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It seems like the CFL's don't put out nearly the light of incandescent's, somewhat defeating the purpose, even if they do save money. One could also use candles and save a ton.
The 'new' LED's provide more light, and cost less to run, but, cost an arm and a leg, however, they are supposed to last forever. We'll see. We're going this way.
There are different shades of CFL's...get the ones that say daylight on the box and they do put out enough light.
The LED's that I bought have a more limited angle of light than the CFL's or incandescents. So they are useful for things like the bathroom vanity lights or ceiling fixtures, but less useful for outdoor lighting or for lamps. I didn't realize they would be like that until I had already bought a dozen, when there was a good coupon that made them less than two dollars a bulb.
I wonder about this. When I first started buying LEDs I hated them. Then I discovered the impact of color temperature - 2700K @ 1200 lumens is much nicer in our home than 5000K @ 1200 lumens. Same amount of light - just nicer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom
There are different shades of CFL's...get the ones that say daylight on the box and they do put out enough light.
Hmmm... no offense but that's what I alluded to above as an error I made when I first started buying LEDs. The term "daylight" when associated with light bulbs generally refers to a color temperature, i.e., typically 5000K or 6500K. Those are the bulbs that Jasper said he hated, I suspect, due to their harshness. If your concern is a bulb that puts out enough light, you really do have to rely on the number of lumens to indicate that.
When you transitioned from incandescent bulbs to CFLs, did you do it all at once, or did you let the incandescents burn out before replacing them?
When I moved into my current place I replaced all of the bulbs that would typically be on for more than a few minutes at a time to CFL bulbs.
Fortunately I kept all the incandescent bulbs so that I could change them back when the CFLs started dropping like flies within a few months. The first time a full package's worth burned out (4, I think) I took them back and exchanged them. After that it just didn't seem worthwhile.
I've always thought that LED would be the way to go, but I wasn't willing to pay $5+ a bulb to find out. Recently a nearby Big Box home improvement store had them for $4 for a box of two, regular price (I think they were even a name-brand bulb), so I bought a box to try them out. The light quality is much better than any CFL I've tried, and there's no wait for them to warm up to fully light the room. Plus they use less energy, don't create toxic waste, and come on at full power as soon as you flick the switch
. I don't see any reason to go back.
Last edited by duster1979; 11-24-2015 at 10:51 AM..
Before the old bulbs were 'all but' taken off the market, I went out stocked up on a virtual lifetime supply of the excellent 'Reveal' bulbs.
Unbeknownst to me, my husband was out doing the exact same thing on the same day!
We are both older, enjoy reading, and can definitely tell the difference in quality of the lighting.
So now, one of these days, when the good old bulbs are illegal --and those of my generation who prefer the quality of light from them -- are in distress, you'll see me on some disreputable streetcorner going "Psst. Yeah, you. I can make you a deal. I got 40 and 60 watt. I got 75 watt. I can even turn you on to a 100 watt Reveal in the original box"
I have stocked up on a lifetime supply of incandescent light bulbs for myself and I also have a lifetime supply for my children. Everyone should just say NO to toxic mercury CFL bulbs.
When I moved into my current place I replaced all of the bulbs that would typically be on for more than a few minutes at a time to CFL bulbs.
Fortunately I kept all the incandescent bulbs so that I could change them back when the CFLs started dropping like flies within a few months. The first time a full package's worth burned out (4, I think) I took them back and exchanged them. After that it just didn't seem worthwhile.
I've always thought that LED would be the way to go, but I wasn't willing to pay $5+ a bulb to find out. Recently a nearby Big Box home improvement store had them for $4 for a box of two, regular price (I think they were even a name-brand bulb), so I bought a box to try them out. The light quality is much better than any CFL I've tried, and there's no wait for them to warm up to fully light the room. Plus they use less energy, don't create toxic waste, and come on at full power as soon as you flick the switch
. I don't see any reason to go back.
Why did your new CFLs burn out so quickly? Those are supposed to have more longevity than their incandescent predecessors.
Why did your new CFLs burn out so quickly? Those are supposed to have more longevity than their incandescent predecessors.
I have no idea. At first I thought it might have just been a bad batch since I bought them all at the same time, but wince some were 60 watt equivalents and some were 100 that doesn't seem likely.
Mostly all at once, which reduced my light bill by about $20 a month. I still retain incandescent for a couple of reading lamps. I live in an otherwise darkish apartment, and I leave a couple of lights on all the time, and two more about 18 hours a day. One of my CFLs has been on continuously for about five years. I get at least two-to-four years out of the others, but I've had a couple of duds that burned out quickly. Sylvania promptly mailed me a generous coupon for the ones I complained about.
In the short time we had CFLs, roughly 2007 to 2013, I found them to have a shorter lifespan than billed. With a promise of 8 year longevity, every CFL we bought should still be working today, but we regularly had to find a safe way to discard the CFLs that died every couple of months.
In the short time we had CFLs, roughly 2007 to 2013, I found them to have a shorter lifespan than billed. With a promise of 8 year longevity, every CFL we bought should still be working today, but we regularly had to find a safe way to discard the CFLs that died every couple of months.
The few we did buy in the early days of CFL's mostly didn't live up to their billing. We used one in the unfinished part of the basement and left it on 24/7 basically. There were like 10 ceiling bulbs down there and many times we'd get on the treadmill and watch TV or run down to fetch something and didn't want to always be turning on 10 lights (all on one switch), so we put a small floor lamp with the CFL down there and that was enough light for most purposes. That bulb must have lasted at least 3 or 4 years.....a good long time considering the number of hours (24/7/365) it was on.
We used one or two others where we switched them on and off quite often, and those disappointed us 100% of the time. You'd get a year out of them....maybe, and they weren't on all that many hours total, but switched on and off quite a lot. We tried using a few CFL's outside and that didn't work well either. CFL's take a while to come to full brightness and the colder it is (we're in Minnesota), the longer it takes. When it's below zero, it could take them 10 minutes to be bright enough to even be useful....lol. We found we were leaving the outside lights on for long periods of time because if you needed them on quickly, it wasn't working so we figured we ended up using more electricity than just leaving them with incandescent bulbs that actually work immediately when you turn them on....lol. We have LED's outside now and they work flawlessly AND save electricity.
So far, as I previously mentioned, we're very happy with the LED's we've installed over the past few years. Now that I think about it, we've never had a LED bulb burn out yet. I think I purchased the first few 5 or 6 years ago.
I got a whole bunch of free CFL's that I'm burning through: after that, I'll switch to whatever has more than 800 lumens.
I expect to burn through them within the next two to three years.
Despite an advertised life of 8-9 years, I started replacing them after only two years... and at four years, I've replaced almost every one in my house at least once... some twice.
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I have stocked up on a lifetime supply of incandescent light bulbs for myself and I also have a lifetime supply for my children. Everyone should just say NO to 
