Buying Compact Fluorescent Lights

[breederman]

I wonder if the life span of cfl's is realated to how long they are turned on.  It seems as if the ones that do not last are in fixtures that are not left on very long. like the bath room or and bedroom ceiling fixtures. Maybe alot of quick on/offs is not good for them?

[Corley5]

I switched our house over to CFLs a little ove a year ago with GE bulbs.  I noticed very little difference on our light bill.  I'm glad others do    My goal was to lower the bill as Dee likes to have EVERY light in the house on 

[tim1234]

I wonder if the life span of cfl's is realated to how long they are turned on.  It seems as if the ones that do not last are in fixtures that are not left on very long. like the bath room or and bedroom ceiling fixtures. Maybe alot of quick on/offs is not good for them?

CFLs do like to be left on and don't like being turned on and off.  That's why I leave the incandesents in the bathroom.  At about $6 to $9 a pop for the globe style, I'll stick with the normal globes

Tim

[PineNut]

With the slow warm up time for the CFL, I find that instead of turning a light on when I need it and then off when I don’t, I just leave the CFL on all the time. Does this save electricity? I don’t think so. I use the CFL on lights that are left on for long periods of time and the regular incandescent lights in the fixtures that are turned on and off frequently. (Some of these lamps last 5 to 10 years.) As for the outlawing of a useful product, I am building an inventory of them.

Another problem I have encountered with CFL is they will not fit in all fixtures. With the large diameter just above the base, they will not screw down far enough into the fixture to make electrical contact

[Stephen1]

Another problem I have encountered with CFL is they will not fit in all fixtures. With the large diameter just above the base, they will not screw down far enough into the fixture to make electrical contact

I had the same problem with my pot lights, had to buy a socket extension, not sure how much money I am saving with the cost of the cfl bulbs, socket extensions, and loss of heat.

Interesting thought, I use heat 8 months of the year, regular bulbs generate heat, CFL's do not, so I now have to replace that heat from another source,  electric heat, or propane furnace.

[sharp edge]

When cfl first came out, we were in Sams club,De Moines, Iowa. The cfl were cheap, because the power co. was paying some of the cost. So we got lots of them. Like them ok and think they are a step in the right direction, but didn't see any big savings. Last mo. we used 380kw paid $59 for them. We use LP gas too.
SE

[florida]

Try the bulbs from Home Depot. They sell 3 temperature bulbs. Green packaged bulbs are very yellow and seem dim. Red packages are bright white and look great. Blue packages are daylight color and look good too but are more expensive. I usually buy the reds on sale for under $10.00 for  a package of 4. I just like not having to change bulbs every few months.