[ARCHIVED THREAD] - New Lightbulbs! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/22/2008 9:00:39 PM EDT
I stopped by Lowe's this afternoon and picked up some of the new technology lightbulbs. I didn't think I'd like them, but I gotta say that the damned things put off a bright (but not harsh) light! I got a bunch of 60-Watt equivelent bulbs (13 watts each) and proceeded to put them in my ceiling fan/light fixtures. They seem a bit brighter than the normal incandescent bulbs. The ceiling fans have 4 bulbs each and I got two fixtures in my living room. I figured it'd be worth the extra expense to cut my electric bill, and I do hate dragging the big stepladder up from the garage to change out the incandescent bulbs that seem to burn out frequently. Now, to see if it makes much of a difference in next month's electric bill!
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So, I gotta hire a hazmat team if I break a bulb?! 
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Wasnt there a story running around a year or so ago about some state recommending just that to some lady after she broke one? |
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I was reading about LED light bulbs for home use (Replacement for standard 60 watt bulb). They are expensive as hell for a full bright (like an incadecent amount of lumens) but they are supposed to 60,000 hours, and use oodles less electricity. yes, OODLES. it's a technical term. |
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For God's Sake! The amount of Mercury in a CFL is TINY! I guarantee that if you have ever been in the same room with a broken thermometer you got more exposure than you would from breaking and INHALING a CFL. Even the total amount of Mercury in CFLs, across all US Production for 2007, is less than 0.1% (that's one tenth of a percent) of the amount that was vented straight into the atmosphere by Coal-burning power plants during that same year. I don't know who the idiots are who picked up on this and started to make a big fuss to the public, but they are way off base. Just think about all the mercury in a 4 Foot Fluorescent! And people throw those into dumpsters all the time without a thought to the Mercury they are inhaling by being nearby. I'll even post the info from SNOPES.COM, the authoritative source on things that are true or false:
And, the (in my opinion totally unnecessary) 'Certain Procedures' they say to follow: Open the windows and leave the room for 15 minutes, then sweep up all the glass and throw it in the trash. Wow! Dangerous Stuff! FluxPrism |
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Ok, I've been thinking of replacing all of my 120w recessed bulbs w/ those pig tail curly bulbs. Problem was, they look stupid as hell. Then I see the ones that are encased in the flood light looking bulb and am seriously considering it. So how much savings would I get replacing approx. 20 of those in my house? |
I searched for 'CFL Savings Calculator' and the first link was to a GE page that says that, for average electricity prices, replacing 24 of your regular 100 Watt Bulbs (the closest they had to 120, so I adjusted to make the total watts even) would yield a savings of $259.30 per Year Not too shabby, is it? OH! Also, your A/C bill will go down (slightly) as you no longer have all those 120 Watt bulbs pumping heat into your house. When I replaced the lights in my 4 bulb fixture over my Kitchen island, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't need to rejigger the A/C to the Kitchen, it was the damn incandescent bulbs that had been making the room too hot! FluxPrism |
Thanks. Now my house is really pissing me off
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Hide the children, there's a fluorescent bulb in the room!!!! |
You are doing something wrong. Let me guess, the ones you have to replace are in the bathroom? Moisture from condensation can kill the ballast. A tool is only good if you know how to use it. |
Given that I have just replaced my first bad CFL out of over 40 (I have a lot of 5 light ceiling fans...) that have been in my house for 4 years, and that most people report similar years of service, I would think that your experience is somewhat non-typical. Are you buying the bargain basement house brand or a name brand? Do you have other items that die mysteriously? Maybe you have a Mains Wiring issue in your house? FluxPrism |
Uh no. I was an electricians helper for 4 years, have a EE degree and currently work as an engineering tech for a semiconductor company. All wiring has been checked and rechecked. I buy the CFL's from Home Depot or Lowes, just depends on which one I'm closer to at the time. I've only had to replace 1 CFL in the bathroom (one that is currently out now) since I installed it 1.5 years ago now. I know some I've replaced had a MFG recall, bought those at Home Depot. Those were replaced since then. Honestly, there's no reason for them to die this quick. I did not lose incans in the first 2 years I lived in my house, not till I switched to CFL's to save $$$ did this start happening. Maybe I'll switch to the cheaper ones and see what happens. |
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Incandescent lights, they put out a shitty yellow or off white light. CFL, i love the light they put out but they are not too durable. LED, i love the light they put out, the light response is awesome, durable as hell. In a few years they will have the LED down to a normal price. till then its just CFL for me. |
Does that bathroom have a shower? |
Yep, the latest LEDs from CREE are already getting over 100 lumens/watt. That makes them roughly 2X more efficient than CFLs, 5X that of incandescents. In the next few years, you can see them start averaging 150 lumens/watt. There's a reason I own CREE stock 
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Compact fluorescent lights come in color ranges. If you look at the bulb they have a color rating (measured in kelvin). 5000k-6500k is closest to daylight. I recommend those.
