The Daylight bulbs have a blue-like tinge to them, and they replicate the light spectrum of the sun.

They take some getting used to, but they are BY FAR my favorite.  The Bright white ones look fluorescent, and the soft white ones mimic Incandescents...Incandescent light is an artificial "norm" of lighting...

Once you adjust to the daylight ones, you'll never go back.  Colors are brighter, truer, and more vivid.  They are better for reading, writing, drawing, painting, you name it.  Of all CFL, they cause the least strain on my eyes.

But again, they just take getting used to.  It's strange to walk into a room and have it look like it's outside...we're used to yellow or white light inside.  

Just give them a chance!

Are all the CFs spiral? Can you use lampshades with them? Do they fit into all standard lamp and fixture sockets? What do you do if one breaks? How soon will LED bulbs be on the market? Mayor Bloomberg just announced that all the NYC bridges are getting LED bulbs. If so, why can't everyone? Should we wait around for them instead of buying lots of CFs?

Seriously, why are we even talking about CFL's anymore?  

I have to say that I have been seriously disappointed with the n:vision bulbs I've bought.  Three of them blew out within a few weeks (out of the dozen or so I bought).  I do live in an 80-year-old house with some admittedly sketchy electrical wiring, but I find a 25% failure rate to be far too high.

I love the 5000K daylight.  It makes my home feel sunny and colors render correctly when I take indoor photos.  

Since I switched to the 5000K daylight bulbs (over a year ago), I can't stand incandescent yellow light at all.  Ugh.  

I generally end up ordering CFL's from the internet and I like Litetronic's bulbs best.  They make some incredibly small spirals and they claim to have very little mercury in them.  And no plastic in the packaging.  

...is that they last so darn long, you cannot justify switching to daylight balanced or LED now that those are available.  Whaaaaa! I want my daylight bulbs.

Anyone want to buy half a dozen slightly used CFLs?

I have tried a wide variety of CFLs from different retailers and manufacturers in attempts to satisfy the requirements of my wavelength-conscious spouse. Most of the soft whites are too yellow, and the daylight bulbs give a weird, sterile look to things in a home setting (might be fine for a workshop, though).

My favorite, hands down, is the Sylvania line (sold only at Lowe's, at least in our town). The packages and bulbs are clearly labeled with the color wavelengths, (2700k, 3000k, 3500k etc.).  This gives me more confidence in knowing that I'm getting the color I am looking for.  And Sylvania makes a very nice 3-way bulb that mimics a 30-70-100 incandescent.  The light quality is good and passes the "spouse test" with flying colors.  My only gripe is that the 3-way bulb is about a quarter inch too wide to fit inside some of our smaller lamp harps.

Like all fluorescent bulbs, CFL bulbs have a little bit of mercury in them (I know, not much).  I understand that LED light bulbs do not.  LEDs are used in many applications like certain Christmas lights, and for backlighting in a very few of the more expensive LCD TVs and monitors.  Are they available to replace regular household light bulbs yet?  If you know, please let me know at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += "&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"; else output += unescape(l[i]); } document.getElementById('eeEncEmail_vocXOaavJG').innerHTML = output; //]]> .  Thanks.

I see that someone answered my question.  I should have read the entire blog first.  How do I delete my  !@# post?

One thing that I'm interested in, living in the Pacific Northwest where the grey inhabitants are afflicted during the long nights of winter with SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) is how the wavelengths of light emitted by CF differ from regular bulbs.   Just eyeballing it, it seems that IB's emit a warmer, more solar-like light...whereas, the CFs are cooler, colder.    

It's not just about whether you can find your car keys, but the overall mood the light puts you in...

I'd be interested in more information on what I've read about CFL's made in China burning out faster. Does it help the environment if we have to buy twice as many when they break?  Are the extra emissions involved in shipping them overseas and making them in a nation with no environmental standards significant enough to make a point of buying American?
Anyone have any links about those questions?

Where's Panasonic ? Higher quality, made in Japan, and rated for enclosed fixtures (higher ambient heat ratings of the electronics, I presume). They're not cheap, but I haven't had to replace any of them in two years of use.  

Compare that to any of these 'made in china' varieties that often fail within six months, regardless of a 10,000 hour or higher guarantee. With these devices containing mercury (and G_d knows what else), I have to assume many won't escape the landfills.

