Comments on: On the way to energy efficiency: Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

By: Home Appliances

Home Appliances — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:52:53 +0000

Amazing how a simple little thing like choosing the right light bulb can make a difference. And it’s great to see the different colours and glows that are available. We’ve come a long way from the artificial look of the fluorescent tubes that used to adorn our kitchens and offices.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:14:49 +0000

Hold the phone everyone. Is there a bigger problem here that we don’t see yet. I did the same as most people and went out to replace most all of my incandescent bulbs with Bright Effects CFL. It never crossed y mind to check that the rating they claimed (100watt incandescent vs 27watt CFL) was true. Just this week I got a tester from Home Depot ($29.00) and tested appliances throughout the house looking for ways to save move energy. While doing my tests, I figured I would test one of the 27w CFL in my lamp. Now for the shocker….. It read 117w on the meter….Why… So I tested another one….Same thing. This was even after I let it warm up. I figured the tester was bad so I tested a 60w incandescent bulb and it read 59w so I know the meter is working right…. I need to find out whats up here as I can’t be the only one having this issue. Did I get a bad batch of CFL’s from Lowes or is this all a big lie. Can someone help me through this nightmare…lol

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:17:46 +0000

Until it makes sense to go green with something, I will not jump on board. The CFL technology has finally gotten to a point where it is about there, so now I am making the leap.
I’ve been on this earth now for about 50 years and had already gotten rid of as many incandescent bulbs as possible in my house some 10 years ago due to the poor yellow light, not the power consumption issue. So sorry, Mr. Gore. Yes, I increased my carbon footprint with halogens and other bright high Kelvin, hot bulbs, but with my aging eyes, I need the brighter whiter light now to read and see well. I simply run fewer lights as a general rule. I had tried a few older design CFL’s between 2000-2005 and they were unfortunately not there yet. Too yellow (~2300K), too low light output, WAY too expensive and non-dimmable. I must admit that it is the light quality that is the drive for me in lighting with carbon footprint being the second reason. In reality, the lights we run at my house do not add significant cost to our electric bill and carbon footprint, as their relative power consumption is way lower than many other things, like our air conditioning, blower on the furnace, oven, TV, computers or many other items which have much greater carbon footprint impact. But the purpose of my post is not to debate carbon footprint or global warming, but the practical use of CFL bulbs themselves.
Things have changed now with CFL’s and they are now available at good prices and in many different versions. So, I have started to make the transition in my home. I am seeing a lot of opinions here with little to back up any statements, so I will add my $5.00 in the hope it helps a few souls out there with their decision.
PRICE: While the dimmable versions are still just a bit too pricey IMO (but available), the standard versions are now dirt cheap. With local rebates by the power companies, the NVisions can be had for 25 cents to $1.00 per bulb (color and wattage dependent) here in Ohio at Home Depot. About $1.00 for 4 soft white 14 watt (60W equivalent) CFL’s; About $2.00 for 2 daylight 23 watt (100W equivalent) CFL’s. That is pretty cheap. I expect many other stores, brands and power companies will soon follow suit. I did my entire house all at once for under $30, not including dimmable CFL’s. Dimmable CFL’s are now down to about $8.00 per bulb, so they will still set you back a bit more.
LIGHT OUTPUT & COLOR: While the older version CFL’s that I tried before were rather low in output, the new ones are VERY bright. The soft white are still somewhat dim, but they always seem dim to me due to their relatively yellow color, which I don’t like anyway. But this is a personal preference issue. The bright white and daylight are more to my liking and have a slightly higher lumen outputs per watt, with the daylight being at the top of the heap. (1200, 1300 & 1400 respectively in 23W versions of NVision) However, note that the lumen output is via a lab test and the human eye does not respond like a lab instrument. Therefore, the 1400 lumens of a daylight bulb is going to seem MUCH brighter than the 1200 lumen output of the soft white bulb to a person’s eyes. I have made the switch to daylight at home, with the exception of outdoor, which remain soft white to match the rest of the neighborhood’s look. The daylight bulbs will knock your socks off with light output in lumens per watt, but as I stated, it is a VERY white (5500K) light. The bright white will probably be more to the taste of most people. You may also find that in some applications you may have to use a lower incandescent equivalent (i.e. – 14/60W VS 23/100W) just because the whiter light and higher output are too much in some cases. Two 23W CFL’s in our bedroom closet nearly blew us out of there and we had to back off to the 14 watt versions, which is quite bright and much better than the two 100W incandescent bulbs we had in there before. (Boy, I can see our closet is dirty now.) I can tell you that if you make the transition to daylight bulbs and have soft white/cool white or even bright white, you will find that other bulbs in the same room will need to be changed to bulbs of the same color temperature (~5000K), otherwise it looks pretty weird and puts a serious strain on one’s eyes as your eyes get “confused” by the different wavelength light sources. Also note that 5500K bulbs (daylight), need proper diffusing or be indirect in general to be comfortable to be around, else they will seem VERY harsh. Your mileage may vary in the area of color temperature. But the bulbs are now cheap enough that some experimentation can be afforded.
