dave1949
Super Star Member
Congratulations on the job offer.
Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?
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Congratulations on the job offer.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
Sad end for last major GE light bulb plant | TribLIVE
200 GE workers lost their jobs in Winchester VA due to this.
200 GE workers lost their jobs in Winchester VA due to this.
dmccarty
Super Star Member
One day last week was light bulb changing day...
I replaced 13 CFLs in our recessed cans. That sounds like a lot but we have 85ish cans and I wait until a bunch of bulbs go out before I start replacing them. Because of the failure rate we were getting with the Lowes CFLs I have been writing the installation date on the bulbs to see how long they last. I also need to note which room had the bulb because some rooms are used more than other.
Last night I took the bulbs to Lowes to recycle them. What a PITA and a joke. They have a bin with a door that only allows you to drop ONE R40 or maybe two R30s or regular CFL bulb. First, you place the bulb(s) in a thin plastic bag, tie the bag shut and then put in the drawer that then DROPS the bulb into the bin.
:laughing: I only heard one bulb break. I guess the plastic bag keep in the mercury. Most of the bulbs I recycled were R30 or R40 so the breaking was mostly likely NOT the spiral bulb. A CFL R30/R40 is simple a glass enclosure around the CFL spiral bulb. If mercury was so bad, it seems using a metal container with a door that drops the bulb, might not be the best design...
The bulbs I replaced have burned out over the last few months but lets say the all burned out in 12/2013.
HD Bulbs:
When we built the house we bought R30 and R40 CFLs from HD and these bulbs have been VERY long lasting. I still have at least some R30's in a case that we bought in 2004.
I replaced three R30s and one R40 from HD last week. None of the bulbs have an installation date on them so I really do not know how long they have been in use but I would guess at least 4-6 years.
Lowes generic Bulbs:
I only had to replace three R40 bulbs from Lowes. I think these bulbs were from bedrooms so they do not get much use. I really wish I had written which room the bulbs had been installed. Anyway, The bulbs were installed on 2/9/2009, 2/9,2009 and 8/30/2009 so best case the bulbs lasted almost 3.5-4 years in a bedroom application which does not get much use. However, I won't complain about 3.5-4 years. This brand of bulbs are very problematic. Some of them like these lasted a fair amount of time but we have had others that have not worked right out of the package and many that burned out within a few months. We no longer buy these bulbs.
Last night I was in Lowes and just happened to walk down one of the lighting aisles where the recessed cans were on display. They had different R30 and R40 bulbs on that aisle that were much cheaper than the CFLs sold on the bulb aisle. However, the lifetime on the bulbs did not seem to be as long as the more expensive bulbs. I did not have time to compare the different bulbs by cost per rated hour. Maybe my next trip I will take a look.
GE Bulbs:
Five GE R40 bulbs were replaced that had been installed in 10/30/2010, 10/30/2010, 3/20/2011, 3/20/2011, and 4/30/2011. Most of these bulbs were in the living room and kitchen which means these bulbs are running from the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed. The lights can be on a good 15 hours a day. Getting up to 3 years out of the bulbs seems like a good life time. If we ran the bulbs on average 10 hours a day, which seems too low, 365 days a year for 3 years that is over 10,000 hours which is pretty good. The bulbs that were installed in March and April 2011 likely had over 9,000 hours. I think the lights were supposed to last around 9,000 hours.
Sylvania:
We only had one spiral 23w CFL. We have started to use these to replace the more expensive R30 and R40 CFLs. The Sylania was installed 10/30/10 and I think it was in the laundry room where the lights are left on for long periods of time in spite of me turning them off all of the time. While these lights are not used as much as the kitchen and living room the bulb seems to have lasted its designed lifetime.
We have some small tube FL's for task lighting that have been running nearly 24 hours a day since 2005. Only ONE of those bulbs has burned out. :shocked: The only time the lights have been off is when visitors turned them off one night and during a few power outages. Pretty danged impressive. The can lights on the porch and floodlights are all CFLs. I think I have replaced one of those since 2005. Now, the lights do not get used much, but they are outdoors in the weather and I am surprised they have lasted this long. The flood lights should have been regular bulbs but the electrician installed a bunch of R30 CFLs I had left in the house. I said what the heck, lets see how they work. :shocked: They are not the brightest and these are the old CFLs that take a while to warm up they are cheap to run and they get the job done.
