CFL Rant

[KubotainNH]

I have a few CFL's and they are mostly crappy. The ones that hang down in the basement lights seems to fail quicker. Maybe because the electronics get hotter, I dunno. What I do know is that I will not buy any more CFL's. I bought a big pack of incandescents before they started getting hard to find. I still have plenty left. I did buy a Cree LED bulb to try, it is the type that has similar light to the old bulbs. I've tried it in different areas of the house and really like. It was like 12 bucks a year and a half ago, maybe has come down some by now. It's now outside by my steps seeing that light is on quite a bit. No issues whatsoever, hopefully they will come down in cost so I can buy more.

 

[bumperm]

I just replaced a bunch of BR30 (small flood) incandescent can lights with these:

TCP LBR301027KND6 LED BR30 - 65 Watt Equivalent Soft White (2700K) Flood Light Bulb - 6 Pack - - Amazon.com

Nice warm light and a lot brighter than the 65 watt bulbs I pulled. Note that this particular LED won't work with a dimmer, but is a little cheaper than LEDs that are dimmable.

I had no idea how many can lights there were in my house - - seems almost an infinite number :c( I've mostly been replacing the ones where the additional light is welcome, like in the kitchen, or where the lights get turned on and off frequently, LEDs don't mind short cycles at all.

bumper

 

[Ken45101]

Now don't forget, you have to properly dispose of those old CFLs. You can't just dump them in the trash.

Around here, there is NO place to take fluorescent bulbs, I have a couple of dozen old 4 footers sitting around. The only legal way to dispose of them is to take them to the recycle center, 25 miles away but they only take them one day a year! Oh yes, we save so much energy!

 

[bumperm]

Now don't forget, you have to properly dispose of those old CFLs. You can't just dump them in the trash.

Around here, there is NO place to take fluorescent bulbs, I have a couple of dozen old 4 footers sitting around. The only legal way to dispose of them is to take them to the recycle center, 25 miles away but they only take them one day a year! Oh yes, we save so much energy!

You could always hand them out to the neighbor kids and tell them they are for StarWars light saber fights. :c)

 

[Rock knocker]

Remember, Warren Moon got his start in the CFL.

 

[DoubleL]

I ended all my rants and took my $ losses with CFL's about 1 year ago and replaced everything with LED's. LED's are what you want. Take your gasoline savings and buy LED's. One time investment then don't worry about changing a bulb or waiting for a warmup and reap the energy savings.:thumbsup:

 

[Bird]

I ended all my rants and took my $ losses with CFL's about 1 year ago and replaced everything with LED's. LED's are what you want. Take your gasoline savings and buy LED's. One time investment then don't worry about changing a bulb or waiting for a warmup and reap the energy savings.:thumbsup:

You know, I'd like to do that, but do you have any idea what it would cost! I think most people don't realize how many light bulbs of different wattages they have in a house. Just offhand, I can think of 44 incandescent bulbs in our house, 16 CFL bulbs, 21 4' florescent tubes, and 4 8" florescent tubes. And I also have a pretty good supply of spares on hand, except for the 8 footers.:laughing:

 

[Bird]

I ended all my rants and took my $ losses with CFL's about 1 year ago and replaced everything with LED's. LED's are what you want. Take your gasoline savings and buy LED's. One time investment then don't worry about changing a bulb or waiting for a warmup and reap the energy savings.:thumbsup:

You know, I'd like to do that, but do you have any idea what it would cost! I think most people don't realize how many light bulbs of different wattages they have in a house. Just offhand, I can think of 44 incandescent bulbs in our house, 16 CFL bulbs, 21 4' florescent tubes, and 4 8" florescent tubes. And I also have a pretty good supply of spares on hand, except for the 8 footers.:laughing:

 

[KiotiKowboy]

Just wait - the EPA will mandate CFL headlamps on your tractor

 

[vulcancowboy]

I ended all my rants and took my $ losses with CFL's about 1 year ago and replaced everything with LED's. LED's are what you want. Take your gasoline savings and buy LED's. One time investment then don't worry about changing a bulb or waiting for a warmup and reap the energy savings.:thumbsup:

I finally bought an LED bulb, so far, so good. I'm still a little gun shy and will wait a while before I jump on the LED wagon.