WARM UP TIME: I’m not crazy about the 60 second warm up time on the 23 watt versions, but I have gotten used to that quickly. The lower wattages warm up in about half that time. I have actually found it nice in the morning when I first get up as the bulb warms up at a rate that allows my eyes to not be assaulted as badly. The only time where I find it truly annoying is when I go into a closet or other place where I am only going to be a few seconds. I want the instant on light and then be out of the location. Not a biggie, but worth mentioning. So the slow warm up is good and bad, but a mere inconvenience at most.
OUTDOOR VS INDOOR ENVIRONMENT: The standard coil type CFL bulbs are really not outdoor rated from what I can tell, else the packaging would say so. So people that complain of premature failure outdoor need to engage a little bit and realize that these bulbs contain electronics. So repeated heating and cooling in an environment where moisture will be absorbed is going to kill them. I would expect almost no life if left completely uncovered. Admittedly, I am trying a few in enclosures outdoor to see how they will fare in my area. I am not expecting very long life, but we will see what happens. Perhaps I will be surprised, but perhaps not. I would surmise that the enclosed version CFL’s (round glass cover over the coil and encapsulating the top of the electronics package) would do better in an enclosed outdoor application. This is based on my experience with one old design CFL bulb of this type made by GE from 2000 used in an outdoor lamp post enclosure which lasted for 8 years running 8-14 hours per day (~29,000 hours!!!). I have no opinion yet about the versions with reflectors which could be installed in non-enclosed floodlight or spotlight applications, as I have done no research there yet. I do not know if they are intended for outdoor un-enclosed use. But if they are, the electronics better be sealed up pretty well and the glass thick to handle thermal shock.
MERCURY: I hate to state the obvious, but there are more things that we use everyday that contain mercury than the average person realizes. No need for the undue fear that many here seem to be espousing. Standard tube fluorescents have been around how long? Which have relatively high amounts of mercury. And how many of us have them? Many of us used to play with Mercury as kids from broken thermometers and get out quite a bit of it and roll it around in our hands in science class in school. It won’t cause you to grow a third eye or have nerve damage from casual exposure, contrary to what the popular media would like you to believe. No need for Hazmat if you drop and break a CFL. Granted, I wouldn’t want to ingest it or bathe in mercury, but then I don’t want to ingest anti-freeze, gasoline or other known poisonous carcinogenic substances which we all use in MUCH greater quantities than mercury every single day. But sensationalism sells papers, creates ratings on TV and gets greedy politicians re-elected or to sell books. However, we don’t want any more mercury in our soils and water supply so we should be responsible and recycle these bulbs properly.
LIFE EXPECTANCY: I saw some complaints about short CFL bulb life. I find this humorous as suddenly some people have forgotten how poor the life expectancy is on incandescents. Everyone who has been around a while can tell you that incandescents have poor life and can often fail within a few days or as soon as you turn it on the first time. When I was using almost primarily incandescents, I had to replace a dozen or so every year. This is certainly not a good life expectancy. CFL’s are a mass produced product, so I do expect some premature failures. I do expect to see some bad batches from factories. As a matter of fact, when I did my mass replacement recently, I had one fail the moment it was turned on. There may be some cases where one gets a bad batch or have older version bulbs that fail prematurely. But as this technology matures, this will get better just due to competition between manufacturers. (Yeah for the free market system!)
SAFETY FROM HEAT PRODUCED: Flat out, CFL’s are WAY safer than their incandescent brethren. There are a lot of fires every single year due to incandescent bulbs. Low heat is a BIG advantage of CFL’s that I don’t see discussed much. They produce little heat. On the NVision versions I am now using, you can just simply grab the 9W or 14W versions and hold them after they have been on for hours. The 23W is a bit warmer and is uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds (which means it is at least 120F on the tube), but it doesn’t produce enough heat to concern yourself. It won’t cause a fire if it is against something. It also won’t yellow/melt those cheap plastic covered fixtures or your lamp shades over time because of the heat. You can also put the 23W version in a fixture that had a 60W incandescent maximum, allowing higher light output from the fixture than was safely possible before. This is provided the 23W version will fit, as they are considerably larger than their 100W incandescent cousin. But they are just plain old safer by far.

