Flourescent Lights

[SVOboy]

Anyone taken the plunge and replaced all their incandescents with flourescents? Seems like a why the hell not kinda situation to me, ;-)

[Matt Timion]

Diemaster replaced all of his lights (except for the headlights) with LED arrays.

It's actually something I want to do. It reduced the electrical load by 1/2. I'm sure that this would help with mileage, even if it was only a LITTLE bit.

[SVOboy]

This is the around the house section, innit? ;-)

[Matt Timion]

This is the around the house section, innit? ;-)

D'oh. Wow, I must be tired.

Okay, to answer your first question, I've replaced all of the lights in my house with flourescent bulbs except for a few. The three in the bathroom are still regular bulbs b/c the flourescent bulbs are actually green and the incondescent bulbs are really yellow. You can't seen teh green/yellow b/c your eyes adjust and compensate.

Green lights in the bathroom would piss off some people (especially people who put on makeup with those lights).

Anyway, the rest of our house has all flourescent bulbs. They consume about 1/3 of the power of incondescent bulbs and last forever. I also was able to buy a few 8-packs a few years back at Costco for $2. We're still using the same lights.

Our electric bill for the house is something like $35/mo and that is with my computer on all day.

[Flatland2D]

I did the same thing. My wife bought a box of about 20 to 25 on eBay for $35 plus shipping (was almost $50 all together). Replaced all the lights in my apartment except for some 40W mini bulbs in our night stand lamps because the low energy bulbs are too big to fit. Our low energy bulbs consume 13W, less than 25% of a standard 60W. Also in the bathroom we are only using two bulbs in the vanity instead of four. The 4 bulb ceiling fan fixtures are the same way. It's really just as bright with the flourescent bulbs. I haven't noticed them being green. The light looks very white, like one of those blue tinted "daylight" bulbs.

Our last electric bill was around $40, but a loft is not the most efficient design for heating/cooling. Since the weather has been nice we leave the windows open and didn't run the A/C once. The month before we set the A/C to around 83 and left it on all the time. The bill prior to our last one was $160. So that's like $120 a month to run our A/C, or about $4 a day.

[westcoastbroke]

I've used fluorsecents on and off versus incandescents.

Here's what we've learned:

Fluorescents burn out faster when used on/off a lot. They're also a toxic hazard, so you do want to avoid having to replace frequently. Don't use them in bathrooms or other rooms where they tend to be turned on and off a lot.

Incandescents are less efficient as lights, but they generate heat. We've found that using incandescents as reading lights warms the reader enough that we can run the furnace lower in the winter. Not helpful in the summer, of course.

Best idea of all, though, is to regulate one's lifetyle activities so that when the sun is down, one does not need light. It is highly unusual in our house to ever find a light on at all, so our energy usage does not change perceptibly with what bulbs we choose.

[Sludgy]

The electric savings are dramatic. My power bill is only about 40-50 bucks a month in fall, winter, and spring, and I have a 3000 ft2 home! It's higher in summer due to A/C, but the fluorescent lights save electricity TWICE because they don't give off much heat like incandescent bulbs.

I also installed automatic setback thermostats and an tankless gas water heater. My winter gas bill is about 10% less than last year and 50% less in summer due to the tankless heater. These things work!

[Ryland]

I have one screw in, edison base, 1 watt LED, got it mostly to find out what they are like, very useable as a night light, or reading light, but it's more of a spot light, seeing as how it draws less then your clock radio, or vcr when it's turn "off" I think it's pretty sweet.
we might still have one incondesent bulb in the house hiding some place in the basement, or a bathroom, I'm not sure, the largest of them being a 28 watt, high in a ceiling light, and the smallest being the 7 watt bulb that above the computer desk (plenty bright for doing paper work, and taking electronics appart) and a 9 watt CF that stays on alot.
picking the right size bulb for the aplication helps alot, also differnt brands are differnt colors, some list color temp, and it doesn't alwas pay to stock pile CF bulbs, as the advance faster then they burn out, I can get 13watt bulbs for $1 a few times a year, and those are bright enough for most reading lights, and unshaded fixures, reflecter CF bulbs are of course better for track lights, and resesed lighting.
we've had our electric bill, for 5 people down around $20, and now with more electronics, computers, bigger TV, another freezer, and fridge, supemented with some solar/pv our monthly bill is still only $15 a month... for 5 people.

