LCD flat panels use less power than CRTs:
According to an article by Alan Hedge at Cornell University, LCDs use less power and save more energy than comparable CRT displays. When comparing a 15" LCD monitor with a 17" CRT monitor (which has an equal amount of viewing area), the LCD monitor used 55 watts less when operational (25 vs. 80) and 2 watts less when in standby (3 vs. 5). LCD screens also consume less power when returning from standby mode than CRTs.

Read more: CRT TV vs. LCD TV Power Consumption | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5398279_crt-lcd-tv-power-consumption.html#ixzz0rewTpnxB

And there was talk about banning the sale of new Plasmas. There is power usage guidelines for future models (or maybe that was only proposed).

I could maybe see banning the sale of new products that require an incandescent, but too many things exist right now that the CFLs do not fit in.

If you spend a little extra for your CFLs, the color is OK for most purposes. Most of my lights have been switched over.

now if designers could just get the LED lights to output enough light....

Found out today on the IKEA website they're phasing out all the incandescent bulbs NOW.
I'm with you Amy, I'm going to stock up for all those places where a CF doesn't work well. The manufacturers don't tell you the bulbs need special handling and while they talk about how
lo-o-o-o-n they last, I've had some that didn't last as long as a regular bulb. Many don't perform well in changing temperatures (outside lights, etc.)
We're to be offered LED lights also but what idiot thinks I want to put on make-up with either the CF or LEDs?
I can just see an underground market in incandescent bulbs once they're gone...Ps-s-t! Want to buy a new Rolex? Want to buy a new incandescent Bulb? I live in Los Angeles. Maybe we'll start driving south of the border and brining back light bulbs. It may be against the law to sell them (in a year or two) but can they bust us for possessing them?
I can see it now: "Son, you've got to get me a lawyer, I've been arrested for smuggling light bulbs".
What is Las Vegas going to do?

Don't miss this: if you live where you need to use heat, incandescents are more efficient and less impactful on the environment than fluorescents, heating your house while lighting it.

It is true that lower energy is required for the same number of lumens, but only the power-mad busybody could fail to note the greater distance from sunlight their child has in the result.

I've not had any luck with the supposed longer life of CFs, either.

Black-market here I come! I remember that after some states changed toilets to be low-flow. People started smuggling large toilet tanks from Canada and Mexico to sell.

I will have to start packing my suit cases with extra bulbs when I visit the US.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251445

I really don't see a difference.
We get European and Far-Eastern CFLs. You can pick "cool white" "daylight" or "warm white" color casts.

They are fine. The light is softer than an uncoated incandescent or halogen bulb. Perfect to wash a living area with light. Want something more focused, use a halogen or LED spot/desk lamp.

The only dim bulbs seem to be folks who don't buy a lamp with higher light output if that's what they want.

I stocked up on normal bulbs when a home depot near me was clearancing them out (in favor of the crappy ones) for $1 for a 6-pack. I'm going straight to LEDs after these run out.fluorescents are already on their way out, and the gov't doesn't even know it yet. Which is why government should stay the hell out of this sort of thing.

Radwaste is right regarding the balance of energy consumption when using CFL's in environments w/ a cold season. I'm not sure what he's referring to by 'distance from the sun' though - spectral distance?.

CFL's are another one of those fetishes that environmentalists seem to endorse solely for their punitive value. This is why they're promoted over LED's, which give off a more pleasing light. CFL's make everything ugly. They are an aesthetic poison. Otherwise they present little value for domestic lighting. They're just an illuminated hair shirt.

I've kind of lucked out in a way, many of the fluorescent bulbs I've used have been free. My father changed all the bulbs in his place to fluorescent one day. He ran to Sams Club and made a bulb raid. Seemed a good idea at the time. Mom even was in agreement at the time - good way to save money on the power bill. Then mom became upset over their slow turn on time and dim lighting. All the bulbs came out and were given to me. The same happened to a friend - his wife did not want the bulbs - and I got those also.