Later,
I replaced 13 CFLs in our recessed cans. That sounds like a lot but we have 85ish cans and I wait until a bunch of bulbs go out before I start replacing them. Because of the failure rate we were getting with the Lowes CFLs I have been writing the installation date on the bulbs to see how long they last. I also need to note which room had the bulb because some rooms are used more than other.
Last night I took the bulbs to Lowes to recycle them. What a PITA and a joke. They have a bin with a door that only allows you to drop ONE R40 or maybe two R30s or regular CFL bulb. First, you place the bulb(s) in a thin plastic bag, tie the bag shut and then put in the drawer that then DROPS the bulb into the bin.
:laughing: I only heard one bulb break. I guess the plastic bag keep in the mercury. Most of the bulbs I recycled were R30 or R40 so the breaking was mostly likely NOT the spiral bulb. A CFL R30/R40 is simple a glass enclosure around the CFL spiral bulb. If mercury was so bad, it seems using a metal container with a door that drops the bulb, might not be the best design...The bulbs I replaced have burned out over the last few months but lets say the all burned out in 12/2013.
HD Bulbs:
When we built the house we bought R30 and R40 CFLs from HD and these bulbs have been VERY long lasting. I still have at least some R30's in a case that we bought in 2004.
I replaced three R30s and one R40 from HD last week. None of the bulbs have an installation date on them so I really do not know how long they have been in use but I would guess at least 4-6 years.
Lowes generic Bulbs:
I only had to replace three R40 bulbs from Lowes. I think these bulbs were from bedrooms so they do not get much use. I really wish I had written which room the bulbs had been installed. Anyway, The bulbs were installed on 2/9/2009, 2/9,2009 and 8/30/2009 so best case the bulbs lasted almost 3.5-4 years in a bedroom application which does not get much use. However, I won't complain about 3.5-4 years.
This brand of bulbs are very problematic. Some of them like these lasted a fair amount of time but we have had others that have not worked right out of the package and many that burned out within a few months. We no longer buy these bulbs. Last night I was in Lowes and just happened to walk down one of the lighting aisles where the recessed cans were on display. They had different R30 and R40 bulbs on that aisle that were much cheaper than the CFLs sold on the bulb aisle. However, the lifetime on the bulbs did not seem to be as long as the more expensive bulbs. I did not have time to compare the different bulbs by cost per rated hour. Maybe my next trip I will take a look.
GE Bulbs:
Five GE R40 bulbs were replaced that had been installed in 10/30/2010, 10/30/2010, 3/20/2011, 3/20/2011, and 4/30/2011. Most of these bulbs were in the living room and kitchen which means these bulbs are running from the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed. The lights can be on a good 15 hours a day. Getting up to 3 years out of the bulbs seems like a good life time. If we ran the bulbs on average 10 hours a day, which seems too low, 365 days a year for 3 years that is over 10,000 hours which is pretty good. The bulbs that were installed in March and April 2011 likely had over 9,000 hours. I think the lights were supposed to last around 9,000 hours.
Sylvania:
We only had one spiral 23w CFL. We have started to use these to replace the more expensive R30 and R40 CFLs. The Sylania was installed 10/30/10 and I think it was in the laundry room where the lights are left on for long periods of time in spite of me turning them off all of the time.
While these lights are not used as much as the kitchen and living room the bulb seems to have lasted its designed lifetime. We have some small tube FL's for task lighting that have been running nearly 24 hours a day since 2005. Only ONE of those bulbs has burned out. :shocked: The only time the lights have been off is when visitors turned them off one night and during a few power outages. Pretty danged impressive. The can lights on the porch and floodlights are all CFLs. I think I have replaced one of those since 2005. Now, the lights do not get used much, but they are outdoors in the weather and I am surprised they have lasted this long. The flood lights should have been regular bulbs but the electrician installed a bunch of R30 CFLs I had left in the house. I said what the heck, lets see how they work. :shocked: They are not the brightest and these are the old CFLs that take a while to warm up they are cheap to run and they get the job done.
Later,
Sodo
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Funny thing about his "internet" subject?.
