compact fluorescent light bulbs??

[Mrs. Charming]

Count me in the hoarding incandescents club!

 

[golfgal]

Another hoarder here.. And the actual lighting is horrible - especially for someone who needs very bright lights to begin with..

Thanks for this reminder.. I have to stock pile some more!!!

You should look into the LED bulbs. They are VERY bright and use a LOT less electricity. I have some LED flashlights and I love them. I have an energy guide from our electric company showing Christmas light comparison and 600 regular Christmas lights cost about $31 for the season (600 bulbs) compared to $.45 (yes 45 cents) for 600 LED bulbs. That savings alone pays for my LED Christmas lights.

 

[C.Ann]

Count me in the hoarding incandescents club!

Uh oh! Sounds like we might have a riot going on in the electrical department..

I'm grabbing all of the 3-way, 50-100-150's; all of the 60's (round ceiling fan ones); and all of the 100 watts..

Do I have competition here?

 

[C.Ann]

You should look into the LED bulbs. They are VERY bright and use a LOT less electricity..

Dson-in-law pretty much lives in Home Depot part-time (I swear he's in there 6 nights out of 7 - LOL), so I'll ask him to pick up just one for me so I can try it out..

I have an LED flashlight and if it's anything like that, I don't think it would work out.. While it's certainly bright, it has quite a bluish tinge to the light.. Do these bulbs have that too? If so, it's a no-go..

Oh - and how about disposal of LEDs?

Thanks for the suggestion..

 

[golfgal]

Dson-in-law pretty much lives in Home Depot part-time (I swear he's in there 6 nights out of 7 - LOL), so I'll ask him to pick up just one for me so I can try it out..

I have an LED flashlight and if it's anything like that, I don't think it would work out.. While it's certainly bright, it has quite a bluish tinge to the light.. Do these bulbs have that too? If so, it's a no-go..

Oh - and how about disposal of LEDs?

Thanks for the suggestion..

LED's can be tossed in the garbage, no mercury. I haven't actually tried the regular bulbs yet so I don't know. I am going to get some for our kitchen light and see. The incandescents are too hot (pendent lights) and they are on a dimmer so we can't use florescents.

 

[C.Ann]

LED's can be tossed in the garbage, no mercury. I haven't actually tried the regular bulbs yet so I don't know. I am going to get some for our kitchen light and see. The incandescents are too hot (pendent lights) and they are on a dimmer so we can't use florescents.

Okay.. Thanks.. I'll have him grab one and we'll see how it goes.. If I don't like it, I'm sure he can find a use for it somewhere..

 

[Muushka]

One of our originals just blew the other day. It was in the lamp for about 8-10 years. We have not had any trouble with them.

But when we moved into the house, for the first 4 or so years we were replacing the incandescent all the time. Not sure what that was all about.

 

[si-am]

We've replaced almost all our light bulbs (inside and out) with CFLs and haven't had any problems at all.

 

[Imzadi]

They only last longer if you use them according to the ridiculous amount of hours listed on the box. It's something like 4 hours a night. Hello? With Standard Time now, it gets dark at 4:30 pm. If you stay up to 11:30 to watch the news, you're already 3 hours over the daily limit. If you stay up to watch the Tonight Show, I guess you're suppose to sit in the dark.

I recently found a stash at my dollar store. Yay! No more paying $6 for CFLs for me.

 

[C.Ann]

They only last longer if you use them according to the ridiculous amount of hours listed on the box. It's something like 4 hours a night. Hello? With Standard Time now, it gets dark at 4:30 pm.

Too bad.. Looks like everyone has to get homework done, eat dinner, do the dishes, get ready for bed, and "lights out" by 8:30 p.m.....
-------------------------------------


Dear Mrs. Smith,

Please excuse Johnny for not getting his homework done last night because dinner was running a little late and all of our light bulbs burned out at 8:30 p.m..

We will do our best to have him make up any missing assignments this weekend - during daylight hours.

Thank you so much for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Mrs. C. Fluorescent

 

[Imzadi]

Too bad.. Looks like everyone has to get homework done, eat dinner, do the dishes, get ready for bed, and "lights out" by 8:30 p.m.....

It actually sounds very Amish to me.


Off Topic: C.Ann, do you have a Kindle? Are you aware there is a free Amish eBook that came out a couple days ago?

A Simple Amish Christmas

 

[C.Ann]

It actually sounds very Amish to me.


Off Topic: C.Ann, do you have a Kindle? Are you aware there is a free Amish eBook that came out a couple days ago?

A Simple Amish Christmas

That it does - LOL..

No - no Kindle.. I really, really prefer actual books - even though I purchase 99% of them used.. Thanks for thinking of me though..

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I read somewere (no clue where) that you shouldnt use them upside down. Is this true? I have a lamp with the adjustable heads and turn one head down daily to provide direct light to a plant of mine.

 

[Imzadi]

I read somewere (no clue where) that you shouldnt use them upside down. Is this true? I have a lamp with the adjustable heads and turn one head down daily to provide direct light to a plant of mine.

Which way is upside down? I have a lamp where you screw in the bulb in a socket in the base. But, I have another one in the ceiling where the socket is up against the ceiling. And a third ceiling fixture where the socket is sideways.

 

[tvguy]

I bought several when they were still several dollars each, and they didn't last any longer that old fashioned bulbs. I switched back to regular bulbs.
But our local pubically owned electric company now subsidizes the bulbs, 4 60 watt equivelant CF bulbs cost 99 cents at Walmart with the subsidy, so I have switched back.

 

[disney1990]

I am not worried about breaking a CFL in our home. We will simply clean it up. An old fashioned thermometer (remember those) contained 100 times the mercury of a CFL. And eating White Albacore Tuna is far riskier also. Just cover your mouth and sweep up the glass and throw it into a plastic bag and tie it closed -- be sure to wash your hands thoroughly.

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/11/09/watering-down-the-tea.html

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

My bulbs are sitting in the base, then I turn them so the base faces the celing. I heard somewere this was bad, be darned I cant recall the website!

 

[stevenpensacola]

I'm another who has been disappointed with how long the globe style CFL's have lasted in our bathrooms.

I started writing the date the bulbs were installed, and where they came from on the base of the bulbs with a Sharpie, and I keep the receipts. If they fail early, I take them back and get another bulb or a refund.

I've also written the manufacturer of the bulbs with the issues I've had with them...received new bulbs in the mail from one of them.

 

[Maddle]

It isn't bad enough that I hate them because they take so long to warm up, and the light is kind of weak, and the bulbs are starting to burn out....NOW you tell me I have to spend half the evening sitting in the dark or using a candle?

Whose good idea was this?

Maddle

 

[bicker]

They only last longer if you use them according to the ridiculous amount of hours listed on the box.

If I understand what you're saying, I believe you've got it backwards: The shorter the duration of usage, the more wear and tear on the bulb per use. So the advantage of CFLs increases the longer you leave them on, since you're getting more hours of them, without incurring the degradation associated with switching them on.

This thread reminds me of the discussion C.Ann and I had about discretionary spending earlier this week: Hoarding incandescent bulbs is another example, since the effect is spending more money on energy long-term than you save on the bulbs themselves, not to mention the indirect costs that that additional energy production inflicts. There's nothing wrong, necessarily, with doing so (at least not initially), but it is something many of us are able to do because we can afford the extra money that decision will cost us long-term.

We're not hording, but we're not going out and replacing everything with CFLs now. We'll replace each bulb as it blows.