4 ms·

I've been as frustrated as anyone with CFL bulbs that die early deaths, but I think this article is more than a little over-the-top with the CFL bashing. None o

I've been as frustrated as anyone with CFL bulbs that die early deaths, but I think this article is more than a little over-the-top with the CFL bashing. None of the CFLs in my house are "horrible, flickery, ugly." Many of them have lasted for years and put out light that's indistinguishable from incandescents. Still and all, I'm glad to see something even better on the way.

ajanuary 15y ago
A lot of people seem biased against them from poor early examples. They've gotten a lot better.
- oinksoft 15y ago
  The ones I've tried still make a terrible humming noise much like a fluorescent bulb in a ballast, and cast a somewhat pinkish light. They also don't fit well in fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs, sticking out at the end (looking at a bare lightbulb is no fun for the eyes). I really want to like CFLs but with all of these disadvantages and how much more difficult they are to safely dispose of than a plain incandescent, I still haven't switched.
  - stan_rogers 15y ago
    The form factor (for some applications) is a genuine problem, but it's the only remaining problem in my recent experience. There is a reasonable facsimile of a 60-100W "A" bulb for use with lamp shades that clip onto the bulb, but the base widens too abruptly for some fixtures, and low-wattage bulbs do tend to be longer than their incandescent counterparts. I'm not using any "name" bulbs (except in photo lighting, which is another kettle of fish entirely) at the moment (they're the cheapies from Canadian Tire) and it has been a long time since I've experienced mechanical noise, flicker or an unacceptable spectrum (there are only a few very small gaps, as revealed by a diffraction spectrometer -- er, a CD held at an angle, which has served me well as a photographer over the years). And "pinkish" is weird -- it sounds like somebody's tried to use older "conventional" phosphors (which gave a very green-biased spectrum) and tried to overcompensate with the complement (magenta). I've never run into that with any of the brands I've tried (and I'm rather picky). ADDED: the buzzing shouldn't be a problem with a recent bulb, either. That's an artifact of an older ballast design that I haven't seen used in years. All of the ones I've tried in the last five years or so have had high-frequency ballasts and long-decay phosphors to deal with the flicker issue (it's not an issue anymore), so the 120Hz buzz went away at the same time.
    - oinksoft 15y ago
      Maybe the humming I hear is due to old lighting fixtures, but I don't want to replace all of them in my apartment :) I think it's things like this that make mainstream adoption unlikely. And difficulty of safe disposal (but I'm being optimistic, and we might just get tons of mercury in our landfills if people are fine being negligent).
ars 15y ago
I came to write the same thing. I have only CFLs in my house except for outdoor lights. They work perfectly fine, the light quality is great, they don't die, and except for a terrible model which I got rid of, they all turn on right away. None flicker, and they make a lot of light.
ams6110 15y ago
Since we're offering anecdotes, I spent some significant money (considering that we're talking about light bulbs here) to switch over to CFLs a few years ago. It was a disaster. Most lasted less than a year. Two (out of an original 20 or so) are still working. I'm stockpiling incandescents so I can wait and see if the LED technology proves itself in the real world.
- TheCondor 15y ago
  Can you mention the brand of the CFLs? I switched over just about every bulb in my house 4 years ago. For most I got the 100watt ones from Costco, I honestly don't remember the exact brand name it is electralux or something like that. I've replaced one of them. We have about 20 of those conical lights in recessed fixtures, I converted those to the ones from Home Depot. I've replaced 2 of those. The only really noticable thing I've noticed is that they take time to load which I actually sort of like in the early morning, they start a little bit more dim and after about 2 minutes reach maximum brightness. The cone ones have some sort of "yellow light" filter on them so it's not surgical room bright white. There are two lamps with kind of a crappy lampshade that seem maybe un-naturally white and bright but otherwise we've been really happy. I did two outdoor lights and they're working great too, this is in Colorado and they've operated in temperatures from negative 20 to about 100, still seem to work fine after 3 years. I've heard the horror stories about spending $150 on lightbulbs only to have crappy light and having to replace a bunch of brokens but I haven't had that experience. Not sure if it's a brand issue or dirty power or something else.
- atourgates 15y ago
  I don't argue that early CFL's had big problems, but I'd seriously encourage you to try again. First, they're quite cheap. Assuming you don't need dimmable CFL's, you can get them for less than $1/bulb. With my utility's incentive programs (Southern California Edison), I often see 60W replacements for ~$0.20/bulb. Second, they've gotten quite a bit better. Less buzzing, less failure and an overall better quality of light.
  - tomjen3 15y ago
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

ajanuary 15y ago

A lot of people seem biased against them from poor early examples. They've gotten a lot better.