Title is Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?. But most of the discussion is about disappointment with CFLs, which have been around even long before the word "internet". Think about that one for a moment, Pre-Internet. CFLs are almost dinosaur.
It's a little late to discuss CFLs, they're already 'on their way OUT' and thankfully so. And the CFLs have degenerated to NOT even last as long as an incandescent bulb, which probably required extensive engineering to burn out early yet still last about 1,000 hours as stated on the box. Down from the 2,000 hours they stated previously.
What does this say about tractorbynet members?? (in the Rural living forum) Are they a little "behind the curve"? Suckers for planned obsolescense? Short memory? :laughing: I know my memory isn't what it used to be.
I like old-school, but climbing a ladder 25 times as often, to stick with incandescents doesn't pencil out. Incandescent bulbs are a waste of time, energy, and for MOST people on ladders, dangerous. This 25 times assumption is based on an LED lasting 25,000 hours and an incandescent lasting 1,000 hours. Well, we do know incandescents don't last 1,000 hours. Unless you buy 130v, which cost a lot more for no reason other than they intend to sell less long-lasting bulbs thus drive most sales towards the ones that burn out.
PS: FYI. NEWSFLASH! The new lightbulbs are LED. And the "blue" LEDs are old school, the "color" of the new LEDs are indistinguishable from incandescents, except they use 1/5 the power.
Title is Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?. But most of the discussion is about disappointment with CFLs, which have been around even long before the word "internet". Think about that one for a moment, Pre-Internet. CFLs are almost dinosaur.
It's a little late to discuss CFLs, they're already 'on their way OUT' and thankfully so. And the CFLs have degenerated to NOT even last as long as an incandescent bulb, which probably required extensive engineering to burn out early yet still last about 1,000 hours as stated on the box. Down from the 2,000 hours they stated previously.
What does this say about tractorbynet members?? (in the Rural living forum) Are they a little "behind the curve"? Suckers for planned obsolescense? Short memory? :laughing: I know my memory isn't what it used to be.
I like old-school, but climbing a ladder 25 times as often, to stick with incandescents doesn't pencil out. Incandescent bulbs are a waste of time, energy, and for MOST people on ladders, dangerous. This 25 times assumption is based on an LED lasting 25,000 hours and an incandescent lasting 1,000 hours. Well, we do know incandescents don't last 1,000 hours. Unless you buy 130v, which cost a lot more for no reason other than they intend to sell less long-lasting bulbs thus drive most sales towards the ones that burn out.
PS: FYI. NEWSFLASH! The new lightbulbs are LED. And the "blue" LEDs are old school, the "color" of the new LEDs are indistinguishable from incandescents, except they use 1/5 the power.
Last edited:
Redneck in training
Elite Member
There is onther thing about LED. They don't change color but brightness when dimmed. I like them.
woodlandfarms
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For my experience....
We replaced all of our incandescents with CFLS in our house in the northwest 7 years ago. A couple of burnouts but for the most part good. The upside is we could increase the lumens without risking fire, meaning we could put in a cfl rated at 100 watts in a fixture that said 60. Downside is of course the startup. especially in the winter. other downside is color temp not being consistent (we like 2800K and notice 3K as being too blue).
Our house in LA we are moving to LED. Big investment. Not sure of the payoff. The light is much more focused (directional) so it appears brighter. Really mixed on my results... Lights are as usual inconsistent in color. Bulbs tend to be larger which has them hanging out of fixtures. Our biggest issue is specialized bulbs. We have unique fixtures that look best with light that radiates from all sides. A lot of lower priced LED's have only 180 degree of light (front facing) and it is hard to get a bulb that is 360. We have heard issues of ringing with the Philips lights (humming) so we have not bought them yet. Finally, we need higher lumens. We have fixtures that love 200 watt incandescents, but we can't find similar in dimmable LED. I just found a Philips LED coming out soon with a 150 watt equiv so we will add that to the mix.
So, in the end, not so unhappy with the lighting that I regret it, but not as seamless as I would like.....
Finally, I am trying an expirement in my shop. I found 400 watt equiv (something like this 5000K - 400 Watt Equal Compact Fluorescents | 1000Bulbs.com) for a killer deal. killer deal... So I have 12 coming shortly and will see how they work in the shop. color temp will be annoying but I can put all 12 on one circuit and have a ton of lumens.