So, use my information as you will. Or simply disregard it. No matter to me. But CFL’s are here to stay for a while, so you better embrace them as you will be living with them for some time.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:22:38 +0000

N:Vision light bulbs are a waste of money. Don’t believe their warranty unless you plan on keeping your receipt for 7 years. I bought 24 of them and have had several failures within the first year. They won’t replace them either since I didn’t save the receipt. Packaging doesn’t specify that you need to save the receipt. Home depot is going to get a lot of returns.

By: David

David — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:48:59 +0000

You have stumbled upon a problem that photographers and lighting engineers have know for years. Fluorescent light give light, but do no illuminate. I other words, for equal wattage claim (ie 27 W = 75W) the amount of foot candles on a work surface where it really matters is much less. It fools your eyes into seeing light, but not lighting up objects, it’s kind of hearing music tho=riugh a tiny transitor radio in a 100 sq ft room, you hear something, but don’t tell me you hear that rumbling bass, or that delicate triangle.
The saving all around are pitiful… $17 over the life of a 3 packs. (Each bulb saves you less than $1.00 a year. furthermore, the reduction in carbon footprint at the user is offset by the energy required for the manufacturing process, as well as the environmental dangers. And that my friends is the real inconvenient Truth.

By: Stan McLeod

Stan McLeod — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:40:46 +0000

Dear Sirs: On inexpensive floor lamps I have purchased (such as at Target for $9), I notice a warning of fire danger if one uses a single wattage bulb. They specify “maximum 150w 3-way bulb only”, whereas I seek to use a five-watt CFL. What is the danger and can I avoid it by not using the lamp’s switch? (such as manually screwing in and out, or using wall switched outlet) Thank you, Stan

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:15:50 +0000

I love the 14W (60W equivalent) N:Vision bulbs that we got at Home Depot. The 100W & 150W equivalent bulbs seem to take a split second longer to turn on but it’s no big deal.

When one of the bulbs burned out, I filled out the online form and got a new bulb in about a week.

By: Kristina Richardson

Kristina Richardson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:19:59 +0000

Bill,

You can fill out a warranty request on line for you failed n:vision bulb. Here is the link:

http://www.nvisioncfl.com/warranty-request.aspx

Just fill out the form and they will send you a replacement bulb.

By: Steve Dupree

Steve Dupree — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:26:06 +0000

I work for a lighting company and have been in the lighting business for the last 25 years. The last 5 years have brought great strides in fluorescent lighting. Those of you unhappy with the CFLs have to consider a few more variables in your applications. CFLs are made up of many components not the least of which is the very small ballast. The ballast itself has many components which are suseptible to heat. Those of you with recessed ceiling fixtures and enclosed ceiling fixtures must pay close attention to the wattage that you use in these types of fixtures. For the recessed ceiling fixtures, a PAR type lamp will yield the most effective results. 9 or 10 watt for the 20’s, 15 watt for the 30’s and 20 or 23 watt for the 38’s. Maxlite makes an exceptional line of pars for these applications. Another point to be considered is the Kelvin Temperature of the lamp. Actually a higher Kelvin, 5000 or higher will give you better visual accuity and appear to be much brighter. For enclosed fixtures, never exceed 20 watts. Most smaller ceiling fixtures should only have 13 to 14 watts used. H&H Industries carries a full line of high quality CFLs. Those of you looking for quality dimmable CFLs, there isn’t much good news yet. They are working on a line of Cold Cathode Fluorescents that will be fully dimmable and have a much longer life, but as of yet they still have some issues to work out with components. Just take a little more time reading the packages you pick up and you will be a much happier shopper.