[rh77]

On my old Si, I had LED turn signals on the front -- kinda cool (only drawback, at the time, the LED array for each "bulb" didn't draw enough power to convince the blinker system that a bulb wasn't out, so it blinked super-fast 'n furious style -- basically had to hide a bulb (I tried a resistor, but the damn thing got so hot it melted the electrical tape -- later calculations confirmed the heat generated) -- would've liked to have had LED brakes, tails and signals, but the tech at the time didn't allow it. I wonder if it's possible now...

At any rate, since I'm on the road so much, I just let the outside bulbs run 24/7 for security purposes (most of the time, the street light isn't working). Incandescents burned out constantly -- fluorescent replacements seem to last longer and use much less energy. I'd love to replace the bulbs in the dining room: 5 bulbs of 60 watts in the light = 300 watts of HEAT.

RH77

[SVOboy]

I wonder if it's possible now...

There is an EV CRX out there with all LED lights except the head lights. The tails even indicate the charging status.

[rh77]

I wonder if it's possible now...

There is an EV CRX out there with all LED lights except the head lights. The tails even indicate the charging status.

2 questions:

Why can't they make headlights out of LEDs? They make a helluva flashlight out of them.

Question 2: I really wondered if it's possible to convert the Integra to all LEDs and not freak-out the electrical system. All kinds of tractor trailer rigs have converted to LED turns and brakes on the trailers and truck part without any ill effects to the blinker speed. Same with some Caddies and Infinities -- no hyper blinking.

RH77

[SVOboy]

I'll find the link, entirely possible I say. Faster reaction time for the stuff so nice and safe. Plus I wanna make mine light up CRX at night. Or mehbe

SVO boy

for the two sides, hmm.

[Ryland]

I've read about LED head lights, useing something like the Luxen LED's, basicly a supper bright LED, sort of like the high end flashlights have, I have one, and it's blindingly bright, and at $15 per LED... rather costly if you need 20 or so to make up a head light.
as for LED turn siglnals, find a heavy duty flasher, I was not able to find any for my honda, but I found them for nearly everything else, the heavy duty flashers are both more efficent normaly, and don't have the "bulb out" warning (quick flashing) and adding a resister in just takes the 50 watts of energy that would be in the bulb, and puts it in a resister in the form of heat... alot of heat, but if you search hard enough I'm sure you can find a flasher that will fit, or make one, I was working on retro fitting one to fit my old civic when it was totaled, now my bulbs don't fit my new civic's turn signals so it's a non issue.
I found my LED 1157 bulb replacments to be just as bright as standard bulbs, but their veiwing angle was not as wide... but there are some out there now that point out to the sides as well, and for safty that seems important.

[rh77]

I'll find the link, entirely possible I say. Faster reaction time for the stuff so nice and safe. Plus I wanna make mine light up CRX at night. Or mehbe

SVO boy

for the two sides, hmm.

Well, I like the idea of reaction time -- the incandescent illumination time vs. the time LEDs light up could mean many feet of braking distance for the vehicle behind. For the turns, I've always liked the look of the instant on/off.

R

<<too late to sign>>

[Sludgy]

I'm not sure that LEDs would save much electricity and gas. Blinkers and stop lights are only on what, 1% of driving time? Taillights and side markers are on mostly at at night too, so that's what, 1/2 of the time? LEDs seem like a lot of money for not much savings.

[Matt Timion]

Reminder: THis thread is for florescent lights IN YOUR HOUSE, not in the car.

