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Problem is, the CFLs don't last. They usually don't last even a single year. My story: I got the faith: I replaced every incandescent in our condominium associ

Problem is, the CFLs don't last. They usually don't last even a single year. My story: I got the faith: I replaced every incandescent in our condominium association with CFL. After one year, most all the CFLs had failed, despite having 3- to 5-year warranties. Also noticed another peculiarity: CFLs are stolen more often! Apparently our condominium parking lot has become a CFL bank for individuals who want to lower their light bills. So last week I bought a 4-pack of 40W incandescents for $4! That is down from the $12 I would have paid for four CFLs that wouldn't last any longer and that, when broken, are a mess/danger to clean up. No more CFLs for me, thank you! The whole CFL thing is looking like a scam.

DanBC 14y ago
> when broken, are a mess/danger to clean up. When a company or a government agency gives instructions for clean-up they're going to go 'by the book' as much as possible. They give these scary sounding instructions because for every 50 people who manage to put a broken CFL into a bin without instructions there's going to be 1 who'll gather a bunch of broken CFLs in a sack and toss it into a lake; or who operates a trash business and who stores kilograms of them in the open leaching stuff into the water table. See also women being told to avoid '4d scans' (no medical purpose; everything carries some risk even if unknown and unquantifiable; thus avoid this risk because there's no medical benefit) or coffee cups with "This is hot" printed on them.
gambiting 14y ago
I just replace my CFLs under warranty. As you said,most have 3-5 year warranties, so I just go back to the shop and get a brand new one. I always put the receipt in the box and the box in a safe place so I can always find it.
com2kid 14y ago
> Problem is, the CFLs don't last. They usually don't last even a single year. My story: CFLs are very picky about the quality of the electricity supplied to them, and the cheaper CFLs save money by using a cheap ballast which ends up frying the bulb pretty early in its lifespan. If you buy a name brand (such as Phillips) you will get a product that lasts 3+ years easily. Now in theory LEDs can a bit over a decade if not driven really hard, but to get the current brightness you see out of home lighting LEDs the poor things are driven way past the point of living their optimal lifespan / lumen. It doesn't help that LED bulbs are housed in super hot bulbs with heat sinks desperately working to keep the bulb from frying itself!
- giardini 14y ago
  We have used every brand available including Phillips. The CFLs don't last; the incandescents work reliably. As for the quality of electrical power - that's in the hands of the power company. We returned bulbs on warranty but, seriously, if you're spending money/time driving to/from Home Depot to get replacement CFL bulbs on a warranty instead of buying cheap incandescent bulbs that work, you are suboptimizing.
  - chaostheory 14y ago
    > The CFLs don't last Then go with LEDs then. They still save you money in the long run. > if you're spending money/time driving to/from Home Depot to get replacement CFL bulbs on a warranty instead of buying cheap incandescent bulbs that work, you are suboptimizing. How is it sub-optimal? Aren't you driving even more to and from Home Depot buying new incandescent bulbs?
    - giardini 14y ago
      Have you priced LEDs? They'll likely be stolen more frequently than CFLs and at significantly greater cost (they are very distinctive and easily-recognized). Incandescent bulbs last years; CFLs don't. I save money and time buying incandescents instead of CFLs.
lutorm 14y ago
It's probably a big difference in quality depending on what you get. Most of our CFLs have lasted so long we've physically broken more of them while moving to a new house than have given up in use.
chaostheory 14y ago
I get IKEA ones which are really cheap. They've lasted me 4-6 years. There's a warranty too as long as you keep the receipt.

DanBC 14y ago

> when broken, are a mess/danger to clean up. When a company or a government agency gives instructions for clean-up they're going to go 'by the book' as much as possible. They give these scary sounding instructions because for every 50 people who manage to put a broken CFL into a bin without instructions there's going to be 1 who'll gather a bunch of broken CFLs in a sack and toss it into a lake; or who operates a trash business and who stores kilograms of them in the open leaching stuff into the water table. See also women being told to avoid '4d scans' (no medical purpose; everything carries some risk even if unknown and unquantifiable; thus avoid this risk because there's no medical benefit) or coffee cups with "This is hot" printed on them.

gambiting 14y ago

I just replace my CFLs under warranty. As you said,most have 3-5 year warranties, so I just go back to the shop and get a brand new one. I always put the receipt in the box and the box in a safe place so I can always find it.

com2kid 14y ago

> Problem is, the CFLs don't last. They usually don't last even a single year. My story: CFLs are very picky about the quality of the electricity supplied to them, and the cheaper CFLs save money by using a cheap ballast which ends up frying the bulb pretty early in its lifespan. If you buy a name brand (such as Phillips) you will get a product that lasts 3+ years easily. Now in theory LEDs can a bit over a decade if not driven really hard, but to get the current brightness you see out of home lighting LEDs the poor things are driven way past the point of living their optimal lifespan / lumen. It doesn't help that LED bulbs are housed in super hot bulbs with heat sinks desperately working to keep the bulb from frying itself!

giardini 14y ago
We have used every brand available including Phillips. The CFLs don't last; the incandescents work reliably. As for the quality of electrical power - that's in the hands of the power company. We returned bulbs on warranty but, seriously, if you're spending money/time driving to/from Home Depot to get replacement CFL bulbs on a warranty instead of buying cheap incandescent bulbs that work, you are suboptimizing.
- chaostheory 14y ago
  > The CFLs don't last Then go with LEDs then. They still save you money in the long run. > if you're spending money/time driving to/from Home Depot to get replacement CFL bulbs on a warranty instead of buying cheap incandescent bulbs that work, you are suboptimizing. How is it sub-optimal? Aren't you driving even more to and from Home Depot buying new incandescent bulbs?
  - giardini 14y ago
    Have you priced LEDs? They'll likely be stolen more frequently than CFLs and at significantly greater cost (they are very distinctive and easily-recognized). Incandescent bulbs last years; CFLs don't. I save money and time buying incandescents instead of CFLs.

lutorm 14y ago

It's probably a big difference in quality depending on what you get. Most of our CFLs have lasted so long we've physically broken more of them while moving to a new house than have given up in use.

chaostheory 14y ago

I get IKEA ones which are really cheap. They've lasted me 4-6 years. There's a warranty too as long as you keep the receipt.