylvania Lighting, and by 1997 had converted all our lights to CFLs. We have documented and found that savings achieved is about 15% of the electric bill. This corresponds to a national savings of about $15 per month or nearly $200 annually per American household. For us we documented our savings at nearly 230 kWHs per month ($18) or over $2,600 covering the last twelve years and replaced less than ten CFLs that have failed. We have moved five times since 1992 and each time we move I carefully pack up the CFLs and replace incandescent lights in the next house with our CFLs. I still have working some of the first electronic CFLs that Sylvania introduced in 1992.
We went onto build a solar home in 2001, and CFLs were essential to achieving a near zero energy home cost effectively. In fact, CFLs are essential to our solar electrification efforts in Africa. If we were using incandescent lamps, the solar lighting systems would be four times more expensive making it cost -prohibitive for rural electrification. As far as quality goes, we find the American products, (GE, Osram Sylvania) to have good quality – you get what you pay for. As far as available shapes and sizes it is amazing to see how many different shaped and compact decorative CFLs are available. Go to http://www.topbulb.com/find/decorative_cfl_lamps.asp
to see more types of decorative CFLs.
Like I said, Aldenjr, even with the right sized base, the candelabra
bulbs are still too big for my light fixtures — they just don’t fit!
And I’m glad you had good luck with your bulbs. Clearly, many of us here have different stories.