By: Bill Adler

Bill Adler — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:49:10 +0000

‘Bought a 3-way N:Vision light less than 6 months ago. I’ll bet I have less than 200 hours on it and it failed. N:Vision’s 800 number is not taking calls, probably because they are having too many disgruntled customers calling in. ‘Will try to get to a real live person on Monday. I’m very disappointed in this product.

By: Kristina Richardson

Kristina Richardson — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:37:14 +0000

Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.

By: Rudy

Rudy — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:23:04 +0000

As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am less enthusiastic than most about compact fluorescent bulbs. This is due to the fact that the ones currently available contain significant amounts of mercury. If one of these bulbs should break inside of a person’s home, it could cause a challenging disposal situation. It is my belief that the technology should progress to a point at which the mercury levels are low or nonexistent before people changeover their entire homes. Another consideration is that as these bulbs burn out, they will most likely be thrown away as though they are normal rubbish and landfills will have incredibly high levels of mercury in their soil as a result.

By: Will Hart

Will Hart — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:31:55 +0000

Philips vanity CFL 40 watt (9 watt actual) bulbs appear to have the same problem as described by BadMD in his entry dated July,3 06. First I have used CFL bulbs for over four years in almost every configuration available from 3ways, floods and yes even as outside lighting which is not recommeded.
This problem happened to all three bulbs… Even tried bulbs in different light fixtures…… still problem present…….. would work for up to a week and then had to either reseat bulb or flick with finger…… returned bulbs for another three pack replacement…. one of those bulbs didn’t work at all.

By: Organic LEDs | Rick Tech

Organic LEDs | Rick Tech — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:22:48 +0000

[...] the amount of energy they consume. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CF light bulbs are much more efficent then regular bulbs. It’s true they contain trace amounts of Mercury which is pretty bad for [...]

By: TED

TED — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:29:18 +0000

I purchased the N:vision brand at Home Depot (work there) and installed them about 6 -8 month ago in the hard to get to places because the package advertises 9 year warranty.
They are junk – already failing.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:06:15 +0000

CFL Bulbs SUCK!! They cannot be used in all applications and don’t give off the same amount of light

By: Jason Petty

Jason Petty — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:44:11 +0000

SOSLightBulbs.com recently got this press release concerning mercury content in CFL’s. We thought this could be of interest to your readers.

———————————-

Use even less mercury with MaxLite’s™ low mercury compact fluorescent lamps. Reinforcing its goal of producing the lowest mercury CFLs, MaxLite™ was one of the first in the industry to participate in the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association’s (NEMA) initiative, “Voluntary Commitment on Mercury in CFLs.” Participants in the program pledge to limit the mercury content of their self-ballasted CFLs (residential use only) with less than 25 watts to 5 mg. and those with 25-40 watts to 6 mg. per bulb. MaxLite™ CFLs utilize only 1.2 to 2.5mg of mercury per lamp; half the amount present on the tip of a ball point pen, as compared to typical CFLS containing 4 mg. of mercury.

Always ahead of the curve, MaxLite™ has created a unique procedure to control the amount of liquid mercury in its compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). In its burner production, MaxLite™ accuracy is achieved by the utilization of a sealed tool akin to a medical injection tube. This permits defined quantities of liquid mercury to enter it each time the fluid is drawn. Then the identical amount of liquid mercury is infused into the burner. One amalgam dice is placed into the mercury control of the amalgam lamps. The amount of mercury is also fixed as the amalgam dice’s weight is controlled by amalgam manufacturers.

The low mercury quantity is the least amount MaxLite™ deems feasible for a compact fluorescent lamp to maintain a long and productive life.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:06:24 +0000

not good

By: The Sinful Dollar » Archive

The Sinful Dollar » Archive — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:48:14 +0000

[...] light bulbs. That’s so last year. And they are still gushing over CFLs! I am really, truly, sincerely sick of hearing each and every blog writer extol their doubt turned love for [...]

