Got a CFL?

[monsoon]

Here is a surprising and welcomed write up on how Walmart will make CFLs, compact florescent lights, available to their customers. It is nice to see them do this and a great technology to reduce energy and resource usage to light our homes.

Have you folks converted at least some of your lights to CFL technology?

[runawayjim]

Here is a surprising and welcomed write up on how Walmart will make CFLs, compact florescent lights, available to their customers. It is nice to see them do this and a great technology to reduce energy and resource usage to light our homes.

Have you folks converted at least some of your lights to CFL technology?

my crazy landlady pays the electric bill... all the lights are standard florescent... the circular ones. it sucks. i'd rather standard lights with CF bulbs than these things.

my mom's house has been almost entirely converted to CF bulbs though (the only exceptions are those on timers that won't work with CF).

[Mith242]

I haven't converted over yet but I've been hearing a lot of good things and as soon as my current supply of regular bulbs runs out I plan on buying some CFLs. I was curious though doesn't Wal-mart already carry these? Maybe I'm thinking of another retailer but I believe I've seen these out in my area for years.

[runawayjim]

I haven't converted over yet but I've been hearing a lot of good things and as soon as my current supply of regular bulbs runs out I plan on buying some CFLs. I was curious though doesn't Wal-mart already carry these? Maybe I'm thinking of another retailer but I believe I've seen these out in my area for years.

they have carried them for quite some time or at least as long as they've been fairly common. you can get them really cheap at walgreens in the northeast, although i imagine they're cheap at walmart too.

[monsoon]

I have been slowly converting my home over as well. They work particularly well in table lamps. I've also found they are a nice way to deal with situations where you have to otherwise buy special lightbulbs in harsh environments like a garage door opener where the vibration puts out a normal incadescent in a few days. The CFL works here too and uses a lot less energy.

[runawayjim]

I have been slowly converting my home over as well. They work particularly well in table lamps. I've also found they are a nice way to deal with situations where you have to otherwise buy special lightbulbs in harsh environments like a garage door opener where the vibration puts out a normal incadescent in a few days. The CFL works here too and uses a lot less energy.

my mother has them in all her ceiling lights in bedrooms, ceiling fans, most lamps, and even in the light above the front door which is on for a few hours everyday. they even make them in that yellow bug light color so that they don't attract as many moths and flies, so she uses that in the summer (white in teh winter because it's brighter and there's no bugs).

i have one in my apartment that the landlady supplied, but i almost never use that light because it's not on a regular switch (you have to turn the knob on the light and it's on a stairway, so i rarely use it except when cleaning the stairway). the only other lamps i have are 3 ways and they don't make a CF 3 way.

[jfmecca]

I've been gradually swithing over to CFs for the past year as my incandescents burn out. I have them in most of my ceiling fixtures and the table lamps in the bedroom.

My only complaint is that the 3-way bulbs I found for the living room floor lamp are too tall to fit between the socket and the lampshade.

[runawayjim]

I've been gradually swithing over to CFs for the past year as my incandescents burn out. I have them in most of my ceiling fixtures and the table lamps in the bedroom.

My only complaint is that the 3-way bulbs I found for the living room floor lamp are too tall to fit between the socket and the lampshade.

they make CF 3 ways?

[jfmecca]

they make CF 3 ways?

Yeah, I've seen them at Lowes and a few grocery stores. They're HUGE though.

[monsoon]

It should be noted that Australia has essentially banned he sale of incadescent light bulbs in favor of CFLs. They expect the energy savings will significantly reduce the amount of green house gases being dumped into the air by that country.

[runawayjim]

It should be noted that Australia has essentially banned he sale of incadescent light bulbs in favor of CFLs. They expect the energy savings will significantly reduce the amount of green house gases being dumped into the air by that country.

[sfmartin]

They did mention that there would be exceptions (particularly for medical applications), but I suspect that procuring them after 2010 will be quite the challenge for all but the very determined.

