In Defense of CFLs!

Last week Powell put up a post on the bad luck he's had with CFLs. I've written extensively on my good experiences with CFLs, so I thought a video of my home CFL installations would help make my case! I use the warm color EcoSmart brand sold by Home Depot and I'm very happy with them. My advice to those who have been frustrated in the past with CFLs is to do your research! They are more complicated to manufacturer than incandescents (which needs to die) so the quality between manufacturers is going to vary, but as we've shown on our lighting calculator they are an excellent investment!

The video below is far from professional quality, but may give you some good ideas on areas in your home that you can install CFLs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktDzYPJRx34

Here's my post describing the occupancy sensor I have on the kitchen CFL bulbs.

So there's my experience. What's yours?

Tags:

CFL installation

CFL occupancy sensor

CFL video

good CFL

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/08/2011 - 03:30

There are halogen "type A" bulbs out there that fall somewhere in the middle for efficiency, to. I just found these Sylvania ones: http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/New+Products/HALOGENSuperSaver/ and Ikea has some too. Slightly more $$ than incandescent, not quite as efficient, but they meet the standards and are dimmable, instant-on, full spectrum etc. You could probably switch them out in your anti-conservation cousin's house and they'd never know. ;)

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/06/2011 - 18:56

I bought some "instant on" CFLs (IIRC they were GE branded). They worked well for a few months, but now they take a while to come to full brightness.

Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 06/05/2011 - 22:35

CFLs can be used in almost all locations where incandescent light bulbs are used. However the lifetime of a CFL is reduced greatly when used in applications where the light is frequently switched on and off. Also sometimes they are unsuitable for use with dimmer switches, and they cannot be used as spot lights - they are better for lighting whole rooms.

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