By: Ed Kirshner

Ed Kirshner — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:36:39 +0000

That SMALL amount of mercury becomes a great deal of mercury in our environment and people’s homes when considering the BILLIONS of these toxic bulbs we are soon to be forced to buy. There is no effective recycling program for them. They are so bad that it’s illegal not to dispose of them as other than toxic waste in California. But there is still no effective program to collect them, here. And the long established industrial recycling programs still only get about 25% of fluorescent tubes. Let’s just slip these mercury bulbs and wait awhile for the cleaner and more effecient LED’s.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:37:18 +0000

I’ve purchased several different brands and wattages of CFL’s and none of them are even remotely as bright as the incandescent bulbs of the same wattage they replaced. In my experience you have to about double the wattage of a CFL bulb to approximate the brightness of a like incandescent. I put a 135 watt CFL at the top of my stairs to replace a 75 watt incandescent and it still was not as bright. I now have a cupboard full of CFL’s that I will never use except perhaps as a porch light. I think they’re a total scam and if they ever do ban incandescent bulbs, I’ll stock up on enough of them to last me for many years.

By: JD_in_FL

JD_in_FL — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:09:37 +0000

Yes CLFs do contain a SMALL about of mercury. Less than 1/10 of what is in a small oral thermometer. No need to call out the hazmat team, but still, mercury is mercury and should be treated as such. Don’t throw them in the trash, dispose of it at hazardous material collection site, or better yet, recycle.

Recycling these bulbs is the best way to dispose of them. Many hardware stores, such as your Ace/True Value stores will collect them for recycling, even if you buy nothing from their store.

By: jt

jt — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:56:26 +0000

Purchased “bright effects” from Lowe’s. One month later the @#$@#% thing stopped working. Tried calling their “support line” Ha! what a joke they are. You have to leave your name and number with the product and they will call you back within one business day. Still haven’t received a call from them yet (called 3 days ago). Very poor service from Lowes’ “china partner”. Product #LBP13T.. Poor quality.

By: sujal

sujal — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:34:00 +0000

Bart, do you have a dimmer on the circuit?

Sujal

By: Bart

Bart — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:22:44 +0000

I put CFL bulbs in my recessed ceiling lights. I have 10 such in my ceiling in my kitchen and breakfast room. Put in 9 CFLs and 1 incandescent. The incandescent light bulb has outlasted them all. I am on my third set of CFLs whereas the 1 incandescent is still burning brightly. The CFL bulbs do not live up to the hype.

By: Alan Larson

Alan Larson — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:34:50 +0000

After using n:vision “bright white” and “day light” for a very short time, the “soft white” looks like it should be called “yellowish dim”. It is a real pity that they have 4 packs of the dim yellow for $2.97 or so, while the white ones are $8.97 for the same rating bulbs.

I recommend the bright white ones, or the day light ones. They really seem less tiring to my eyes.

By: sujal

sujal — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:38:11 +0000

I wish I could too. To thank him for the work he’s done and to congratulate him on the Nobel Prize.

It seems like people tend to post when they’re upset about something. I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be, but I’m just mentioning that for everyone else.

We’ve had 0 early burnouts now and we’ve had good luck with these bulbs.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:02:15 +0000

The inconvenient truth is these bulbs burn out FAST
and are DEADLY.

Had a few burnt out within 6 months.

With I could speak face to face with Mr Gore right now!

By: Kristina Richardson

Kristina Richardson — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:55:39 +0000

I have been using the n:vison brand CFLs in my home for over 3 years now. I really like this brand and do not have any notable complaints. I had a couple bulbs burn out prematurely and it was very simple to get them replaced, there was a 1-800 number printed directly on the bulb. I also found out that you can place warranty requests on their website http://www.nvisioncfl.com which I thought was very convenient.

By: M Grey

M Grey — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:14:58 +0000

I really like CFL bulbs and use them whenever possible so yesterday I spent $10.00 on the N:vision 3-way bulb from Home Depot. It did not work in any of my 3-way lamps – the silly little plastic extenders did not fit either. Its a really bad product. Home Depot refunded my money and I bought regular 3-way bulbs.