[thewack]

Every single light bulb in my apt is a CFL. I gave the incandescents to my landlord, and then told him about CFLs for the lobby. The other week I noticed one in the lobby. It's a good start and one of many ways to cut greenhouse gasses.

[JDC]

I noticed a bulb went out in the lobby in my building. I secretly hoped they'd replace it with a CFL - AND THEY DID! One of the first things I did when I bought my place is replace all the incandescents with CFLs. My mom doesn't know it but I'm going to show up one day with a dozen CFLs and covertly switch hers.

[monsoon]

They use significantly less energy. I just replaced my dinette area light with a ceiling fan and in the process I got rid of the 4 60w incandescents and replaced them with 4 CFLS. All 4 of the CFLs use less energy than just one of the old bulbs and they don't throw so much heat into the room which is an issue when you run air conditioning.

[sfmartin]

Ok, so now CFLs are old news! I knew that LEDs were even more efficient, they just weren't as readily available - it looks like that may be changing according to a press release from a Phillip's partner company. They state a 90% reduction in energy usage over an incandescent bulb. They don't look cheap though at 22+ Euro for 4 bulbs.

Press release

[Captain Worley]

I converted to CFLs for the light in the basement that stays on all the time about five years ago. Recently, I picked up a four pack of them and I've replaced my den's table lamp with one. It took a while to get used to not having the 'instant on' of an incandescent, but it is really no big deal. I have noticed that the light is a little more greenish, which is odd because most flourescents look blue or red to me.

I'll use the other three and se how I like them overall. I don't know how much of a difference I'l see in my power bill.

I am intersted in the LEDs, but I'm waiting til the price comes down.

[Snowguy716]

I use them in all my lights except one lamp that I turn on in the evenings, just because it has a softer, yellower glow. You can easily get lampshades to remedy that, though. Otherwise, they're great.

[dtown]

an very uncomfortable flickering when bulbs are not warmed up

[tamias6]

I have some florescent bulbs in some of the rooms in my home. I never have had trouble with them other than a slightly dull appearance to colors. If your fixtures feature covers, try replacing the covers that filter through warm colors to compensate for the cool temperature of a florescent bulbs. Also try to spend extra money on higher quality bulbs and if possible spend some extra money on higher quality fixtures as better bulbs last longer and have better temperature while a high quality fixture features better transformers which means less flickering. If the flickering is really bad though chances are you have a bulb that's dying and needs replacement or its not ceded into the fixture right. The tube style bulbs are very troublesome if not affixed to the fixture just right. In that case keep fiddling with the bulb until the flickering stops.

[sfmartin]

... and they pose some pretty bad environmental issues. So why is no one else getting upset over this?

[Captain Worley]

What would those be? I ask w/ all sincerity as I have only ever heard of the environmental benefits of CFLs.

[nashvillwill]

i have converted my entire house to CFL's and i love it! honestly, the colors don't bother me. and i have noticed a decent reduction in my power bill. my local home depot has dozens of different kinds. i bought an "sunshine color" bulb for my walk-in closet which really helps me see the colors of clothes and such compared to an incadesant. the only bulb in my entire place i haven't replaced is the on inside my refrigerator. i tried one in the fridge but decided that the warm up time is too long for the fridge when i need the light on demand.

more importantly it makes me feel good to know that i am using less power than i used to.

edit: by the way, i made the switch 13 months ago, and not one bulb has failed yet!

[Spartan]

They use significantly less energy. I just replaced my dinette area light with a ceiling fan and in the process I got rid of the 4 60w incandescents and replaced them with 4 CFLS. All 4 of the CFLs use less energy than just one of the old bulbs and they don't throw so much heat into the room which is an issue when you run air conditioning.

[nowensone]

I've heard that they have mercury in them and would increase mercury levels in landfills. I'm pretty sure that's what the reference is. I'm not positive that this is true. Does anyone know?

Edit: Just found this link.

http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/ca-htm/htmfact2.html