Have used a few LEDs. The cheep ones from Walmart are horrible. They all broke within a few months. The very expensive ones worked better, but still broke.

If you buy the $2 cheap-ass CFLs, yes, they blow.

I have a few of the high-end Sylvania Natural Light bulbs ($7 each), and they are BETTER than incandescent (unless you were using HPS, but those are about the same price and put out a shitload of heat).

You get what you pay for. If color accuracy is REALLY important to you, then you either go with T8 tubes or Sodium Halogen.

Banker, that bit about the flat-panel vs. CRT TVs didn't ring true to me either. An LCD type should be at worst equal in power usage to a CRT of the same viewing area.

I'm hoping that the development of LED bulbs will make the CFL discussion moot, but the LED technology isn't quite there yet. There are some good ones that will work well in a can fixture (the light emitting surface is a flat plane) and are dimmable, but they're $60 a pop and not widely available. Technology early adopters in the home automation area are jumping on them, and hopefully in a year or so the price will start coming down. I have yet to see a good general-purpose replacement for the ordinary incandescent bulb.

The commercial quality LEDs and CFs are fine, but all the crap at home depot is truly ghoulish. I changed the light in my laundry room - thinking laundry room, not critical right? Well, it changed the paint color in the room. Sorry, the CF's are banished to the outdoor porch lights until LEDs are ready for prime time (as in affordable and reliable in the consumer grade products) It's coming, they are here in commercial and will only get cheaper and brighter.

What - looking like you (and your mate) have Hepatitis doesn't put anyone in the mood?! I thought sexy-sallow was in this season...no?

I hate florescent light bulbs more than I had overhead lighting (which is A LOT. Overhead lighting makes me a little anxious or something. I like lamps. And candles.). In an old apt. I lived in we had 1 overhead fixture in the kitchen and it had multiple florescent bulbs in it (which I was too cheap to change out). The fixture was old and the bulbs flickered, some didn't work at all.

It actually felt like I was in some kind of horror movie when I went in there at night. The permanently dirty linoleum floor and mice really added to the Saw/Hostel-like atmosphere.

I only put CFL's in the lights that I can't readily reach without a ladder and a lot of coordination.

I hate them in the bathroom. The light is too yellow, and like Lynda said, they suck for putting on makeup.

I have an outside light that takes them, and if it's too cold outside they won't come on. How freaking useful is that? I need that light to LIGHT UP MY FRONT DOOR SO I CAN SEE. If the light won't work in the winter, WTF good is it?

I'll be a black market customer if they stop selling them here.

These light bulbs suck for use outside in the cold. I had them in my porch light fixtures last winter after my electric provider dropped off a free box of ten to promote them. A friend came over and stayed til after dark and no one thought to turn on the porch light til she left. My poor friend had to walk across my yard to the driveway in the dark in ice and snow. The light bulb took half an hour to heat up and fully come on. Save the environment but break your leg while the light bulb heats up. Oh, and they don't save much money if you get sued due to someone falling all because the damn light didn't come on right away.

heh, reminds me of the beginning of Joe Vs. The Volcano, where Joe [Tom Hanks] comes in to work every morning and they have these ghastly flourescent lights that make everyone look sick...

Dunno. Switched 3 years ago, and have had only one failure, and they replaced for free. But I auditioned them to find one with the quality of light I was looking for. I have a few full-spectrum incans. that are for reading, of course...

However, this shouldn't be a mandate. I save a lot of money and heat on the CFL's, so? I like them for that. I don' need anyone telling me that's my only choice though.

Personally, I could go without the added MERCURY poisoning that goes with CFL's.

http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html

What about chandelier bulbs? I can't imagine using CFLs in a chandelier. It'll look awful.

"Manufacturers already are deploying advanced incandescent bulbs that are efficient enough to stay on the market after 2012," So the horror of no incandescent bulbs is bullshit.

I'm basically against government regulations on this issue because of the above responses. It's basically unenforceable on the consumer level. People will do what they want to do and telling them they can't just makes them want to do it more.