oinksoft 15y ago
The ones I've tried still make a terrible humming noise much like a fluorescent bulb in a ballast, and cast a somewhat pinkish light. They also don't fit well in fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs, sticking out at the end (looking at a bare lightbulb is no fun for the eyes). I really want to like CFLs but with all of these disadvantages and how much more difficult they are to safely dispose of than a plain incandescent, I still haven't switched.
- stan_rogers 15y ago
  The form factor (for some applications) is a genuine problem, but it's the only remaining problem in my recent experience. There is a reasonable facsimile of a 60-100W "A" bulb for use with lamp shades that clip onto the bulb, but the base widens too abruptly for some fixtures, and low-wattage bulbs do tend to be longer than their incandescent counterparts. I'm not using any "name" bulbs (except in photo lighting, which is another kettle of fish entirely) at the moment (they're the cheapies from Canadian Tire) and it has been a long time since I've experienced mechanical noise, flicker or an unacceptable spectrum (there are only a few very small gaps, as revealed by a diffraction spectrometer -- er, a CD held at an angle, which has served me well as a photographer over the years). And "pinkish" is weird -- it sounds like somebody's tried to use older "conventional" phosphors (which gave a very green-biased spectrum) and tried to overcompensate with the complement (magenta). I've never run into that with any of the brands I've tried (and I'm rather picky). ADDED: the buzzing shouldn't be a problem with a recent bulb, either. That's an artifact of an older ballast design that I haven't seen used in years. All of the ones I've tried in the last five years or so have had high-frequency ballasts and long-decay phosphors to deal with the flicker issue (it's not an issue anymore), so the 120Hz buzz went away at the same time.
  - oinksoft 15y ago
    Maybe the humming I hear is due to old lighting fixtures, but I don't want to replace all of them in my apartment :) I think it's things like this that make mainstream adoption unlikely. And difficulty of safe disposal (but I'm being optimistic, and we might just get tons of mercury in our landfills if people are fine being negligent).

ars 15y ago

I came to write the same thing. I have only CFLs in my house except for outdoor lights. They work perfectly fine, the light quality is great, they don't die, and except for a terrible model which I got rid of, they all turn on right away. None flicker, and they make a lot of light.

ams6110 15y ago

Since we're offering anecdotes, I spent some significant money (considering that we're talking about light bulbs here) to switch over to CFLs a few years ago. It was a disaster. Most lasted less than a year. Two (out of an original 20 or so) are still working. I'm stockpiling incandescents so I can wait and see if the LED technology proves itself in the real world.

TheCondor 15y ago
Can you mention the brand of the CFLs? I switched over just about every bulb in my house 4 years ago. For most I got the 100watt ones from Costco, I honestly don't remember the exact brand name it is electralux or something like that. I've replaced one of them. We have about 20 of those conical lights in recessed fixtures, I converted those to the ones from Home Depot. I've replaced 2 of those. The only really noticable thing I've noticed is that they take time to load which I actually sort of like in the early morning, they start a little bit more dim and after about 2 minutes reach maximum brightness. The cone ones have some sort of "yellow light" filter on them so it's not surgical room bright white. There are two lamps with kind of a crappy lampshade that seem maybe un-naturally white and bright but otherwise we've been really happy. I did two outdoor lights and they're working great too, this is in Colorado and they've operated in temperatures from negative 20 to about 100, still seem to work fine after 3 years. I've heard the horror stories about spending $150 on lightbulbs only to have crappy light and having to replace a bunch of brokens but I haven't had that experience. Not sure if it's a brand issue or dirty power or something else.
atourgates 15y ago
I don't argue that early CFL's had big problems, but I'd seriously encourage you to try again. First, they're quite cheap. Assuming you don't need dimmable CFL's, you can get them for less than $1/bulb. With my utility's incentive programs (Southern California Edison), I often see 60W replacements for ~$0.20/bulb. Second, they've gotten quite a bit better. Less buzzing, less failure and an overall better quality of light.
- tomjen3 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]