compact fluorescent light bulbs??

[FlightlessDuck]

In the 4.5 years I've been in my current house, I only had to replace one CFL which seemed to be a "dud". All of my others have lasted since they were put it, which was basically not long after we moved.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Amish eBook

Oxymoron?

 

[Imzadi]

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.

I was going to write to the manufacturer, too. My bulbs were burning out after a year. I had my receipts and the side packaging stating the bulb was supposed to last 5 years. That's when I noticed it said something like: "The estimated performance is based on a bulb used every day, for a maximum of 4 hours continuous usage, per day for 5 years."

I use my bulbs from sundown to when I go to sleep. So they are on a good 8+ hours. I didn't think the manufacturer was going to give me replacement bulbs even if I said, "The bulb should have lasted 2.5 years, then, if I left them on twice as long."

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.

I get what you are saying, but it isn't the turing it on & off that is the problem, as with incandescents. According to the recommended usage on the side of the box, it was turning them on once and leaving it on for only a full 4 hours. Anything left on twice as long would of course use put more wear & tear on the bulb & degrade it faster.

Oxymoron?

 

[bicker]

I get what you are saying, but it isn't the turing it on & off that is the problem, as with incandescents. According to the recommended usage on the side of the box, it was turning them on once and leaving it on for only a full 4 hours. Anything left on twice as long would of course use put more wear & tear on the bulb & degrade it faster.

Uh, again, I think that's backwards. I'll try to find a new CFL and read what you're referring to.

What I remember (admittedly, this is from over 25 years ago) is that incandescent bulbs degrade pretty much solely as a function of hours of use. Flicking them on and off doesn't really degrade them any more than leaving them on. By comparison, fluorescent bulbs degrade to a great extent as a function of how many times they're turned on.