[Boatanchors] OT CFLs

[howard holden]

Peoples' experiences with CFLs are all over the map. 

XYL and I Moved to Reno in August. We have the following lighting in our house here:

 

14  ea std 60W equivlant CFLs, 8 of those side-mounted in domed ceiling globes, two upside-down in open-air outdoor lights, two in upright mounting lamps. The outdoor ones get lots of use, in temps down to -3F this winter. 

25 ea CFL flood lamps 65 watt equivalent, all upside-down mounted in flush ceiling fixtures. 8 of those are in the kitchen area, and thus get LOTS of use, on/off, again and again. 

5 ea 3-way CFLs (30-70-100 watt equivalent) all upright mounted in lamps. Three of the five get frequent use. 

14 ea 60W incandescent clear bulbs, five in the open over a bathroom vanity, nine upright mounted in a chandelier, with a dimmer. All get frequent use.

2 ea 100W clear bulbs outdoors upright mounted in decorative fixtures. Frequently used, lots of on/off.

8 ea 60W candelabra base bulbs in a chandelier with a dimmer. 

2 ea 18W incandescent flood lights in a range hood.

2 ea fluorescent fixtures, 4 ft X2 each, using T-8 bulbs. One fluorescent fixture is in my radio shack.

 

We've had four failures of the 60W clear incandescents in the chandelier. Three incandescent flood failures in the range hood. Those bulbs are really crap.

 

No failures of any of the CFLs.

 

Yes CFLs do have a "warmup" time which can be annoying. But the small inconvenience is well worth the significant savings in the electric bills. Haven't clocked it here, but when we lived in NJ where I switched over to CFLs many years ago I did measure usage with CFLs compared to incandescents. The typical savings per month was on the order of $20, not to mention to almost never having to replace the CFLs. Incandescents on the other hand seemed good for a few months on average at best, unless usage was infrequent. And if you used incandescents in a ceiling mounted fan, their lifetime could sometimes be measured in days if the fan was used frequently.

 

I've never experienced any noise from CFLs. I have had noise from capacitive lamp switches, and from some old dimmer controls. None from newer dimmer or from the Fluorescents. Most noise I get is from nearby routers, computers, etc.  



As much as I would like to see them made here in the USA, for my money they are the best thing currently available. Once LEDs come down in price, and become more widely available, that could be a logical choice.