Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs?

[r5TPsooner]

After doing the bills yesterday and damn near spitting coffee all over my monitor when I opened my $400 electric bill, I decided to change out all of the lights in my house to these. Has anyone else done this to the lighting in there homes, and if so, have you seen a difference in performance or saving some coin on your electric bill.

We have a bunch of those "can lights" in our home, as well as on the outside of our home that require flood lights. I was just wondering if they have fluorescent lights for these too, since the outdoor lights stay on overnight.

[frankensooner]

We've gone to those, but have not really noticed a difference though, might have something to do with rising energy prices. So wth go for it.

[JohnnyMack]

I won't give in on those. The lighting is all wrong. They have a weird tint to them. **** those lightbulbs.

[frankensooner]

They actually have different tints. Some are soft white and comparable to standard bulbs. The daylight ones will sear your retinas. ;)

[olevetonahill]

I havnt got em all changed out yet , Just the ones I use the Most. I like em. Ive yet to have to replace one whereas I was going thru 2 or 3 Packages of GE bulds about every 6 months .

[r5TPsooner]

I started to replace all of ours this morning. I've started with the high volume rooms 1st. The damned lights are expensive in itself.

[SoonerInKCMO]

The lighting can be different from what you're used to. But, like franken said, there are different types and some are comparable to incandescents. I've only had to replace one bulb in the last 2.5 years. I don't know if it's the case at every Home Depot, but the one nearest me recycles CFLs - so you don't have to worry about the mercury issue.

[BigRedJed]

e-LOtKIIKcg

[Whet]

Don't use them in sockets with dimmer switches!

[olevetonahill]

Don't use them in sockets with dimmer switches!

Why ? I dont have any but just curious .
Lowes had a Package of 4 for 7.50 a few Months Back.

[Whet]

Why ? I dont have any but just curious .
Lowes had a Package of 4 for 7.50 a few Months Back.

The bulbs react quite interesting to the lower than required voltage when you try to dim them.

If you read the dimmer switch insert, it will typically inform you to not use with fluorescent lights...

[frankensooner]

And the floods take a little bit longer to "warm up" than the smaller ones.

[Whet]

I've noticed that on some of mine - it takes a moment for them to light up......

[OSUAggie]

I'd wait it out (as in, wait 'til they come up with something different).

If you're using them in long-usage areas, they're ok (although the lighting sucks, or it's at least different, which sucks).

If you're switching them on and off fairly frequently, they actually tend to pull more power usage than the standard bulbs.

I'd just use them in the areas where you tend to leave the lights on for longer periods of time to see if that makes a difference on the power bills.

Oh, and don't break them.

[Penguin]

I dropped one and it shattered.


Everyone in my apartment complex is dead.

[BigRedJed]

Back to the pokey!

[Whet]

Just get your shop vac and suck up all that glass....

[Flagstaffsooner]

You must realize that lightining for most people is only about 10% of their electric usage. HVAC is the big one. But every little bit helps. I have found that getting rid of certain women in your home cuts the electric bill in half.:D

[olevetonahill]

You must realize that lightining for most people is only about 10% of their electric usage. HVAC is the big one. But every little bit helps. I have found that getting rid of certain women in your home cuts the electric bill in half.:D

Plus you save Tremendously On Toilet paper.

[My Opinion Matters]

$400 electric bill? That's one big double-wide.

[OU4LIFE]

I won't give in on those. The lighting is all wrong. They have a weird tint to them. **** those lightbulbs.

Barrack Uses CFL's.

hater.

[frankensooner]

I think he is holding out for the NFL bulbs.

[SoonerInKCMO]

I'd wait it out (as in, wait 'til they come up with something different).


One could always get some LEDs (http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx).

[Crimsontothecore]

I switched out every bulb in the house with fluorescent's last year. Our total electric home (3'100 sq. ft.) has seen the electric bill drop from an average of about $430 to last months bill of $388.

This result may be tainted because we also had one teenage girl start college last year and something tells me that was about 20% of our total energy cost.

On a side note, I've got outdoor lights on both sides of the garage. I used to replace at least one if not both after every thunderstorm. I guess the vibration was finishing off the filaments. It's been nearly a year and the fluorescent bulbs are still going strong.

[r5TPsooner]

I switched out every bulb in the house with fluorescent's last year. Our total electric home (3'100 sq. ft.) has seen the electric bill drop from an average of about $430 to last months bill of $388.

This result may be tainted because we also had one teenage girl start college last year and something tells me that was about 20% of our total energy cost.

On a side note, I've got outdoor lights on both sides of the garage. I used to replace at least one if not both after every thunderstorm. I guess the vibration was finishing off the filaments. It's been nearly a year and the fluorescent bulbs are still going strong.


My wife and kids have yet to figure out how the light switch flips to the "off" position.

[SoonerInKCMO]

My wife and kids have yet to figure out how the light switch flips to the "off" position.

That's my parents. Until I recently replaced the bulbs myself, they had five 100 W incandescent bulbs in a fixture in the dining room they left on all the time. Damn that room was hot. They still leave it on about 12 hours a day if not more - but at least they're now using about 5kwh/day less.

[r5TPsooner]

That's my parents. Until I recently replaced the bulbs myself, they had five 100 W incandescent bulbs in a fixture in the dining room they left on all the time. Damn that room was hot. They still leave it on about 12 hours a day if not more - but at least they're now using about 5kwh/day less.


