One burned out on this same track a month ago and we were so incensed that we replaced it with an energy saving dimmable halogen bulb. Now another CFL popped this morning during breakfast.
All around the house, we've seen these curly bulbs pop and burn out within a year or two (if we're lucky). I'm wondering how good this is for the environment.
It may save energy, but the bulbs contain mercury. Snopes says one bulb breaking doesn't contain enough mercury to harm you, but needs to be handled with care. OK. That's one bulb, but think about your landfill full of these broken bulbs containing mercury. Then what?
The CFLs also promise to last for 7 years or whatever. None of our bulbs have lasted a whole lot beyond a year. The long florescent tubes are really durable, but the CFLs are really a disappointment.
If we didn't have our solar panels, I would have to think about this further. However, for the heavy usage areas where we might turn the lights on and off more than a couple of times a day, I think we'll change to incandescent. Aren't they talking about discontinuing making them? I sure hope they don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
How have your CFLs been doing?
Did you ask the store or write to the manufacturer? I wonder if this is normal, what's happening to your curly bulbs.
ReplyDeleteI never did switch to them.
Aloha Kay --
ReplyDeleteYep, every "curley-cue" bulb I've purchased, I wrote the date on the base. Not one has lasted beyond 1 1/2 years. I think it was a marketing crock to get us to pay more for the "curley-cue" bulb. Several cheap old-fashioned bulbs are still far cheaper to buy than the "curley-cue" bulbs. I haven't seen my electric bill decrease because of them either. DrumMajor
I have never heard of those 'curley-cue' bulbs burning out... Could it be your wiring? or you got a bad batch of bulbs?My electric bill has decreased alot since putting them in.
ReplyDeleteWe have had a couple of them burn out and the whole thing of disposing of them is a pain. I am not a fan.
ReplyDeleteOurs don't last anywhere near as long as advertised, but several years seems normal. And they do save us money in the long run. Are you buying quality ones or maybe bargain basement ones?
ReplyDeleteinteresting they don't last very long. Here we're asked to dispose of them separately, not in regular garbage now that I think of it. I rather like incandescent, but apparently they'll be banning those eventually.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing on this subject. It's a real sorespot for me. I hate those curly bulbs. Mainly I hate them because they don't put out a lot of light. Larger ones often don't fit lamps etc. I will buy the normal bulbs as long as I can find them, and go screaming in protest into the land of curly bulbs.
ReplyDeleteI hate CFL bulbs. In addition to being difficult to dispose of, they are uncomfortable for reading, too!
ReplyDeleteI have a whole shelf of the 'real' light bulbs and am not giving them up until I have to.
Interesting that two of them on the same track should burn out. Could it be the wiring in the track?
ReplyDeleteWe have a ceiling fixture with four CFLs, one of which flickers and goes out from time to time, only to come on again later. I wonder if it is the fixture rather than the bulb, but Dick doesn't seem to care one way or the other.
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
CFLs don't last 7 years that's for sure, and I have not seen any drop in my HECO bills, either.
ReplyDeleteWe too are using halogens on dimmers.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world, young miss Kay. Eat this food, and you will be sure to lose 20 pounds by tonight! Drink this drink, and you will be a raving beauty with more proposals than you'll know what to do with before the week is out. Although there are agencies which ostensibly monitor adverts to sift out whether the claims they make are true or not, lately I have begun to not take them very seriously as they, like your CFLs, don't seem to be doing their job. Although failure in an item like a bulb cannot be predicted individually, they do have what is known as Mean Time to Failure, which is an attempt to generalize duty cycles or lifetime. However, my CFLs also burn out at an alarming rate, sometimes right out of the box. But, if you think that buying CFLs will make any sort of dent in your electricity bill or save the planet or reduce greenhouse emissions one measurable iota, then truly the advertisers have won a stunning victory.
You may wish to look into another alternative, still a bit in the research stage for me, LED lighting. LEDs do last a surprising amount of usage and use even less power than CFLs do. They are just beginning to hit the market in sizes useful for homes. I bought a few and have 1 set up in my entry light as a test pilot to see how it goes. The light is bluish white and very good directly under the light, but there is surprisingly little 'flood' effect, so other parts of the room which used to catch some light, are now dark, which for me is something that disappoints. But so far this light has been on nightly for 3 or 4 months and it's still ok. LEDs do have the drawback that they burn out quickly when overdriven; heat is their enemy. I modified my lights (which have 3 LEDs in a single screw-in housing) by adding a tiny bit of heat conductive paste near the base where the actual drivers are built into the board so that the heat the driver circuits make is conducted away from them. We'll have to wait and see how long this lasts. They are still so new that costs have not come down yet; they run perhaps $5 for a single bulb but I think in the next couple years you'll see that drop down significantly. I just saw some, to my surprise, in costco last week although it was more expensive there. If you order them directly from a drop shipper from china they are cheaper.
aloha,
walt
So far my CFL have lasted over 2 years and are going strong but they are not good for reading. Thought of switching to LEDs but Walt may have changed my mind there. Someone needs to invent a better light bulb.
ReplyDeleteI for one have returned to the use of incandescent bulbs, except for those few bulbs which have not burned out. China makes all the incandescent bulbs these days as our government (read Democrats) drove the companies in the US that made them out of business. The last incandescent bulb MFG in the US was located here in our state of Virginia and it closed last year. The workers who made the bulbs are still unemployed. So much for EPA regulation (read Democrat).
ReplyDeleteI don't own any cfls but understand that someday soon we won't be able to buy them...
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing mine go out too soon, too. Not fair. They are supposed to last for years. Also, what do you do with them then? You can't put them in the landfills.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I just bought 2 yesterday, and installed them last night. They seem to last for me, but I think the advertised 4-7 year lifespan is based on using them 5 minutes per day. It does take a while for the bulbs to warm up to get to full intensity. When they get old the light always stay dim though.
ReplyDeleteWe are using CFL all over our house for the last six to seven years and you are right they don't last for over 11 to 12 months.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. My husband refuses to use them, but I guess the day is coming when all of us will be forced to do so.
ReplyDeleteCFL:
ReplyDeleteBurn out too fast.
Explode everywhere when they burn out.
Don't make enough light.
I want incandescent back.
Did you buy cheap bulbs? We have found that the better quality bulbs last a lot longer.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I own CFL and they seem fine.
ReplyDeleteOnly been about 4 years though for most. Fingers crossed!!!