[SVOboy]

Well, I like the idea of reaction time -- the incandescent illumination time vs. the time LEDs light up could mean many feet of braking distance for the vehicle behind. For the turns, I've always liked the look of the instant on/off.

R

The CRX guy said at 60mph it was about a car length, or .1 seconds.

Off topic owns this thread.

Anyway, when i find the link I'll make a new one.

[rh77]

Reminder: THis thread is for florescent lights IN YOUR HOUSE, not in the car.

Sorry Matt, I'll move it over to the appropriate thread. It morphed. BTW, does anyone have one of those cool LED flashlights? It has to use less battery power and more candle power (trying to get back on topic).

RH77

Auto LED thread: http://www.gassavers.org/forum_topic/electrical_loads.html

[Ryland]

I have 5 differnt LED flashlights, I like to buy them when I have the money to see how well they hold up, and how they compare, garrity makes my favorit, bright, glass lense, aluminum houseing, good switch, you can toss it accrose a parking lot, I also really like Coast, they have gold plated contacts, and a DC/DC converter so it only takes one "AA" battery, and is full brightness untill the battery is compleatly dead, but their old flashlights have extreamly low quality switchs, some of their higher end, and newer flashlights have better switchs, and the flashlight them selves are even more solid then Garrity makes, with steel insted of aluminum, you could pound nails with the bugger.
You can also get LED's for home use, Edison base (normal light bulb screw base) http://www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html I have the "E27-WLX-1 White LED bulb" in warm white, it's an extreamly plesent color for reading, and uses less then 2 watts (my alarm clock takes 3 watts) If I was to buy another one, I would go for a wider beam angle, as the 25 degree beam angle is way to focused to really light a room past the news paper you are reading.

[QDM]

I've been using compact fluorescent lights exclusively for many years. Since my house is off-grid I can't afford to waste electricity, especially during the winter. The lights run off an inverter.

Q

[Diemaster]

Diemaster replaced all of his lights (except for the headlights) with LED arrays.


no i replaced all the lights in helga with floresents and in the house there LED..... or is it the other way around. :p

[jolt-tsp]

I'm having a house built and will be installing wiring to the roof. The idea is to use relatively cheap solar panels for lighting only. I will have the standard AC system with a mix of flouros and halos, but also a DC system with LEDS. The DC system would be the primary lighting except in bathrooms/closets, where people are so used to yellow light, that in white/green/blue light they would pick horribly matching outfits. I will probably also put a few random outlets later for plugging in DC fans, cell phone and laptop charger, etc.

One thing that is hard to remember is that you're trying to save money, not spend it on cool experiments :p

Oh, Wind mills are also a good and surprisingly cheap form of DC power

[Silveredwings]

I've changed a few of my lights with flourescents. There are surprisingly many places where I can't:
- fixtures that need candelabra or clear-globe bulbs
- lights that are on a dimmer (won't work with flourescents, may hurt them).
- flood lights
- ceiling 'can' lights that take a spot light halo

Also, they get a little getting used to: when you turn them on there is a short pause before they actually turn on. Not a big deal.

[DracoFelis]

I've changed a few of my lights with flourescents.
FWIW so have I.


There are surprisingly many places where I can't:
- fixtures that need candelabra or clear-globe bulbs
You are mistaking on that one. There are smaller base compact florescent out there that fit some candelabra sockets.

And while not a florescent option, you can now get energy efficient 110 volt LED lights for some small "spot lighting" (including candelabra socket) needs. For example, check these LED products out:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html

- lights that are on a dimmer (won't work with flourescents, may hurt them).
True of most florescent bulbs, but not all.

There is at least one compact florescent maker (if memory serves correctly, I think it may be Phillips) that makes a bulb designed to be dimable (i.e. designed to be used on a house dimmer circuit). I know, as I have one of them in the house. They cost a little more than most compact florescent (I think they are a little over $20 each), but they do work...


- flood lights
Again, you haven't been looking hard enough.