You're doing something wrong. I don't know what to tell you. The first CFL I bought 2 years ago still works fine.
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Yep, I like the brighter output. I believe th package says Bright White.
Yep, I'm screwing them in counter-clockwise, you got me. Mateba. Yes the 1 in the bathroom was near a shower. It's lasted the longest out of all but the one in the garage. |
Welcome to 5 years ago |
Unless you live in an area served by National Greed. Then they'll just jack up your delivery rate to make up for the lost electricity sale. Why bother conserving if you just pay the same amount at the end of the month? |
I changed almost all of my fixtures to CFL and I have had 5 go bad in the first year. Sum savings. I am going to replace any others that go bad with regular bulbs until the LED bulbs get down to reasonable prices. I would pay alot more for LED than CFL because they are digitally controlled and wouldn't go bad nearly as easy. |
They also don't work with dimmers, they can't take vibration, so they break a lot in ceiling fans. I'm not a fan. |
Let me guess: You're one of those people that flip on a light for 30 seconds to find something in a room then turn the light off. That's a Bozo No-No with a CFL. Once you turn it on, you have to leave it on for 2-5 minutes, otherwise you greatly shorten the life expectancy. |
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We go through some of them, too... The ones in the bathrooms are actually doing fine... Lost one awhile back in a cieling fan that never gets run, but it's unusual to lose them, inside... We had CFL's outside (fenced in yard, several dogs that like to go out at night), but they would either burn out or break in the winter, and you had to leave them on all the time, or they wouldn't start up if it was below freezing or so, and if they did start up, it would take 15 minutes to get up to operating temperature, and put out any light... We have switched back to resistor bulbs outside... As an asside, CFL's do have mercury in them, but even if every one of them broke, we'd still be ahead. This is because most of the power in the US is created by burning coal... Burning coal puts its mercury in to the air, and we save more mercury by saving the power by using CFL's than the CFL's have in them... Mike |
A spill two tablespoons(1 pound by weight). or more of mercury must involve hazmat to clean up and be reported to the EPA, 1 pound is about 454 grams. At 5milligrams a bulb you'd need break in the order of about 90,000 bulbs(if I did the calculations correct. It do damn early in the morning for math) |
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It was on TV the other day about a woman who dropped one on the kitchen floor. It cost $1000 for a hazmat team to come in and clean up the broken pieces. When one burns out, you have to take each bulb to a special location in the city for disposal. I guess whatever is best for the children. |
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I've been using the things for some time now, but only in applications that will stay "on" for a while. I don't think them to be a savings for momentary, short-duration use, as in closets and such. They practically give the things away hereabouts, at least the small to middlin' output ones. Can't use them in the exterior security lights, nor on dimmers. |
| If you are building new or remodeling, you can now buy recessed can PAR 40 type compact fluorescent fixtures for $60. It is still a lot more than the incandescent, but they are a lot cheaper to keep. The good part is that they come on to full brightness as soon as you flip the switch. The really work great. |
Do you have them on a dimmer by any chance? Regular CFLs don't like that. I started using CFLs 7 years ago, and I have yet to replace one! |
You're comparing apples and oranges. All the mercury in a CFL is vapor or powder, very easy to inhale compared to a liquid spill (the vapor pressure of liquid mercury is quite low). |
They're a dollar each here and last forever. Well close enough to it, Most of mine are now over 7-years old as I put them in when I bought the house. I replaced one outside along with the fixture as it had a crack and allowed the CFL to get wet and short out. I went to these bulbs back in the 1990's and haven't looked back. I still use a few standard bulbs - the oven and freezer don't take them. I have some quartz lights in a couple of places for dimming. In the bedroom I've got a standard 40w bulb for dimming purposes too. I have a few of the LED lamps - a spotlight near my side door, one in the master bedroom, and one in the computer room. The cheap Chinese ones I'm getting have a 50% failure rate within the first month so I'm not switching to them soon. |
So if you use more they charge you less?  I would guess that if you use more they still charge you more so that conserving would mean more money for you and less money for them. If they charge you more for using less power just connect up a whole bunch of electric heaters 7x24 and make out like a bandit! |
My experience, too. I have heard that the new bulbs don't last if they are cycled (turned on & off) a lot. |
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Bought the current house about 6 years ago. Before the first electric bill arrived I changed out all of the bulbs for CF bulbs. We have 9 ceiling fans with each one having at least 4 bulbs. The first CF bulb in a fan went out this month. This house is 4k sq ft and has 5 bed and 5 bath so I changed out a LOT of bulbs to CF's. We are just now seeing a couple of bulbs go south. I am sure that we have saved a LOT of money. Bill |