We replaced all of our incandescents with CFLS in our house in the northwest 7 years ago. A couple of burnouts but for the most part good. The upside is we could increase the lumens without risking fire, meaning we could put in a cfl rated at 100 watts in a fixture that said 60. Downside is of course the startup. especially in the winter. other downside is color temp not being consistent (we like 2800K and notice 3K as being too blue).
Our house in LA we are moving to LED. Big investment. Not sure of the payoff. The light is much more focused (directional) so it appears brighter. Really mixed on my results... Lights are as usual inconsistent in color. Bulbs tend to be larger which has them hanging out of fixtures. Our biggest issue is specialized bulbs. We have unique fixtures that look best with light that radiates from all sides. A lot of lower priced LED's have only 180 degree of light (front facing) and it is hard to get a bulb that is 360. We have heard issues of ringing with the Philips lights (humming) so we have not bought them yet. Finally, we need higher lumens. We have fixtures that love 200 watt incandescents, but we can't find similar in dimmable LED. I just found a Philips LED coming out soon with a 150 watt equiv so we will add that to the mix.
So, in the end, not so unhappy with the lighting that I regret it, but not as seamless as I would like.....
Finally, I am trying an expirement in my shop. I found 400 watt equiv (something like this 5000K - 400 Watt Equal Compact Fluorescents | 1000Bulbs.com) for a killer deal. killer deal... So I have 12 coming shortly and will see how they work in the shop. color temp will be annoying but I can put all 12 on one circuit and have a ton of lumens.
charlz
Elite Member
I stopped by the store today to pick up some incandescent bulbs for the outside cans to make sure I have enough to get by until LED's come down (hopefully) in price enough to be affordable. I picked up a few packs of 60w bulbs for places it make sense, like garage door openers… they shut off before a CFL gets warmed up.
SPIKER
Elite Member
...
Sylvania:
We only had one spiral 23w CFL. We have started to use these to replace the more expensive R30 and R40 CFLs. The Sylania was installed 10/30/10 and I think it was in the laundry room where the lights are left on for long periods of time in spite of me turning them off all of the time.
We have some small tube FL's for task lighting that have been running nearly 24 hours a day since 2005. Only ONE of those bulbs has burned out. :shocked: The only time the lights have been off is when visitors turned them off one night and during a few power outages. Pretty danged impressive. The can lights on the porch and floodlights are all CFLs. I think I have replaced one of those since 2005. ...
Later,
I have to say, WHY are you having lights left on so often? If you are concerned about energy usage the easiest and best way is to TURN THE DANG THINGS OFF!
You NEED to buy and install the Occupancy switches ( at HD Search Results for Occupancy switches at The Home Depot ) that turn lights OFF when no one is in the room. This is why the US EPA is saying we have to install LED and CFL bulbs because people put in 50 cans and leave them run all day. :shocked:
FYI Looks like I'll be starting at GE on the 7th of Jan, AFTER their shutdown, (no working for me but miss the holiday pay) I'm OK waiting a few days spend days trading stocks and working on farm...
Mark
charlz
Elite Member
You NEED to buy and install the Occupancy switches ( at HD Search Results for*Occupancy switches*at The Home Depot ) that turn lights OFF when no one is in the room. This is why the US EPA is saying we have to install LED and CFL bulbs because people put in 50 cans and leave them run all day. :shocked:
We have occupancy switches at work. If you are sitting still long enough, like working at your computer, they start beeping and then turn the lights off. If you don't want the light to turn off you have to wave an arm or something so it knows someone is in the room. They help save electricity AND burn those unnecessary calories most office-bound workers don't need anyway
dave1949
Super Star Member
We have occupancy switches at work. If you are sitting still long enough, like working at your computer, they start beeping and then turn the lights off. If you don't want the light to turn off you have to wave an arm or something so it knows someone is in the room. They help save electricity AND burn those unnecessary calories most office-bound workers don't need anyway
I've worked in offices with those. It is funny when you are the only person there. On the other hand, if you walk to the restroom, all the lights along your path turn on even though they are usually set up to leave enough residual bulbs on to see enough for walking.