We will be switching from CFL which I'm very happy with to LEDs. The main advantages with LEDs vs CFL is turn on time and bulb life. With regards to spectrum they have sulfur and phosphor compounds that can be added to put out any spectrum you want.

The have shrouded CFL for chandeliers.
http://www.easternlightbulbs.com/nav/itempage.asp?itemid=593&catid=112

Or if you want the exact same effect with less energy go with Halogen bulbs for chandelier.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/Lighting/CompactFluorescentBulbs/PRD~0525781P/Feit%252BHigh-Efficiency%252BHalogen%252BBulb%25252C%252BChandelier%25252C%252B2-Pk/CROSSSELL~0525377%20GE%2BCompact%2BFluorescent%2BChandelier%2BLight%2BBulb%2B%2BCandelabra.jsp?locale=en

While it is government intrusion and thus a generally bad situation; the idea that it will catastrophically change your world is self involved bullshit.

The main reason that the high efficiency bulbs are not selling is sticker shock. Wallmart's entire business plan hinges on this concept. Not sure why this is but with people in general would rather pay $100 for a 1 year mower than pay $300 for a 10 year mower. Still doesn't change the fact the the feds forcing it is a bad idea.

Vlad, the CFL chandelier bulb you linked to has a medium base, not a chandelier base, so it wouldn't work in most chandeliers. The halogen looks okay, but it's three bucks a bulb!

@kishke - halogen bulbs last significantly longer than traditional incandescents.

Best reading lamp ever, bar none, was the Sylvania Capsylite high-pressure halogen-sodium bulbs. But they put out a SHITLOAD of heat. They were expensive, but lasted at least 4 times as long as a regular old bulb.

Next up is the CFL I have now, which is tuned specifically for reading. Similar to the Ott-Light, but a little less pricey.

The right bulb makes all the difference in the world.

In April 2008, I put together a review of CFL's and some of their difficulties that are not talked about, or printed on the box.

The CFL Advertising Account

The good and bad about compact fluorescent lights. Why the ads are both true and false. How to save and waste money on CFL's.

One of the points:
========
Mike: OK, no problem. Buy 10 CFL's and save $750. Get rich!
Techno: Yeah, if you don't turn them off.
========

My research says that the average CFL will turn on 2000 times before its electronics fail. The recommendation to leave them on for 15 minutes is a crazy interpretation of that fact. Leaving them on doesn't heal them. But, hey, at least if you leave them on for 15 minutes each time, you will get 500 hours use out of them before they fail.

I also present a cost analysis of expected savings.

I have CFLs in bathrooms; they get turned on and off alot. I've found that they generally last for years, so the 2000 on-off number is not necessarily correct.

Another downside of CFLs (and all flourescents) is that they can mess with low-voltage wiring in the house. For example, some of our intercom stations have problems which the tech blames on interference from CFLs.

I'm a fan of halogen. In this ancient home of mine, they are the only light bulb that will last more than a week. I've found that with this strange house that the "longer-lasting" florescent bulbs last approximately the same time as the incandescents.

However, most of my house requires varying sizes of chandelier bulbs because of my cheap ceiling fans. I have a few that I can put the halogen bulbs in that don't look too bizarre, unlike the fluorescents.

Down in the basement though, fluorescents give the hundred year old original cellar walls a healthy white glow, unlike the creepy glow from the incandescents.

So, personally, I like being able to choose from varying options and I hate a government that thinks they know what is best for me when it's run by idiots that will swear America is a democracy.

Such government paternalism is precisely why I swapped over to becoming a libertarian.

Does it change my life dramatically? No. The decision does not. The removal of choice, because of the PRECEDENT that it sets...that is a more significant concern.

President Gerald Ford
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

Now, we have this more amazing realization:
A government big enough to tell you what lightbulbs to use is big enough to tell you how you will do everything.

Ten years ago people would have laughed at you if you suggested this government intrusion. Now, it is just a small extension of government power "for the good of us all".

Here in Mexico, as you use more electricity the price per kwh goes up fast. I use a lot of the fluorescent bulbs, but we only put them where they will say on a lot.

