Right after new years, I replaced all the light bulbs in my house, including the ones in my ceiling fans, vanity fixtures, outdoor lights and recessed cans w/ CFLs. I noticed my electric bill seemed alot less than last year, so I pulled my old bills from Jan 1-June30 last year and compared the KWH useage w/ the bills I have received this year. For every month since the start of the year, my KWH useage is down 20-27%. Its saving me $30-$40 a month. I had no idea CFLs would make that much of a difference, so I thought I would pass along my experience with everyone. I think I invested a total of $200-$250 for all the CFLs, and they have almost paid for themselves in just 6 months. I will never use anything but CFLs ever again.
Codell, are these the curly light bulbs? Because those give off too little light for me......maybe I should replace 60w regular bulbs with 100w curly ones, would that do anything for me? DD
Newer CFLs are better at both maintaining the brightness and eliminating the "warm up time". They have bulbs that can be dimmed now too - but they're a tad expensive.
Yes, and LED's are even more efficient and should last more than a decade. I've switched all my house lights to CFL's and I have 2 LED's in my bathroom and to be honest I need more light in there. Unfortunately all that power savings is eaten up by running folding@home 24/7.
They practically give those away in caifornia. Ive seen them sold 3 for a buck. 27watts for 100 watt light. Its so bright that 3 are screwed in for kitchen lighting. The sad part is that even with the subsidized price, I still see incandescent bulbs at friends and neighbors houses or its seen as a luxury or a status hit not to entirely switch over. The attitude over these bulbs is depressing.
How long are these supposed to last? I was under the impression they are supposed to last for several years, at minimum, but I bought some last year during the summer and two of them are out already.
I'm noticing the same thing. They might last twice as long as incandescents, but nowhere near the 5-times that they promised. I still use them except where I have dimmer switches, but I think that CFLs are badly oversold.
I'm thinking about getting a bunch of these when I move late this month. My PC eats A LOT of energy, so I might as well save else where.
I have a CFL and it is good. Changes are coming in several areas of our lives and we might as well get used to it. <hr> Hopefully this isn't too far from codell's intentions for this thread. Oil billionaire Pickens puts his money on wind power
I only have CFLs inside the closets, but I agree, they give off too little light. Anyway, some dude almost lost his breathing when one of those things broke and he inhaled it... I heard it on a clip someone sent me off the Rush Limbaugh show. I'm with you on that, brother. Priorities, man, priorities...
The house was built in '48, but the room that the burnouts occurred in was re-done a few years ago, so the wiring should all be pretty new.
I know in Australia the plan is to get rid of the old style light bulbs soon (Not sure when). I think a lot of countries are doing the same thing too.