Compact florescent bulbs designed to directly replace "flood lights" are common (but again, not as common as the ones designed to be used in a house lamp). They have the same shape as a flood light, but use cheap/lightweight mirrors to get the flood light directional effect.

- ceiling 'can' lights that take a spot light halo
Correct. Those special halogen bulbs do not have a direct florescent replacement. However, often the entire fixture can be replaced with a florescent one...


Also, they get a little getting used to: when you turn them on there is a short pause before they actually turn on. Not a big deal.
True.

Also keep in mind that light tint/color does vary with the florescent used. If you prefer a more "natural" color (vs the slightly blue/green tint that some hate) than consider getting either a "warm white" or a "natural daylight" tint. Yes, the "cool white" is cheaper (and uses less energy), but it is not as natural looking as some of the other florescent tints! And even the less energy efficient florescent tints are still a lot more energy efficient than normal incandescent bulbs.

[DracoFelis]

On my old Si, I had LED turn signals on the front -- kinda cool (only drawback, at the time, the LED array for each "bulb" didn't draw enough power to convince the blinker system that a bulb wasn't out, so it blinked super-fast 'n furious style
Replace the flasher with an electronic one that allows lower current draw, and this problem will go away (and you will get both the "instant on" advantage of the LEDs, and the power savings as well). The replacement flasher for my Honda CRX cost me around $13 from http://www.superbrightleds.com

would've liked to have had LED brakes, tails and signals, but the tech at the time didn't allow it. I wonder if it's possible now...
Oh yes! I do that on my Honda CRX, and (since I don't cheap out and buy the dimmer/cheaper LED options)
most of the LED lights I use are brighter than the stock bulbs. See my thread here:
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=1558

BTW: The main lights I still have to convert are in the dash. Because after converting all the exterior lights (except for the headlights, and my broken "fog lights") to bright LEDs, the dash is now my biggest power user when I choose to turn on my "running lights" to make the car more visible to other drivers (in my car, my "running lights" are everything that goes on with the headlights, except for the headlights themselves).

NOTE: There really aren't too many legal options to save power on headlights, other than to turn them off when not needed. At first it might seem that HID (High Intensity Discharge; or fancy arc-lamps) lights would be an option, as they are brighter than normal headlights and use less power. However, HID conversions are costly (often several hundred dollars), and I've heard that (while OEM installed HID can be legal in the USA) "after market" HID conversions aren't "street legal" in the USA. And I really haven't heard of any other "street legal" headlight either. :(

BTW: While you can't really save any power on headlights (given the legal requirements of the USA), you can get about 20% more light (for the same power), by very carefully looking at the specs of the halogen headlights on the market. A very few of those bulbs use more fancy halogen gasses (most notably xenon), and therefore produce slightly more light for the same number of watts of power. However, you have to look carefully at the watts and lumens for the bulb (info sometimes surprisingly hard to get), because many bulbs that produce the same light (or even worse than average) seem to imply (in their marketing) that they are better (even when they are just costly junk)...

[eivad1]

i changed all my lights n the house and with adding everything up i saved over 1000 wts :)

[DaX]

I'm phasing all my incandescents out with CF's, but it's a slow process. I think we'll keep incandescents in the bathroom vanity though.

[cfg83]

DaX -

I'm phasing all my incandescents out with CF's, but it's a slow process. I think we'll keep incandescents in the bathroom vanity though.

Us too. My wife just said "you can have some interesting makeup applications" otherwise. The risk of CF in her words is "looking like you're from Kabuki theatre".

CarloSW2

[trebuchet03]

DaX -



Us too. My wife just said "you can have some interesting makeup applications" otherwise. The risk of CF in her words is "looking like you're from Kabuki theatre".