That's what I'm hoping happens. The wife thinks I'm nuts for changing every light bulb in the house, but of course... she didn't see the electric bill the last couple of months and doesn't fully realize just how many lights get left on in the morning before the kids are off to skool. Yesterday, almost one full side of the home's lights were left on with no one in those rooms. then I got to the kids rooms and it's almost as bad.

Of course, in about three months it'll be the gas bill that's outta this world. Bye-Bye bath time and rubber ducky time for the kids. :D

[Penguin]

Back to the pokey!

Nah. I'm claiming self-defense.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

The lifetime of 'em is crazy nuts, like folks have said.

I put CFLs in everything but the chandelier (it's on a dimmer). I've had ONE go out since I did it, and that was five years ago.

The cost of replacement bulbs alone is worth it.

[r5TPsooner]

The lifetime of 'em is crazy nuts, like folks have said.

I put CFLs in everything but the chandelier (it's on a dimmer). I've had ONE go out since I did it, and that was five years ago.

The cost of replacement bulbs alone is worth it.

Is the design of the CFL's by design to help in the cost saving process or is just a design to differentiate them from the average light bulb?

[olevetonahill]

My wife and kids have yet to figure out how the light switch flips to the "off" position.

Put em on a 5 minute timer that wont reset for an Hour
They got 5 minutes to get done or they finish in the Dark:D

[olevetonahill]

Is the design of the CFL's by design to help in the cost saving process or is just a design to differentiate them from the average light bulb?

I think it has to be a tube design

[r5TPsooner]

Put em on a 5 minute timer that wont reset for an Hour
They got 5 minutes to get done or they finish in the Dark:D


Dude, it takes my wife five minutes to put her deodorant on!

Maybe I should invest in some candles?

[BigRedJed]

Scented candles, it sounds like.

[tbl]

I've worked for Philips Lighting for 7 years and it's definitely worth it to put CFL's in your home. The ROI for commercial use is roughly 3 months, and for homes it's probably 6 months. After that, you're only saving money.

While lighting itself doesn't constitute a huge portion of your electric bill, AC does. Guess what? Incandescent light bulbs put off heat, a lot of it. Over 90% of the electricity used in an incandescent lamp is directly converted to heat. It takes ~3 watts of AC to combat 1 watt of lighting heat, so energy saved on the lamps directly correlates to your AC bill.

The savings on energy reduction alone are worth it, but when you factor in the AC costs, its pretty much a no brainer. Not to mention the long life. For every 10 incandescent lamps you buy, you would only have to buy 1 CFL, so material costs are heavily in favor of CFL's.

The reason you can't use standard CFL's on dimmers is because the electronic ballast is not designed to be dimmed. When you try to dim them, you cause the ballast to go into overload attempting to compensate for the lost voltage, which will dramatically shorten the life of the lamp (plus it just won't dim). They have dimmable CFL's, but I wouldn't get them. The best thing is just to remove the dimmer switch and replace it with a dedicated switch. If you have area's that absolutely have to be dimmed, then go with a high efficient halogen. They're more expensive than the standard floods, but they have a longer life rating and give you a better lumens/watt output.

[tbl]

For me, it doesn't hurt that I get free light bulbs. ;)

[r5TPsooner]

I've worked for Philips Lighting for 7 years and it's definitely worth it to put CFL's in your home. The ROI for commercial use is roughly 3 months, and for homes it's probably 6 months. After that, you're only saving money.

While lighting itself doesn't constitute a huge portion of your electric bill, AC does. Guess what? Incandescent light bulbs put off heat, a lot of it. Over 90% of the electricity used in an incandescent lamp is directly converted to heat. It takes ~3 watts of AC to combat 1 watt of lighting heat, so energy saved on the lamps directly correlates to your AC bill.

The savings on energy reduction alone are worth it, but when you factor in the AC costs, its pretty much a no brainer. Not to mention the long life. For every 10 incandescent lamps you buy, you would only have to buy 1 CFL, so material costs are heavily in favor of CFL's.

The reason you can't use standard CFL's on dimmers is because the electronic ballast is not designed to be dimmed. When you try to dim them, you cause the ballast to go into overload attempting to compensate for the lost voltage, which will dramatically shorten the life of the lamp (plus it just won't dim). They have dimmable CFL's, but I wouldn't get them. The best thing is just to remove the dimmer switch and replace it with a dedicated switch. If you have area's that absolutely have to be dimmed, then go with a high efficient halogen. They're more expensive than the standard floods, but they have a longer life rating and give you a better lumens/watt output.


Excellent post, thank you.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

I've worked for Philips Lighting for 7 years...

:les: LumiLEDs!!!

[tbl]

:les: LumiLEDs!!!

Be careful with LED's. There are great applications for them, but overhead lighting is not quite there (overall). There are a couple of good products out there, but they're still very expensive and don't look as good as CFL. We're probably a good 3-7 years away from LED's becoming affordable and applicable in general lighting apps.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

I know - I was just being silly. Philips Lighting is one of our customers and the LumiLED project is HUGE right now. It's interesting.

[tbl]

That was a big acquisition of Color Kinetics. I don't really understand why they would spend so much, but I guess they feel that is the future.

Are you in marketing?

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

Nuh-uh - I work for the software company that make the MES software you use in your mfg plants. I know the guys working on that account and it sounds pretty cool how those things are made.

[Penguin]

Room

[BigRedJed]

Cell.

[BigRedJed]

Dang, Penguin, I hope you take that in the spirit intended. I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

[Penguin]

Dang, Penguin, I hope you take that in the spirit intended. I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Yeah, the cowboy-boot-to-the-nuts spirit. :texan:

[BigRedJed]

Heh. Yep, that's the one!