In the 4 bathrooms, we use incandescent, because they get turned on and off a lot.

The outside lights are all fluorescent. Over the front door which is turned on all night even when we are not here (by the man who watches the house) we have a 13 watt yellow fluorescent bulb.

That sucker runs 3,000 or more hours a year, and must have been out there over 5 years.

The other outside lights are considerably bigger, but only run when needed. We do not turn them on and off a lot every day, usually only once when needed, then wait until we are done for the night.

In the big room (600 square feet because the fireplace shields the laundry room behind it) we have four ceiling lights, and three of them have fluorescent bulbs, the fourth is seldom ever used.

The one by the kitchen door burned out last week. I am guessing that one runs 4 hours a day, and it said on it July 2004 when I installed it.

When night comes, we put the small bulb over the front door on and it stays on all night.

Then, we essentially light the house by turning the bulb on in the computer room; the bulb in the big room by the kitchen door, and one bulb in the kitchen and they stay on till bedtime which is around midnight.

In the main bedroom is incandescent bulb in the entryway, which we turn on and off if we go in for something. We don't replace a lot of bulbs of any kind.

I think it is correct if you don't like the light from the fluorescent put in a bigger bulb. A 40 watt one puts out a lot of light.

At the same time, if they still sell incandescents when I get back to Texas, I will buy a closet full. I want the choice.

Amy,
Thanks for the shout out.

I predict that there will be permits available for incandescents in residences with "special artistic need"...if you're rich enough to own some nice art (and to make substantial campaign contributions) then you'll be able to get one of these permits.

Also, I wonder how long until they ban electric ovens? The nameplate on my GE oven says "8kw"...even if it's only drawing half of that on the average (as the oven thermostat cycles on and off), that's still as much as 40 incandescent bulbs all burning at once.

Again, there will be special permits for those whose entertaining involves the political classes. Everyone else can be content with microwaves.

@david foster:

When either my water heater (electric) or furnace (oil) dies, I'm converting to gas. I'll probably save a grand a year on the water heater alone, and probably another several hundred from the dryer.

Brian...gas for direct heating makes all kinds of sense: almost all the energy in the fuel gets converted to heat, which is what you want, whereas if the gas is used to make electricity first, much of the energy is wasted in generation and transmission losses. However, it seems the government efficiency standards ignore this fact and only consider efficiency at the point of use.

http://www.apga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3334

Loved this hilarious bit of Twitter pissy-ness from a guy named @mattmanning:

@amyalkon If you preferred the light from whale-blubber-fueled lamps would that be OK too?

My response:

@mattmanning But, my lamps aren't whale blubber-fueled, nor are the lampshades made from the skin of disappeared neighborhood dogs.

I drive the world's most PC car and have put only 17K miles on it in six years. I was bringing bags to the store before the year 2000. (Now I get paper bags so I can leave bottles in the alley for the poor so they don't have to scrounge in the trash cans.) And I take other measures as well. But, in my postage-stamp-sized house, well, here's @mattmanning's snivel:

@amyalkon But no matter how you slice it, you're still letting your frivolous preferences for light color prevent you from easily conserving

And here's my response:

@mattmanning "Frivolous preferences" involve creating an environment in which I can be productive. I spent $5K more on a conserving car.

I might have had a campaign to make SUVs uncool to drive, but note that I'm not looking for the government to legislate what you drive. I find this lightbulb ban troubling, plus in light of Andrew_M_Garland's post, Rauch's points, and other stuff I've read, it's rather ridiculous.

Invited @mattmanning to come over and comment away here. Perhaps he can persuade some of you to make your houses have dim ugly lights for not much benefit.

I'm off to walk to the coffee shop to write!...feeling a bit ashamed, in light of @mattmanning's scoldings, that I'm wearing rubber-soled shoes instead of going barefoot to save the planet. (Just kidding, not insane!)