CarloSW2

Haha - I unscrewed all the incandescents in my bathroom - and replaced one center one with a CF :P I don't do makeup, and how much light does one really need to take a shower :P But, I have my own bathroom - that probably wouldn't fly with the other half :P

I replaced all but one of my incandescents. I bought my bulbs impulsively (because of price) and forgot to check the color temperature! So it has taken some getting used to :P

[DaX]

I replaced all but one of my incandescents. I bought my bulbs impulsively (because of price) and forgot to check the color temperature! So it has taken some getting used to :P

I knew nothing about color temperature until now - just been reading some Wiki articles on it (CFL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent#Colors) and color temperature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature)). I have no idea what I'm using in my house at the moment.

So am I right in assuming an ideal color temperature is between about 4700K and 7200K? Is there a downside to using a more "white" and less "yellow" bulb? More energy consumption?

[Bill in Houston]

I grabbed the first CFs I saw, too. They said something about "natural light" and "white light" and all that, so they sounded good. When I got them home and installed one, it seems incredibly blue and flat and bleah. I think that indoors, we are used to a more yellow cast. Technically, the bulb I got may be more like sunlight, but aesthetically it is baaaaad. I will eventually return it to BigBoxMart and see if they have something in a lower temperature range.

We have gotten CFs before that are an acceptable color and I really like them.

[Brock]

I swapped out our living room to CF's. They used to have six 75w floods in the ceiling cans. I bought six 13w floods. So I went from 450w to 78w basically I am using the same power with all six as I did with just one incandescent. Now I don't mind when the kids leave the lights on all the time. ;)

I have very few incandescents left in the house, just the bathroom vanity (on a dimmer) and the bedroom ceiling (also on a dimmer) Everything outside and even the chandelier have CF's in them. Those little 3 and 4 watt candelabra base lights are pricey!

[Bill in Houston]

We live in an older house here in the tropics, and one of the things I love about the CFs is that they don't put out anywhere near as much heat. For example, our vanity fixtures have room for 6 bulbs, but the bathroom gets unbearably hot with 240 watts of incandescents in there, so I usually put in just one or two bulbs. If I can find aesthetically acceptable CF replacements, we can have plenty of light AND stay cool. :-)

[trebuchet03]

So am I right in assuming an ideal color temperature is between about 4700K and 7200K? Is there a downside to using a more "white" and less "yellow" bulb? More energy consumption?

"Ideal" is a matter of preference.... If you're used to incandescents, you want a cooler (more red) light -- a 100W incan. puts our a temperature of 2870K, but when it blows out - that flash is hotter (more blue in color because the filament is a lot hotter while it breaks apart):P So somewhere around there for a CF bulb. Fluorescent light temperature is different than that of a incandescent bulb - that wiki you linked to mentioned black bodies (perfect emitters) of which a fluorescent light is not (and doesn't follow the color temperature scale exactly).

If you want to mimic sunlight (which is different than daylight mind you) -- that greatly depends on what time of day and your latitude and the season you want to mimic. But that range is around 2000(sun rise/set)-5400K (summer - noon). Daylight - which takes into consideration the sun+sky ranges from 2000 (sky doesn't add much at rise/set)-6500K. And finally, color temperatures rise in the shade - that is, no direct sunlight.

Now this probably is really confusing.... but here's the last bit... CRI - Color Rating Index. CF bulbs are not black bodies -- that is, they do not emit all the time. In fact, they are operating at twice your mains power frequency cycle and are off two times per cycle! During that cycle, power is not constant - so the color temperature emitted changes with time - at twice your mains power frequency. So for those of us operating @ 60Hz (most of us) - our lights cycle at 120Hz.

Now, back to CRI. The CRI equates a non black body light source to a black body light source. The scale is from 0-100 - 100 being the black body - perfect color temperature representation. But, this comparison only works to compare two sources of the same representation. So if your bulb selection includes a CRI index, pick the color you want and then pick the highest CRI ;) Mind you, 6000K with a 70CRI may not be better than a 5000K with 60CRI - temperature is key.