 

[vulcancowboy]

I ended all my rants and took my $ losses with CFL's about 1 year ago and replaced everything with LED's. LED's are what you want. Take your gasoline savings and buy LED's. One time investment then don't worry about changing a bulb or waiting for a warmup and reap the energy savings.:thumbsup:

I finally bought an LED bulb, so far, so good. I'm still a little gun shy and will wait a while before I jump on the LED wagon.

 

[Danno1]

Yes, they're suppose to last 10,000 hours (416 days), compared to an incandescent that's around 1200 hours. But I bet that's if you run them continuously. [bold] I've never seen a study on how many times you can flick them on and off. [/bold] I think incandescent are better for applications like a closet or a bathroom that gets flicked on for a few minutes many times a day, but where a light is on for hours CFL's or LEDs are the best bang for the buck.

Well, I can't give you an exact number. But I bought a CFL floodlight for an outside fixture. The sensor was aimed at trees so it came on ~ every 5-10 min all night long. I had set the fixture for a minute or two on time. The bulb was dead in a month.



.

 

[DoubleL]

You know, I'd like to do that, but do you have any idea what it would cost! I think most people don't realize how many light bulbs of different wattages they have in a house. Just offhand, I can think of 44 incandescent bulbs in our house, 16 CFL bulbs, 21 4' florescent tubes, and 4 8" florescent tubes. And I also have a pretty good supply of spares on hand, except for the 8 footers.:laughing:

Are you anyone's Christmas list ? :drink:

 

[Bird]

I finally bought an LED bulb, so far, so good. I'm still a little gun shy and will wait a while before I jump on the LED wagon.

I've got one LED flashlight, we have 3 LED "nightlights" that are occasionally used, and this year I bought 3 LED "net lights" (Christmas lights for the shrubs).:laughing:

 

[bumperm]

Speaking of LED flashlights, whilst completely highjacking the thread. There are a multitude of LED flashlights out there, but two brands in particular, Fenix for flashlights and Zebra for headband mounted lights are some of the best. Cost more, but worth it in build quality, gold plated contacts, that sort of thing. For battery choice it's rechargable 18650 lithium batteries.

There are sites for LED flashlight addicts, good for mostly unbiased reviews, like candlepowerforums.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I will only buy LED flashlights these days, have several of them, including headband ones. Costco sometimes has them in 3 packs. Also I use some battery operated LED wall motion lights.

I just started a spreadsheet of all my light fixtures, going room by room. I am currently at 93 fixtures, including lamps, refrigerators, bathroom fan/lights, etc....
I don't have a final bulb count, but around 175, as some are ceiling fans with 4 bulbs, shoplights with 2 bulbs. LED shop lights I count as 1(4' strip).

edit - actually I have one LED finish ceiling mounted LED fixture which is one LED strip. The LED shop lights are 2 tubes, so count as 2 bulbs.

 

[bumperm]

When you think about it, it's really quite amazing. How did our forefathers ever make do with a couple of kerosene lamps. Imagine every time they went to the fridge for a beer, having to deal with the hassle of lighting that dang fridge lamp.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

And don't forget filling the water softener tank, impossible without that light..... :laughing:

 

[Bird]

I just started a spreadsheet of all my light fixtures

That's something I probably should do.

 

[reb]

Just out of curiosity I loaded the light fixtures in our bathrooms with half CFL and half incandescent bulbs a few years ago. That way each type sees the same usage. I didn't scientifically log the brands and life of each bulb, but I noticed a slight advantage in life for the CFLs, but not enough to cover the cost difference.