Your entire argument here seems to be that its OK to use wasteful lighting since you're oh-so-conservationist on other fronts. I just don't buy it. Wastefulness is wastefulness and you don't have a good reason other than "I don't like it." Do you know that people said the exact same thing about incandescent bulbs when they started to replace oil lamps for nighttime lighting in homes? It's not that the lighting from them is bad; it's just not what you're used to. I've been using CFLs for over a decade and the new ones that are made today are nearly indistinguishable from incandescent bulbs.

Also I find it hilarious that you equate leaving snarky notes on peoples cars to having "a campaign to make SUVs uncool to drive." If you think you've had any impact at all on the SUV market, then you're deluding yourself. The only thing that has made SUVs uncool to drive is $5/gal gasoline a couple of summers ago.

Consider what Mathew Manning's position means for freedom in society.

Manning: "Your entire argument here seems to be that its OK to use wasteful lighting since you're oh-so-conservationist on other fronts."

In the new age of government control and "conservation" there is no leeway. You must conserve in all things as directed, with no offsets for other good behavior.

A market gives you some freedom to control your personal priorities. Using energy is of course expensive. But, you have produced value with your ability and work, and should be able to decide how much of your earned wealth you want to devote to those priorities. Mathew's position is one of control. Warmist: "We have decided what you need, and you will comply in each and every case".

AMG...precisely.

Matthew...I'm very concerned about the incipient lithium shortage, and have done my part in lithium conservation by not buying a Prius or other hybrid. I hope you are also helping to conserve this resource.

Matthew:

If you're so worried about using too much energy, get off the damn computer! I'm guessing it gobbles up more electricity than a couple incandescent light bulbs. After all, you don't need to be surfing the Internet any more than the rest of us need to be using incandescent light bulbs!

Wastefulness is wastefulness

It's not wasteful if the light is better. I happen to use lots of CFLs, to save money, but I definitely agree that incandescent light is better. It's not the government's job to decide which light I can use.

Your entire argument here seems to be that its OK to use wasteful lighting since you're oh-so-conservationist on other fronts. I just don't buy it. Wastefulness is wastefulness and you don't have a good reason other than "I don't like it."

Well then matt, why dont the government mandate that everyone buy ipads and well save wasting gas on all the various fronts that go into making paper. It saves waste right? Why no ban books and newspaapers.

SOmeone brought up earlier that flat screen use more than tubed TVs, Projections systems use even less, when are you going to vollenteer to raid peoples more and take away they energy wasting TVs? Sure the bulbs for projections cost as much as a small TV, but think of the energy you'll be saving.

Someone else just pointed out the uslessness of converting gas to electicity to convert into heat - governmet dosent seem to care about that - why do they care about legislating every decision you might possible make?

Incedentally I cant stand florecent tubes - I can hear the power runing thru them and it literally make me nuts

I can't add much more than my vote on this issue.

CFL's suck. Ditto on most of the negatives above. No significant pros experienced by me. I switched dozens of bulbs over to CFLs, but as they die out, I'm replacing most of them with incandescent bulbs again.

Won't be voting for any eco-fascists in 2010 or 2012. ;-)

If you care about the environment, then turn off your lights and go to bed earlier, but leave me the hell alone if I want to stay up and read a book.

Buy compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs, which last about 5 years and use less energy. Switching just one standard bulb to a CFL can help you reduce your electricity bill by as much as 75 cents per month.

I do have a CFL as a main light in my room, but I use the little halogen bulbs for my "night" kitchen under cabinet lights.

But saving $0.75 per month ($9.00/yr) really freaking makes a difference? Ok five bulbs -- $45 per year. That really makes an F'ing difference?

BTW -- Do any of you remember the low-flush toilets?

So now I have to flush three time with my 1.6 gal. toilet versus the water I wasted with my 2.5 gal. toilet. Uh, where's the savings.

I turned my high floe toilet into a medium flow by sticking a few mason jars in the tank

While I do object to the government telling me I must use CFLs, I have found one type that I like. These "daylight" CFLs are the best bulbs I've ever used in terms of light quality. They really do simulate daylight indoors. Wonderful for putting on my makeup and the light makes the colors of everything truer.