So my final point is - the best bulb temperature is a personal thing. For a reference, commercial/professional daylight photo flood lights are 4800-5000K - which is where I'd like my lights to be :) 6500K is another common temperature and a lot of home-use (that is, not professional) electronics are calibrated to this color temperature. It's likely your P&S camera is default at 6500K :)

-----
Hopefully I didn't scare anyone :) You can learn all this by reading photography books and such :P But picking the "right" color isn't too hard. And if it's really bad, you can always return your bulb and you'll know - yes, I need more blue (hotter light) or more red (cooler) :thumbup:

[DaX]

You didn't scare me too bad, I remember some stuff about black body radiation from heat transfer in college.

I don't think the wiki article is saying that the bulb is a black body emitter. As I understood it, it was saying that a black body is the standard against which other light sources are compared - that a "5000K CF" bulb's color is directly comparable to a black body radiation emitter at a temperature of 5000K (there is no way that the CF bulb is burning at 8500 degrees F!).

[eivad1]

i saved over 1000 watts in my house and have taken my bill from 190 to 120 a month.

[cfg83]

eivad1 -

i saved over 1000 watts in my house and have taken my bill from 190 to 120 a month.

Wow! That's proof in the pudding. These days in California, if you time it right, you can get the CF's subsidized by the power companies so that they are the same price as incandescents.

CarloSW2

[eivad1]

well my 1st bill in january was 180 know i just got this months bill. 60 dollars what a savings im just wondering what elese i can save on

[Hot Georgia]

A couple years ago we bought 4-5 packs of CFL's from Sams club. They were GE's and replaced all our incandescents in the major fixtures.

Within 3 months all were burned out except for 4 (out of 25-30)
We thought it may be a bad batch so we replaced the bad ones with units from Home Depo. $$$ again.

Sure enough almost all were burned out within a few months and the family got tired of a dim house. At the time we were down to 1 CFL per fixture (or less) with a mix of the old incandescent bulbs.

We have a big flagpole and is illuminated at night. I've bought 3 different types of CFL floodlights and if they don't burn out after the 1st rain, will certainly short out within a month or so. All are rated for outdoor use.

Typically, We hear arcing within the base then they quit.
I thought perhaps we are having some high voltage spikes but it's only the CFL's that have problems.
Surely they have warranty but it seems pointless to keep a constant flow of light bulbs.

After spending a few hundred dollars on CFL's we finally grew tired of them and bought a case of 45w incandescents at Sams for only a few $.

We have one of those tall 3-bulb lamp posts out in the back controlled by a photocell and is the only CFL's which have lasted- two years now.

I looked into LED lights but the only ones which seem to emit nearly enough light cost around $80/ea. (Ouch!)

I can't imagine living in a State that ever passed a manditory CFL law.
I'd either buy them abroad or burn candles :(

-Steve

[MetroMPG]

About 2 months ago I also switched the majority of the incandescents over to CFLs. The difference being I purposely looked for bulbs with a guarantee (because I'd heard of the premature burn-out issue).

I didn't find any with a "store" return guarantee, though. If they do quit, the only option is to mail them back to the manufacturer (in my case, in Quebec, if I recall).

Of course that means we also had to save the packaging, with the receipts.

EDIT: no burn-outs yet...

[DracoFelis]

Typically, We hear arcing within the base then they quit.
I thought perhaps we are having some high voltage spikes but it's only the CFL's that have problems.
Surely they have warranty but it seems pointless to keep a constant flow of light bulbs.
This is almost certainly a power issue. CFs are just more touchy when it comes to clean power than incandescent bulbs.

This is a shot in the dark, but are your light switches the illuminated "glow in the dark" type by any chance? If so, you need to replace your light switches with NORMAL (non-glowing) light switches (if you want to give CFs another try), or you will likely prematurely wear out your CFs (I speak from experience here). The reason for this, is that those "glowing" light switches, actually let a little power run through the "light bulb" to power the "glow" on the switch. And while incandescent bulbs handle this fine, this causes CFs to constantly cycle on and off (even if you can't see any on/off flicker), and this constant of/off cycling will pre-maturely wear out the CFs...

