CFL bulbs

[Logan]

Last year I replaced just about every bulb in our house with energy savings bulbs. This year we have used less electricity every month even though it's colder and we have a new baby which means someone is home more and the washer dryer run 3 to 4 times as much.
When I initially did the math on the cost savings I figured 1 winter would pay for the bulbs and it certainly did and then some.

Also, I was in Home Depot the other day buying 3 more bulbs for the baby's bathroom and the HD guy told me I shouldn't be putting the bulbs in the high traffic areas such as the bathroom and kitchen because they won't last very long. He also said it would take a couple of years to make up the cost.
This guy must be a Rush Limbaugh listener (brainwashed) because I can tell you 1st hand that the savings paid for it in the winter months (dark at 4:30 so lights on alot longer) and I have not had a single bulb burn out even though they are switched on and off many times throughout the day.

The only downfalls I see to this lighting is it can take a few minutes for the bulbs to warm up and some people claim to not like the quality of the light. Neither of these have bothered me but then again I've always been an advocate of conservation and will put energy savings in front of convenience.

Logan

[AngelinaCatHub]

Logan you are correct in the savings. Here is the downfall; the bulbs are all made in China (so what isn't?) and have an enormous amount of ultra violet light. The Govmint is ridiculous about mercury now, and if you drop one, don't tell anyone. It would coast 2K to have your house "decontaminated" with the stuff we used to play with as a kid or Mother would tell us to spit out the thermometers we just tried to eat. (My brother used to crunch them away all the time). Yet those long florescent tubes we have all seen hit the floor, are mercury. I too have replaced most of the bulbs. I'd prefer l.e.d. bulbs but too expensive yet. What I do HATE about them is Govmint putting it's nose into my business and making it mandatory and taking freedom of choice away. BTW Rush is right. LOL. 'Hub

[Pandora]

I wish all products would be brought back here to the US "Made in USA" standard that existed not too long ago. Thats a huge issue with me and burns my backside a mile. *grump grump grump* Misleading packaging for CFL's & other products are a major issue as well - the product may state "Made in USA" however that usually means assembled in, with parts actually coming from overseas. *more grumping*

That being said - our entire house is CFL's and has been for years (since 2007). I think in that entire time only 2 have burnt out and we dropped one other (yes yes..I know...*gasping* EPA HAZMAT right? LOL) Nah - if I didnt die from playing with the mercury out of broken glass thermometers as a kid, doubt 1 broken bulb will make me keel over.

Energy savings are quite a bit since using the CFL's; have even upgraded a few to the "instant on" vs. the old ones that have to warm up. That being said - I can tell you if you suffer from migraines - dont get the Daylight CFL's - YEOWCH! While it has a different light hue (almost blue) and is brighter vs. standard "yellowish / soft white" CFL, for me it triggers my migraines so I gave all of them away ($30 worth ) to a friend.

I'd really like to go to LED lights (like 'Hub) eventually; prices are starting to come down on them, so hopefully that will be achieved.

[Logan]

Logan you are correct in the savings. Here is the downfall; the bulbs are all made in China (so what isn't?) and have an enormous amount of ultra violet light. The Govmint is ridiculous about mercury now, and if you drop one, don't tell anyone. It would coast 2K to have your house "decontaminated" with the stuff we used to play with as a kid or Mother would tell us to spit out the thermometers we just tried to eat. (My brother used to crunch them away all the time). Yet those long florescent tubes we have all seen hit the floor, are mercury. I too have replaced most of the bulbs. I'd prefer l.e.d. bulbs but too expensive yet. What I do HATE about them is Govmint putting it's nose into my business and making it mandatory and taking freedom of choice away. BTW Rush is right. LOL. 'Hub

I'm not interested in turning this into a political discussion. The only reason I mentioned Limbaugh is because there are some who want to push their political agenda and sway people into believing these bulbs are a fraud. This guy at Home Depot seemed to have an agenda which is too bad because he influences people into what they will buy and I know 1st hand that he was flat out wrong.

Since most reading this thread have financial problems I thought I'd point out the savings in replacing bulbs. The less energy I need means I use less energy and I get to keep more money in my bank account.Next time I'll leave Limbaugh out of it.....

Logan

All I know is the less dependent I am on energy the more free I am.

[OhioFiler]

I'm not interested in turning this into a political discussion. The only reason I mentioned Limbaugh is because there are some who want to push their political agenda and sway people into believing these bulbs are a fraud. This guy at Home Depot seemed to have an agenda which is too bad because he influences people into what they will buy and I know 1st hand that he was flat out wrong.

Since most reading this thread have financial problems I thought I'd point out the savings in replacing bulbs. The less energy I need means I use less energy and I get to keep more money in my bank account.Next time I'll leave Limbaugh out of it.....

Logan

All I know is the less dependent I am on energy the more free I am.

You did make this a political issue.Claiming you didn't doesn't make it not so.

Limbaugh's position is simple. The Federal government has no authority to demand citizens use a specific lightbulb.

All I know is the more you depend on the government to make decisions for you the less free you are.

[Logan]

You did make this a political issue.Claiming you didn't doesn't make it not so.

Limbaugh's position is simple. The Federal government has no authority to demand citizens use a specific lightbulb.

All I know is the more you depend on the government to make decisions for you the less free you are.

OK...I'm still saving money using CFL bulbs. The government also forces me to wear my seat belt or pay a fine. The government sucks but the bulbs work.

Logan

[kornellred]

Since the discussion has gone political - let's not forget that the intent is not to limit people's freedom to choose, but to take a step toward energy conservation. Fluorescent lights simply use less energy than incandescent bulbs. That is by no means a new discovery.
The trouble is - fluorescent lighting is far more expensive to manufacture. This means that you use the energy being conserved in the home to produce the energy-conserving lights at the source. The "economies of scale" kick in much later in the replacement cycle, but it will never be enough to claim that fluorescent lighting costs less than incandescent lighting in terms of energy use. The only way to conserve energy when it comes to lighting is to shut it off!

