New florescent light bulbs

So who's using them? I just put some in one of our light fixtures for a test run before having to upgrade. They claim $55 saving a year per bulb, this particular fixture has 3 in it. So far I like the lighting, seems good. Bulbs are supposed to last 6 years. Now these in this fixture keep going out pretty often but it is the most used light in the house. It's irritating to change since we have 12 ft ceilings and I have to drag out the step ladder every time. So my question is do they really last longer and if they really cut energy cost?

 

I think it's hit or miss with them. For some reason the light over my stove shoots out all the time (incan) I replaced it with one and it did last longer but nowhere the time claimed. Swapped all bulbs out in the bathroom vanity, I've had a few to go out. So, it seems like a crap shoot. Savings, again who knows? At least now you can get them in warm color temperatures, I can't stand the shop light bright white ones of earlier.

 

Yeah, my parents bought some when they first came out and I couldn't stand them. They gave off a blue look. That's why I was afraid to try them. But the one's I bought (GE) look pretty much like standard lighting.

 

Yeah, my Dad still runs those white ones. Just pisses my off, I've even offered to buy him some new ones, "hell, there ain't nothing wrong with these".

 

The cheap ones whine. I'm really sensitive to electronic noise, and they drive me nuts quickly.

I never noticed an improvement in my power bill.

They sure as heck don't last six years. The expensive ones either.

 

That's what I figured. But If they would at least last longer it would be worth it. I'm sick of changing the kitchen bulbs!

 

I had one flicker and burn out just yesterday. When I went over to the lamp it smelled like burning plastic. Looked in and sure enough the base of the bulb was scorched and melted. Makes me a little worried now having these in my house.

 

Do you mean the CFL bulbs? If you are they are bad ass!

 

I have them and have not been impressed. To the guys complaining about the white color, you can get daylight color ones that are much nicer and don't make you feel like you're in a warehouse. As far as the life of the bulbs, if left on and untouched, they will last for a very long time. Turning them off and on kills the life quickly (I know, perfect for households right?). I think they're a horrible idea especially because of all the crap in them when you need to throw them away. When I can afford it, I'm going to LED. CFL bulbs are crap and loose brightness from the first time they are turned on.

 

check out consumer reports. They say that the home depot brand ones last the longest. I can vouch for that. I used to buy the cheapest ones, and the most expensive ones. of all of them, the home depot brand has lasted the longest. I have some in my living room that are going on 3 years.

 

I'm using them until LED makes them obselete...........CFL are just more expensive and have bad crap in them for how long they don't last.

 

I typically use the Daylight CFLs, the cheap ones tend to trigger migraines.

I have been replacing some G161/2 bulbs with LED, but they are stocked very well. If I had hard to replace bulbs I would be putting LED if light output wasnt a major concern.

 

Forgot to add, if you want 100W bulbs you better stock up because they arent allowed to be manufactured anymore

 

I design custom lighting fixtures for new construction and high end homes. Often our fixtures are pretty high up and take ladders and two men to change. These are the bulbs we spec the most and dimmable too. Philips Ambient LED. Cheapest is at Home Depot.
They last a very long time and have a warm 2700K color.

 

Yeah, LEDs would be cool if anything useful didn't cost 20-30.00 per bulb. I'd be needing to never replace any of those for 30 yrs before committing that much money for bulbs for my whole house. It'd be hard to even just start doing a few at a time at those prices.

 

I have CFL in my entire home with the exception of the oven and the freezer. CFL rocks! I use only the daylight color, stay away from warm-white since it appears a yucky orange/yellow color like incandescent. I do look forward to the day when LED lights for the home becomes affordable.

 

^^ They have the one I mentioned above for $14.99 at my local Home Depot, but I've seen them for more at other stores.

 

What they don't seem to understand is a lot of people can't be around fluorescent lights...it can cause seizures, serious migraines, etc. Its not fun...I also don't like how on a cold day it can take forever to warm up.

LEDs are so damn expensive and I haven't found one that is actually bright enough to replace a regular 60W incandescent.

 

With in 3 months of living in my house I think every light in the house had burnt out So yeah I replaced them all with CFL's because I have had some that have lasted well over 6 years. 2 years later I haven't had to replace 1 light bulb. So far I'm saying totaly worth it.

 

I replaced all my lights in my last apartment with cool white fluorescent bulbs. It did save money on the electric bill. I figured out the break-even point was about 18 months. They were still going when I left.

I tracked my electric bills after replacing them. SDG&E had historical billing and usage so I plotted it in Excel.

Another thing I did that helped a lot with the gas bill was putting in a cheap programmable thermostat from Walmart (about $40). You can set them for different temperatures at different times of the day. I set it up to heat the house just before I got home. Then at midnight, I let the temperature drop and set it to heat up 1/2 hour before I typically got up in the morning and then shut off again around the time I typically left for work.

That probably saved more than the bulbs did, but combined it saved quite a bit.

I think the problem fluorescent bulbs are the specialty bulbs (vanity mirror globes). They tended to go out much quicker.