Problem: I can't use them everywhere in my house because they don't fit. I have recessed lighting in my kitchen and have to use special bulbs for that. There's a noticeable difference when you move from my living room to my kitchen in terms of light. Everything looks worse and weirdly yellower in the kitchen.

That said, I don't like that I have to use CFLs (or will have to in the future). I started buying these before the mandate on incandescents because I was looking for better light and wanted to see if I'd save money. Slightly less than $2 a bulb, but I have yet to change the ones I bought more than three years ago. Not really sure if there's any net savings there yet.

So a $9 dollar a year savings is worth it?

Kiss my ass!

I have only had one CFL completely fail. It failed about 2 months ago. It was in the bathroom and there when I bought the place. The light was 10.5 years old or more. The other one in there is still going strong. Another one stopped getting to full brightness in my carriage light, but has been working fine in the other bathroom since (guess I should have noted it was not rated for outdoor use).

I have only had 9 CFLs though.

Lets do a little math (sorry). Lets go with 3 on/offs per day (very conservative estimate). Then we have 10.5*365*3 = 11497.5. A lot more than 2000. All but 3 of the CFLs have clearly lasted well past the 2000 switches level. Of the 3, one is a recent change and the 2 are not used often.

Oh yeah! I did have one that was dead out of the box, that I took back and got a replacement for.

I just realized...all the lights I have seen take electricity, they don't eat animals. So they are vegans. I suppose oil lamps might not be...oh, candles can be made from animal fat.

BTW, did anyone notice my source?

http://fatherhood.gov/dads/being-a-dad/tips-for-parents

WTF do CFL lightbulbs have to with being a good parent?

This is funny. I'm not sure if it's worth continuing my attempt to hammer the concept of social responsibility into you egomaniacs, but I'm gonna lay out some math in response to these "So a $9 dollar a year savings is worth it? Kiss my ass!" comments.

Let's assume this $9 a year figure is correct. Let's also assume an average electrical rate of $0.12/kWh. I think that's pretty reasonable. That means your $9/year (kiss my ass) savings equate to 9/0.12 = 75 kWh/year energy savings. Keep in mind this is the savings for changing just 1 bulb.

According to the US Census Bureau there were 129,065,264 households in the US in 2008 (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html). For simplicity, let's round that down to 129 million. So if every household in the US changes 1 incandescent to 1 cfl then we, as a nation, save 129,000,000 * 75 ~= 9.7 billion kWh per year.

Now that's total energy savings over a year. Lets divide this figure by time and discover what our instantaneous power savings are by doing this replacement.

9,675,000,000 / 24 hours / 365 days ~= 1.1 Gigawatts ~= 1100 Megawatts.

According do this link (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_output_MW_of_a_coal_power_plant) the average coal-fired power plant has an output of 667 Megawatts.

What this means is that for every incandescent bulb that all of America replaces with a CFL, we can shut down 1 1/3 coal-fired power plants.

You see? You are not an island. You are not alone in the universe. When you have a country of 300 million people, small decisions add up. I know it's hard to think about anyone but yourself, but this is the way the world works.

Ms Alkon, I'm sure you were proud of your anti-SUV campaign Fuel-efficient vehicles are great, but imagine what could be accomplished if you supported other forms of energy savings? What if you talked about the savings that CFLs allow instead of your "CFLs suck LOL, gov't is out to get you" message?

That 9.7 billion kWh per year? What if that all came out of coal power? Coal releases about 1 lb of CO2 per kWh generated. That equates to 4.8 MILLION TONS of CO2.

Once again, keep in mind that all of these calculations are based on 1 BULB PER HOUSEHOULD. How many bulbs are in your home?

I guess I should explicitly state my conclusion here instead of letting it be implied.

