Compact Flourescent Bulbs - WTH?

[Neal_J]

So earlier this year my kids bugged me into installing compact flourecent bulbs in our house.  I hate the wimpy light and refused to use them anywhere I spend significant time.  One of the few areas we installed them is up in our attic.  We have 8 bulbs on a single circuit and our attic is accessed maybe once a week for an hour or so at a time.  I went up there last month and noticed that one bulb had already died.  I went up there last night and notice another bulb is now kaput.  Dammit & WTH?

I was under the impression that they were supposed to last considerably longer than incandescent bulb thus jusifying the higher cost but my experience has not borne this out.  What's anyone else's experiences with these bulbs?

Please avoid the understandably strong temptation to take this thread in a political direction, which is not my intention.  Plus, no one wants to hear you rant.  Thanks.

Discuss.  

[captnsim]

Yup, those are not all they are cracked up to be. I replaced all my incandescent bulbs last year...not one flourecent left now. They all burned out. Waste of money and a pain to dispose off.

[Todd Wilson]

I've had them thru out my house now at least 5-6 years and love them. I have only had maybe 3 go bad in all this time.  I did have trouble with the Walmart 2 paks acting up.   I found a brand at Home Depot. Come in 6 paks with various wattage and light   either in green,red or blue type packaging and have had great luck with them. Called N:VISION  and they seem to be doing well. 9 year warranty. Depending on your lighting needs you get the wattage and light type you want.


You might try and turn them a tad in the sockets and see if they come on. I have had one not come on and it just needs to be snugged up a little bit.


Todd

[Neal_J]

I fiddled with them a bit but they were dead, Jim.

Moreover, someone at work mentioned to me today that incandescent flourescent bulbs are being phased-out.  Sure enough, ti's true:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs#United_States

I hope I just got a bad batch but I'm concerned.

[hemigeno]

Most fluorescent bulbs (at least the incandescent screw-in replacements) do not fare well in low temperature environments.  I wanted to replace some exterior incandescents that stay on a lot and end up burning out regularly, and could not find a low-temp fluorescent replacement.

[471_Magnum]

I've quite literally been to school on fluorescent lighting this past year, mostly focusing on industrial lighting, but I got a taste of everything.

Long story short, you get what you pay for. Stick with name brands. There is a lot more that can go wrong with a fluorescent (namely the ballast), and a lot of the discount store stuff is sub-standard quality.

CFLs (or fluorescents in general) are not recommended for low temperature applications, although they will do okay in enclosed fixtures with long, continuous burn hours. It's the warm-up time that is the shortfall. It can take several minutes or more for them to reach full brightness. Once they are heated-up, they do fine in the cold.

And the dimmable ones only dim about 50%, with no significant energy savings. Most people will be disappointed with them.

Neal_J, you need to rephrase your response. You got it backwards.

[twodko]

Incandescent bulbs are being phased out not florescent bulbs. The ballasts in the bases of florescent bulbs have gotten much better. Buy name brand UL listed bulbs. Homey D, Lowes etc carries CFL's in different color temperatures like regular indoor light (orangish) up to bright daylight (blueish) bulbs.

Tom

[bull]

We have a bunch of GE flourescent bulbs and they've been pretty good. The best part about them is they go on sale once in a while at Lowe's for around $12 per pack of 7, and although we've purchased three packs we've only gone through about 9 bulbs replacing incandescent burnouts with them. These are pretty good with a nice, normal looking yellow light but my wife used to buy some other off brand that was a bluish white and I hated them. Fortunately they didn't last very long. Plus you'd turn them on and it would take a couple seconds for them to illuminate so I couldn't just hit the switch in stride and light up a dark room instantly like usual without nearly running into something. The GE bulbs act just like the incandescent bulbs but use less energy, and they last a long time too.

[Silver R/T]

you have to make sure you use one rated for that specific fixture, ie you have to make sure it's rated for 65W (it will only be like 13W or something like that)

[maxwellwedge]

I've quite literally been to school on fluorescent lighting this past year, mostly focusing on industrial lighting, but I got a taste of everything.

Long story short, you get what you pay for. Stick with name brands. There is a lot more that can go wrong with a fluorescent (namely the ballast), and a lot of the discount store stuff is sub-standard quality.

CFLs (or fluorescents in general) are not recommended for low temperature applications, although they will do okay in enclosed fixtures with long, continuous burn hours. It's the warm-up time that is the shortfall. It can take several minutes or more for them to reach full brightness. Once they are heated-up, they do fine in the cold.

And the dimmable ones only dim about 50%, with no significant energy savings. Most people will be disappointed with them.

Neal_J, you need to rephrase your response. You got it backwards.