Let's say you drive a Prius that gets 50 MPG. Your neighbor drives a Corolla that gets 35 MPG. You paid $30,000 for your Prius and your neighbor paid $25,000 for the Corolla. Your Prius is producing less tailpipe pollution per mile driven. You paid $5,000 more for the Prius. For what? To make the batteries and other assorted hybrid drive components. The tailpipe emissions that you are not producing with your Prius came out of the exhaust stacks of the transportation units and foundries needed to make the Prius. All you are doing is paying up front, and polluting the atmosphere up front. The same amount of carbon gets put into the atmosphere per weight/mile no matter what you drive. It is just the distribution pattern of energy expenditure that changes.

It costs the same amount of energy to illuminate a dark space to "X" intensity regardless of whether you use incandescent, fluorescent, LED's, or halogen bulbs.

Thomas Edison is rolling over in his grave by now.

[Logan]

Since the discussion has gone political - let's not forget that the intent is not to limit people's freedom to choose, but to take a step toward energy conservation. Fluorescent lights simply use less energy than incandescent bulbs. That is by no means a new discovery.
The trouble is - fluorescent lighting is far more expensive to manufacture. This means that you use the energy being conserved in the home to produce the energy-conserving lights at the source. The "economies of scale" kick in much later in the replacement cycle, but it will never be enough to claim that fluorescent lighting costs less than incandescent lighting in terms of energy use. The only way to conserve energy when it comes to lighting is to shut it off!

Let's say you drive a Prius that gets 50 MPG. Your neighbor drives a Corolla that gets 35 MPG. You paid $30,000 for your Prius and your neighbor paid $25,000 for the Corolla. Your Prius is producing less tailpipe pollution per mile driven. You paid $5,000 more for the Prius. For what? To make the batteries and other assorted hybrid drive components. The tailpipe emissions that you are not producing with your Prius came out of the exhaust stacks of the transportation units and foundries needed to make the Prius. All you are doing is paying up front, and polluting the atmosphere up front. The same amount of carbon gets put into the atmosphere per weight/mile no matter what you drive. It is just the distribution pattern of energy expenditure that changes.

It costs the same amount of energy to illuminate a dark space to "X" intensity regardless of whether you use incandescent, fluorescent, LED's, or halogen bulbs.

Thomas Edison is rolling over in his grave by now.

It took me less than a year to recover the cost on my end and everytime I flip a switch the power plants can work a little less.

[discouraged]

I also like the energy savings. In fact, when one of my bulbs finally burned out and I was shocked - after all, I bought them when I bought the house 8 years ago. So - instead of changing bulbs once a year or so, I have changed two in 8 years. I'm sure I would have bought the other bulbs many times over in that time.

[Logan]

I also like the energy savings. In fact, when one of my bulbs finally burned out and I was shocked - after all, I bought them when I bought the house 8 years ago. So - instead of changing bulbs once a year or so, I have changed two in 8 years. I'm sure I would have bought the other bulbs many times over in that time.

I've always rented so never bought cfl's for anything but my lamps. After I moved into my current place bulbs kept burning out so I decided to replace every bulb with a cfl and put the old bulbs in the basement. When I move I'll switch them back.

[Exployer1234]

We use CFL's throughout the whole house. We rent as well, but the bulbs will come with us when we move out. I have saved money by doing this.

[justbroke]

All I can say is this. I replaced my major outdoor (perimeter) "lighting" with CFLs. Hate them because they don't give off as much light, but love them because I haven't replaced a single bulb since 2008. Additionally, I have 2 of them that are on 24/7 and have been for almost 3 years now. Impressive, but they were expensive since I purchased the "yellow" versions to keep bugs away from the house.

My energy costs have actually gone up, in Florida, and I can't explain it since I've replaced all my 100W Halogen floods with these CFLs. Go figure.

[Logan]

All I can say is this. I replaced my major outdoor (perimeter) "lighting" with CFLs. Hate them because they don't give off as much light, but love them because I haven't replaced a single bulb since 2008. Additionally, I have 2 of them that are on 24/7 and have been for almost 3 years now. Impressive, but they were expensive since I purchased the "yellow" versions to keep bugs away from the house.

My energy costs have actually gone up, in Florida, and I can't explain it since I've replaced all my 100W Halogen floods with these CFLs. Go figure.

Maybe it's something else you're doing that takes more energy? Up here in NH lights are on at 4 pm in the winter and we have a bunch in the kitchen and bathroom and I expected some savings but it's alot better than expected. The cost of electricity has gone up since last year but my bill has come down.

Logan

[OhioFiler]

All I can say is this. I replaced my major outdoor (perimeter) "lighting" with CFLs. Hate them because they don't give off as much light, but love them because I haven't replaced a single bulb since 2008. Additionally, I have 2 of them that are on 24/7 and have been for almost 3 years now. Impressive, but they were expensive since I purchased the "yellow" versions to keep bugs away from the house.

My energy costs have actually gone up, in Florida, and I can't explain it since I've replaced all my 100W Halogen floods with these CFLs. Go figure.

100W Halogens seem like a lot of output for landscape lighting. I've always used low voltage lighting outside and it's relatively inexpensive.

Do the yellow lights keep those giant cockroach-like palmetto bugs away in Florida? ;-)

[tobee43]

dh.......changed ALL the bulbs.....to cfl...about 6 months ago....HATE the way they "light" my low hangiing lights in the kitchen reflects....however,...i must admit our electric bill is down...