New CFL bulbs

[toggleswitch2]

I would imagine less risk of fire than a burning-hot incandescent bulb/lamp than is burning white-hot!

 

[sudsmaster]

My latest lighting craze is the small automatic all-in-one LED nightlights from - of all places - Walmart. I've been buying LED nightlights for years, mainly from Costco, but have been disappointed with their light output and longevity. And the ones that cycle various colors drive me a bit nuts - I like to keep them on plain white light but the first power outage sends them back into cycling the colors. The latest I've gotten from Wally World seem to have decent light output at a reasonable power consumption (.3 watts). And they're relatively cheap: four lights for $6. I place them strategically around the home/garden/shop so I can navigate at night without having to turn on various room lights. We'll see how long they last. Walmart also has 1.7 watt C7 style LED lightbulbs. I put one in the fridge water dispenser. I had hoped to use them also in the Neptune washer and dryer, but they just don't put out enough light to be satisfactory there. And despite using five times as much energy as the all-in-one LED nightlight, they don't seem to put out all that much more light.

Another advantage of the LED nightlights - their plugs are not polarized so they can be oriented up or down as needed.

 

[sudsmaster]

PS-My favorite CFL bulb is the FEIT 75 watt equiv "daylight" from Costco. Unfortunately my local Costco seems to have stopped stocking them... but I found another location that still sells them. The color rendition - an issue with some CFL's - appears to be pretty good, although the actual CRI value is not stated on the product.

 

[spankomatic]

Not big on CFL's. I managed a restaurant years ago and switched all of the incandecents to CFL's. Made everything in the restaurant look flat. Some of the food actually looked green. Employees and customers were complaining of being dizzy. Some complained of head aches due to the lights. It was a BIG ISSUE. With in the first month some started to burn out (flicker thing). Got rid of them and went back to regular light bulbs. Customers really commented then how nice the place looked. One of them actually thought we painted the place. In my home I also have regular light bulbs. Sometimes I just like candle light. When I had CFL's in the stair well I took them out for safety reasons. Could not see the stairs until halfway down then the CFL's would finally come on. My biggest complaint though is loosing the freedom to buy the kind of light bulb I want to buy. CFL's = Socialism light bulb when you are TOLD what light bulb to buy. It's coming. I think I would rather buy a solar panel and support solar energy than CFL's.

 

[spankomatic]

2

 

[whitekingd]

Spankomatic

I totally agree! I want to be able to choose the type of bulb I buy!!!!!!!!!

 

[jeffg]

Spankomatic, my partner would have been one of the people complaining about headaches. We've had to stop going to many restaurants and other places due to CFLs. At first I thought it was too bizarre to be true, but now I know it's not: CFLs trigger his headaches. A good friend of ours who works in a Lyon's restaurant said they went back to incandescents for this exact reason.

The moment we walk into a room that's using them, he starts complaining about flickering. I never notice any. He does. Even if these CFLs are inside enclosures and you can't see what bulb type is inside, he's never once been wrong about it.

I hope that, for the sake of people like him, both bulb types continue to be readily available. We've already stockpiled a few dozen incandescents just in case.

 

[jetcone]

Yes Suds

the only thing I changed was the bulbs. My 1986 Sub Zero is still humming away.

Greg, I too tried the dimming bulbs and the 3 way. The 3 ways are hitting a year, the dimmings lasted only a month. I think I will try dimmable LED's when they come down in price.
But I still dimming halogens to 35% so I'm in no rush there.