Compact fluorescent bulbs

What kind of experiences have you guys had with these?  I’ve been using them pretty much since they came out for most of my fixtures, but I haven’t found that they last any longer than incandescent bulbs.  Since we can only recycle our light bulbs twice a year I get an accurate count of how many I use so I know they don’t last the years the advertising says they will.  In the last 4 months I’ve replaced 4, and I only need 26 bulbs for the whole house.  I average taking 3 or 4 to be recycled every 6 months, that’s too many.  I’ve even changed some fixtures but that hasn’t helped.

I agree, they are more expensive and don’t seem to last any longer than incandescent. Maybe they save energy but the disposal issue is a PITA and heaven forbid if you break one. I hate 'em!

I’ve had pretty much the same experience, don’t know if they  burn out or what. But most  have been going strong for years, maybe quality control is an issue. They sure save energy when they work. I got mine in Cali when the state was giving huge refunds because of they have energy issues there, so they weren’t expensive.  I saw Ed Begley jr with the diodes and he was giving away his cfl’s. Disposale is a hassle in RI too.

The later generations are lasting longer than the first ones.

I had a couple back in '99 that I got used from the electric company I was working at in VT. Those bulbs lasted for at least 4 years. I gave them away when I was moving long distance cause I figured they wouldn’t make it, as far as I know they are still going strong. I think when I moved into my last apartment I bought a package at the dollar store or whatever and have not purchased lightbulbs since. as the incandesent ones wear out I replace with the cf and forget about it.

The only thing that bugs me at all is that they are dim when you first switch them on. but you can get pretty much the same spectrum as incandesent. I do worry sometimes about skunking my beer with them but have not had a problem… yet.

The ones I’ve used outside have burned out fast, but the ones inside the house are lasting a long time.  We have some that are at least 5 years old.  We don’t use them too many places though, my wife hates the light quality and the ones with the nicer spectrum seem to be even more expensive.

terrible light quality.
full of mercury.
not meant to burn upside down.
not easy to dispose of; I’m sure most people just toss them in regular trash.

all reasons I’ve never used them. incandescents work just fine for me.

maybe when l.e.d. bulbs are better and cheaper…

i use them in places that are a pain to change the light or i want to leave on.  i have one on in my garage non stop (wifes idea, dont ask)  i only change it every few years.    i had a few outside in the porch lights over my deck that lasted a few years but i recently rebuilt my sofitt and put in recessed led.

my biggest problem is that they seem to be getting rammed down our throats, so i am stock piling the good old incandescents.

A perfect example of the unanticipated consequences stemming from having “it’s for your own good” shoved down our throats.

All of my lights are either upside down or horizontal at best.  Why do they not work upside down?
I priced some LED’s last week for our office entrance.  The price will have to come wwaaaay down before I can afford them.  4 halogens was $11, 4 LED’s were about $65 I think.

LED’s are awesome but don’t like being turned on and off a lot. They should come down in price as years pass.

I’ve only burnt out one CFL ever, and still have the one’s I installed 4 years ago when moving into the house. The little 13 watt cfl in my hood vent has stayed on almost perpetually for 4 years.

They last and the power usage is less. Much less.  That’s my take on them. Take a minute to brighten up? Yeah I’ve noticed that for the 46 watt bulbs. Doesn’t bother me.

they will still work upside down but may not last as long in that position, particularly when burning continuously for long periods. the small internal ballasts inside the bases take on the extra heat output, while low, which will contribute to shorter life spans and quicker burn outs.

If they get cold they will die and the colder they are they take forever to give the expected light. Maybe 60 sec of incandecent costs less than the 10 min the cfb take to warm up so I can see.

The contractor who built our addition put CFL flood lights in the outside fixtures on the back of the house.  They took so long to warm up you had anticipate needing to see in the backyard 10-15 minutes before the unexpected noise.  I changed those out for halogen floods.  They are only used once in awhile but a security light is useless if it takes 10 minutes to warm up.

We have them all over the house now but for certain lights I too have been stock piling old fashioned bulbs until LEDs come down in price.  The CFLs seem to last about the same amount of time as incandecents in rooms that get switched on/off all the time.

Paul

I will agree that the mercury is a concern. LEDs are great light sources for sure and when they become readily available I will for sure start buying those. Luckily all the communities I have lived in recently have good twice yearly or more hazardous waste recycling programs.

I bought a 4-pack of CFLs 6 yrs ago when we moved in and 3 are still working so i’ve had pretty good luck with them i guess.

+1
I’ve been using the CFLs for quite a while now and think they are great.  In my experience, I’ve found them to last a very long time and  while the initial outlay for the bulb is usually more, they are demonstrably  more economical in the long haul considering the less frequent replacement coupled with the significant energy savings.  All I know is that I’m certainly changing light bulbs a lot less frequently than I used to. 
They seem to be coming down in price, too.

They are getting cheaper.
The previous owners put 4 6’ fluorescent fixtures behind a ceiling beam as a poor man’s recessed lighting I guess, and hooked them to a dimmer switch.  We’ve lived in this house for 20 years and I’ve never changed one of these fluorescent bulbs, and there’s no way of knowing how long they were there before we moved in.  Those are great bulbs, especially since thy’ll be tough to get to when I do have to change one.

I’ve looked into this issue a bit for my work, so I can shed some light :slight_smile: on the topic:

Any lamp life is a “mean life” rating.  It means 50% of the population will last that long.  Half will not last that long and half will last longer.

The mean life rating for most CFLs is 8000 to 10,000 hours.  An average bulb in your home runs about 1,000 h/yr, some much more, others much less, but 1000 is assumed as a representative average.  This implies that CFLs will last 8 to 10 years.  There seems to be a lot of marketing hype that focuses on these numbers.

I read a study several months ago that looked at the effect of starting frequency on lamp life.  The standard rating of 8000 to 10,000 hours is based on a lamps that run 3 hours per start.  The study looked at a number of homes’ usage and determined that most lamps have less run time per start.  The result, IIRC, was that most CFLs lives would be de-rated to 5000-6000 hours.  This would suggest a calendar life of 5 to 6 years.

In my experience, this is pretty realistic.  I moved into my house in 2007 and installed probably about 25 CFLs.  Since then, I’ve probably had about 5 fail…not too bad.

Once you get beyond the marketing hype, the reality is that they last a pretty long time, and typically pay for themselves in energy savings within the first several months of their operation.

The cheapie CFLs (e.g. brands I have never heard of) have terrible light quality.  The other ones are fine.  The ones that were in my house when I bought it six years ago are slow to start but the ones I put in since then are quick to start.  Recycling is no problem; I take them to Lowes or Home Depot with dead rechargable batteries.  Generally the life on them are great.