[MetroMPG]

This is almost certainly a power issue. CFs are just more touchy when it comes to clean power than incandescent bulbs.

Learned that in a brown-out we had (before I bought the big batch of CFLs). Only one was on at the time, but it burned out when the electricity sagged.

[cfg83]

MetroMPG -

Learned that in a brown-out we had (before I bought the big batch of CFLs). Only one was on at the time, but it burned out when the electricity sagged.

Yes, I have seen that too. Power outages are bad for CFLs.

We converted some of our dimming lamps to non-dimming because the "dimmable" CFLs wear out fast and cost alot. Dimmable light switches are the arch-enemy of CFLs.

Thanks DracoFelis, I hadn't heard about the "lighted switches" before. I have one switch that I will have to "de-CFL" for now.

We have had a few CFLs go bad prematurely, but not enough to make us stop using them.

CarloSW2

[Bill in Houston]

Good information to know. We have a photocell-controlled light that I would like to put CFLs in, but I thought that they could not be used in that application... Glad to hear that they can...

[Telco]

I made the switch a few years back, and saw my power bill get cut in half. Even with the CFLs we don't turn the lights on a lot. The in-roof cannister spotlights take a long time to warm up, especially in the winter, it can take as long as 5 minutes to have them provide full light, but I see that as an advantage when I'm stumbling around in the kitchen at 5AM looking for a coffee cup. I get time for my eyes to get used to the light.

I'm really looking forward to mainstream housing LEDs to come on the market. The CFLs are nice, but they aren't forever bulbs, I have to replace one about once every 2-3 months. Better than the incandescents which normally required a replacement every week or two. LEDs use a tenth of the power of the CFLs, so my power bill will drop again.

On the flashlights, I have one LED light that I've had for about 4 years now, bought it when they first came out, whenever that was. I don't care for it as it casts a very blue light, in a hard disk, but it is enough for me to get around the house without disturbing anyone. And, it's still on the original AA cell batteries, so that's good. No sign that the battery is getting weak, and I use it for about 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

[tulsa_97sr5]

Sure enough almost all were burned out within a few months and the family got tired of a dim house. At the time we were down to 1 CFL per fixture (or less) with a mix of the old incandescent bulbs.

-Steve

I'm surprised every time I hear this, my experience has been the exact opposite. I've been using CFL's for about 10 years, and don't think I've had more than one or two fail total. I *have* had fixtures that ate incandescents at the rate of 1 or 2 per month, and found that switching those fixtures to CFL fixed the problem.

I'm also really pleased with the latest bulbs we've been getting. The wife and I both really like the bright white ones from HD, and the slow warm up times seem to be a thing of the past. We are down to a couple fixtures that are on dimmers in this house that don't have CFL bulbs.

[broodlinger]

Anyone taken the plunge and replaced all their incandescents with flourescents?

Yes, because flourescents don't burn a hole in the floor.

Screw efficiency, let's talk about safety for a second. I have rugs, and I like them.

[SVOboy]

But the mercury!

[Hockey4mnhs]

i have taken the plunge i think i got um all theres soooo many lights in here so its saveing a ton of money.

[zpiloto]

But the mercury!

This is a good point (http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf). Don't just throw them in the trash when they burn out

[88HF]

I bought cf's at lowes. They had one broken in a pack of 4 and it was marked down from $7.50 to $2. I found another pack with one broken out of 6 usually marked $7.48 and went to the customer service desk, they marked that one down too. One pack had warnings about mercury, but the other didn't. I don't know if all of them contain it. Seems like they'd have to carry a warning. Anyway, 8 CFLs for 4 dollars didn't seem too bad. ;)

[Telco]

Want to make a new observation on the floodlight style CFL cannister lights. Had one go out today, made a bad electrical burn smell when it went. When I removed it, it was far hotter than it should have been. Replaced it with a regular coily-type CFL, along with another burned out one since that's what I have, and the coily-type CFLs are working far better than the floodlight-type CFLs do. I'm sure I'll miss the slow lightup time of the floods this winter when I have to pad into the kitchen at 0-dark-30, but I think it'll be safer having lightbulbs with exposed elements up there. Not to mention those 2 bulbs by themselves do a better job of lighting the kitchen than the 6 floods did. I'm going to pull the other 4 floods out and put back 1 coiler, and just run the 3 bulbs.