The free market does not incentivize these kinds of changes. Most people only do what's best for them on a very short-term basis. CFLs are expensive so lots of people will continue to buy incandescents simply because the price tag is lower. They don't think about the long term savings or the environmental impact. This is why the government has to step in sometimes. It's the same as when we outlawed R-22 because CFCs were eating the ozone layer, and when we outlawed DDT because it was giving people cancer and killing bald eagle eggs.

When the government imposes a restriction, it's not always because they hate your freedom. Sometimes it's because the market incentives don't accurately reflect our long-term interests.

The free market does not incentivize these kinds of changes. -Matthew Manning

And thats why computers never got any better then 5 room monstrdities incapable of anthing higher than simple math until the government forced them to get better right?

Government regulation hampers productivity.

Look at cars for example, you know why american cars are less efficeant then imports? Becuase the american car makers rather then trying to complete with forgien auto makes ran like little bitches to washington to have import tarrifs increased.

The free market works, but we dont have a free market, we have a regulated market.

A market in which players who pay washington enough money can bypass the rules others have to follow. Or fir the right price can write the rules themselves

What this means is that for every incandescent bulb that all of America replaces with a CFL, we can shut down 1 1/3 coal-fired power plants.

Right. And for every hour of net-surfing or tv-watching or book-reading or air-conditioning you and 300 million others do, we can shut down 50 coal-fired power plants. So should the government ban these and probably ten thousand other inessential, energy-wasting activities? And are you a socially-insensitive egomaniac if you engage in them?

Why Did my CFL Burn Out So Fast?

"Get used to frequent recycling. One of the biggest myths in all the CFL hype is the rated life of the bulb. You'll see blog post and article after article repeating the same misleading "fact" that you will get 6,000 or more hours of life from the CFL. Well, both consumer complaints and lab research are showing how untrue this is."

The rated life for a CFL is measured in either 4 hour on/off cycles or continuously on. Unfortunately, they are sensitive to the number of cycles (and many other factors), so most uses will not see near their claimed 6,000 hours or 10,000 hours of use.

That severely reduces the savings, if any, from using CFL's in most applications and locations. Further, if you hate the light quality or the buzz, then saving some money is a trade-off, not a no brainer.

Did you know that CFL's become 20%+ dimmer as they age toward failure?

The requirement to use CFL's is a case of regulatory capture. Big business is writing law to capture profits, in the name of green energy. The entire green energy movement is a profit-seeking venture. Al Gore, high priest of green, became a billionaire by investing in companies that were made rich by favorable regulations after the fact.

Matthew...do you read books, magazine, or newspapers in paper form that you could read on-line? Because if you do, you are certainly wasting energy...whereas comnputer usage does take power, the activities involved in paper-based publishing (shipment of trees or rags to papermill, production of paper, shipment of paper to printing plant, physical printing, delivery of product to home or store) surely takes much more. Calculating the amount would be a lot harder than for bulb-replacement, but it's not trivial.

Should the government ban production of new paper-based media in order to save energy?

What rubbish. CFLs are prefectly adequate for every normal use, and they save 75% of the energy.

Yes, incandescents provide heat. At the cost of electric heat. It isn't free, unless you're already heating with electric resistive heat (baseboard units). And in the summer, they fight the air conditioning.

OK, so CFLs need a couple of minutes to warm up. So the light is ~slightly~ different. (Not very much so.) Be brave, you can handle it! :)

If you quit expecting everything different from what you're used to to be worse, then you might actually find - surprise! - they're OK after all. But that would require rating them with your intellect instead of your emotions, not something we're encouraged to do here in "heartland" America.

As for this being about personal choice - guess what - it is NOT entirely your business. You don't live in this world by yourself. The more energy you use, the less there is for the rest of us, and the more it costs for the rest of us.

To those griping about CFLs not reaching the advertised hours of life: THAT IS AN AVERAGE. It means that some of them will last longer, and some less long. It does not mean that every CFL in your house will last the rated 6,000 or 8,000 or 10,000 hours, just that over the long run it will average out to that.

Nobody notices the ones that last for 20,000 hours, only the ones that fail in 2,000 hours. Once again, you have to THINK about it, rather than letting your feelings rule you.