Nicely said.
I am in the lighting business and I still have mostly low-voltage halogens in my house...just don't like those little buggers 
I guess if our electricity costs double I'll have to think about it. In really cold temps they may eventually light up but will never reach 100% output - not the screw-in stuff anyway. Proper disposal is key as well. The cheaper the lamp (China), the higher the mercury and other crap inside.

[Todd Wilson]

Most fluorescent bulbs (at least the incandescent screw-in replacements) do not fare well in low temperature environments.  I wanted to replace some exterior incandescents that stay on a lot and end up burning out regularly, and could not find a low-temp fluorescent replacement.

I have a bulb in my front and back door lights and they work fine. Have for years.  They are a little dim at start up when its cold but brighten right up. They are in sealed housings and not exposed to wet weather at all.


Todd

[c00nhunterjoe]

i love mine, they work great, go tthem in everything except the dining room chandelire.  only downfall is when its cold out they are noticably dimmer unitl they warm up but even below freezing its onyl about 45 seconds

[maxwellwedge]

I'm in Canada - We have seven months of Winter and 5 months of bad skiing! 

[Neal_J]

Most fluorescent bulbs (at least the incandescent screw-in replacements) do not fare well in low temperature environments.

Guys, I'm in Northern California near San Francisco.  Most of the time it's 50-70 degrees here in our insulated attic.  So the CFL's are underperforming because of frigid tempreatures.

[Todd Wilson]

Most fluorescent bulbs (at least the incandescent screw-in replacements) do not fare well in low temperature environments.

Guys, I'm in Northern California near San Francisco.  Most of the time it's 50-70 degrees here in our insulated attic.  So the CFL's are underperforming because of frigid tempreatures.

Like whats his name said about the discount stores having lesser bulbs I would agree with due to my experience. I went thru a few packs of Wal Mart 2 paks and thought they were junk bulbs. In the mean time I had purchased the Nvisions at Home Depot as they were on sale and a 6pak and I needed 5 for a ceiling fan light combo. The walmart specials all lasted a few months and the Nvisions kept going so I would go buy some more of them until I got the house converted.   I used to have a 40watt bulb I bought back in like 1990 or there abouts. Ran it in my garage/shop all the time. Just enough light to see what was going on at night as the house and shop and garage were all attached. Always nice to be able to look out the window and make sure no one was prowling around. I bought a house in 1998 and took the bulb with me it. It ran here for probably 6-7 more years when I took it out to use the socket for something else. I never did use it again because the base I thought was rather hot and didnt want to run a fire risk. It was old as old can be.


Todd

[captnsim]

Hmmm...Seems I remember getting mine at Wal-Mart. I'll have to give a pak from Lowes or Home Depot a try.

[BrianShaughnessy]

I've gotten some crappy CF bulbs out of multi packs.   You get what you pay for.

The 3 way CF's don't seem to last for beans like the old crap.

It's like anything else when it's all made in china anymore... garbage.

[BigRed66]

A thousand dollars to the first person who finds some of these Government-endorsed (need I say more??) bulbs NOT made in China....tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...You'll never cash in, because ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of them are made in China.

When the government wants you to call a HazMat team if one of them breaks, you oughta know something's amiss.

I refuse to buy them. I still buy regular old bulbs, and when possible, and where applicable, use American-made LEDs for lighting. They're more energy-efficient, last longer, and are more cost-efficient. But, Uncle Siam (the entity formerly known as Sam) doesn't/won't tell you that because he's so indebted to the polluted nation of low wages, female infanticide, and high profit margins.

If we continue to buy imports, where will our children work?

[Todd Wilson]

If we continue to buy imports, where will our children work?

Wal Mart!



Todd

[Charger RT]

I hate China mart But have been using CFL even before they were compact. I had my house using them 20 years ago. The new compact ones do fit a bit better then what I was using years ago and back then they were 20 bucks each. I did find they do not work well in bathrooms. that is the only place I do not have them. I even have one in my droplight out in the garage (2 years now). I firgured when the bulb burned out it was like a 15 year old bulb and I didn't have any regular bulbs in the house.
Tim

[captnsim]

I don't think I'll be using these in my drop lights ever.

For some reason I don't relish the thought of a mercury facial.     

[Tilar]

A thousand dollars to the first person who finds some of these Government-endorsed (need I say more??) bulbs NOT made in China....tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...You'll never cash in, because ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of them are made in China.

Why do you think they are phasing out the old fashioned bulbs? Because nobody will buy their junk otherwise and we have to pay them something on their loans.

[SeattleCharger]

 Bought the 4 pack of 60 watts for $1.89 at Home Depot, yup, no rebate crap, etc. that was the price.
    50 cents each, used em about a year, no burnouts,  I bought five more packs at that price.
  they are dimmer though, but I like leaving a few lights on, so I am saving a lot of wattage throughout house.
  A couple bulbs I have reg. ones, in garage shop, and above bathroom sink, the old style are brighter, that's for sure.