[Mentalic]

Anyone taken the plunge and replaced all their incandescents with flourescents? Seems like a why the hell not kinda situation to me, ;-)

Yep, about 1985. Lots better selection now though and I have replaced some of my older gear.

Best thing for large fixtures is to install electronic ballasts, give you flicker free light thats almost instant on.

[Gearshredder]

yea, ive got ALL fluorescent lights in my house. Ive even got those shop fluorescents in my room! My parents even had fluorescents when they were first available. We have one of those rectangle shaped bulbs that hooks back to the fixture (before spirals came out) that prob from the 1990s and a few desk lamps with the tube fluorescents from the 1980s has never been replaced so far!
We used to have a satellite-ring shaped fluorescent tube that screws into a socket with metal brackets to hold up the tube. That thing was WAY loud though and we still have it somewhere but it was too loud to use.
The rest, are all spiral CFs. We've had a few burn out, but never any of the OLD ones. I dont know how much ive saved, since my parents had fluorescents all the time, but prob alot.

I think ive read somewhere that any incandescent bigger than about 30 watts??? (brake lights) is more efficient than LEDs ? (might have been an ancient calculation, when white LEDs were just invented :P) I prob, nowhere in the future replace my Spotlights anytime soon with LEDs. Too expensive for now, but im working on everything else, custom LED mods! (flashlights, car etc..)

[trebuchet03]

Since this thread came back up... 6 months since my last post in this thread -- not 1 bulb had died.... They are now at an age ranging from 1.5-2 years old :) I'm running 10-12 independent bulbs.

The operating conditions range from open air - enclosed - enclosed as part of a fan (extra fan vibration) - in my bathroom (humidity) - and even above my stove/range. And, we've had at least two brown outs in the past month or so (lightning strikes). They are 13W Sylvania bulbs.

[theclencher]

i'yme gonna put incandescents bak in th floor and reading lamps for winter

iy liek the heet

[Mentalic]

Since this thread came back up... 6 months since my last post in this thread -- not 1 bulb had died.... They are now at an age ranging from 1.5-2 years old :) I'm running 10-12 independent bulbs.

A few years back my wife was insisting that a lamp only lasted a few months and I was thinking it was well over a year... So I started writing the install date on every bulb and its surprising how long they last. Some last just over a year, others over 5 years. The compact fluorescents do not last nearly as long as the old larger style bulbs do for me though.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I've had a few burns outs, and destroyed a few in dimmer switches, but at a quarter each, I ain't crying. A lot anyway.

[WisJim]

We have started using some LEDs now that 120v AC LED bulbs are available for uder $30 (cheaper than CFLs were when they first came out). They are nice for certain locations where the light color and directed beam work well. Some warm white LEDs are really nice, but not as efficient. Actually, for the measured light output, CFLs may be more efficient. I need to do more measuring. I did find that the Kill-a-Watt meter actually appears to use more power than the LED bulbs that I have, so it is hard to check their power usage with it.

I have had a few CFLs burn out quickly (within a year), but also have had some last 7+ years. I have heard that a major cause of early failure is not having them tight in the socket. Incandescents can stand a poor connection, but it is damaging to the CFLs. Check them once in a while.

Mercury in CFLs: the mercury contained in CFLs is recycled when you recycle the bulb, and if your power is generated by coal burning power plants, the savings in mercury put into the air by using CFLs instead of incandescents is greater than the mercury contained in the bulb (for the life of the bulbs). Also, incandescents contain lead in the solder in the base which means that they should also be recycled properly, not just dumped in the trash.