Consider last costs - not first costs. Then, you will reconsider everything you do - and I do.

JD Howell

See you out there, on my bicycle of course...

Jabailo, I think that the author was clear in stating that some of these bulbs were made to emit warmer yellow light.  Have you seen or tried these?

Why are you guys at Grist condoning shopping at Wal-Mart?!?!?
No one should be encouraged to go there!

We have approximately 13 CFL's in our house and I love them.  Yes, we are seeing a reduced electric bill, and the resultant good feeling about helping the environment isn't bad either. The smaller bulbs--825 lumens-- are soft light by GE (made in China, but have never broken). We get them in packages of 8 at Sam's.  I've not noticed any difference in our ability to see as they can be quite bright.  We have two sets of tract lighting which are both halogen, but they are on dimmers so that we can manage usage.  My sewing room has 4 of the larger CFL bulbs made for sewing room, and other workroom, use so that I can see colors better.  All in all, I really like the CFL's.  But don't forget to turn the lights out when you leave the room, even if only for a few minutes.

I too like the Daylight bulbs far better than the yellow unhealthy glow of a soft white. I would also recomend getting the higher wattage bulbs get the 75 or 100's so you dont have to squint in the dim lighting of a 60 watt bulb. 60 watt bulbs are far too dim to do any reading. with the 100 watt equivalent your still only using something like 26 watts. The daylight bulbs help you keep from getting depressed in the winter with the full spectrum of lighting.
Jamie
 

I have been using CFLs since they were introduced. In the early years they had a muddy light, delayed start, one or two with issues of overheating at the base causing the base to blacken and loosen from the spiral. In the past few years I have been delighted with the quality. The soft lights are absolutely the best if you are relaxing, watching TV or as lights in the bedroom. The 3500-4100K are the ones I use most often for general lighting so you can see to vaccum, read or any task that requires you to see the floor (cleaning up hairballs?) The really bright more blue ones are great for detail work, like refilling your toner cartridges. The brighter ones are also great in the laundry room for separating navy from black socks. We have 18 of them currently because they aren't recommended in areas where they need to be turned on and off frequently, so the closets and bathrooms are still on incandescent except for one 120LED in a coat closet. Love it,but it is too big for any of our current fixtures so it is relegated to a porcelain utility socket. I have read of dimmable cfls, but the ones I ordered from ULA (Ebay) have been disappointing. 2 of 10 failed in a 1980's Hybrinetics dimmer.I also had issues with a GL600 Lutron dimmer of similar vintage. They have, however worked quite well with Heath zenith motion detector floodlights (I used the 23 watt version cfl and had to make make extenders out of aluminum flashing to protect those longer bulbs from the weather.)The Costco cfl flood bulbs have worked well in our Intermatic timer six outlet ground stakes (dying sadly only when attacked by a renegade weed whacker)They are not rated for timers, so it was a surprise when they worked. When they finally die I turn them in to 'Hazardous Waste Disposal' at our local trash collection facility along with all the dead alkaline batteries I've saved. I really agree with all the people who say daylight are the best, I have grown to dislike the 2700K but use them near bedtime to allow our bodies to wind down. The brighter ones tend to encourage your body to stay 'awake'.

Wrap your cfls carefully in bubble wrap and give them to a charity. There are many low income people who would be delighted to lower their electric bill but have to make careful choices regarding the disposition of their available income. Then, run out and buy the daylight bulbs with a cheerful heart and clear conscience.

CFLs are available in almost any shape you could ask for. Check on Ebay for shapes and wattages. If you prefer to shop in your community, you may want to print the pages that have lights that appeal to you and check with local shops. You may find more variety at lamp or electric/plumbing stores. As others have mentioned, there are a ton of great cfls offered on the internet by green providers. I tried to find an illustration of how to remove your lamp harp and insert a cfl if you want to use a larger cfl than is easily installed. Sometimes a socket extender is all that is required, although that might require a harp extender as well. This could possibly throw off the proportion of the lamp shade...You might try replacing one or two of your bulbs with cfls and then just wait like the rest of for led lights to become affordable and useful. Right now, the 'throw' of leds is pretty pathetic. Really bright to look at, but not so much on the surface you are trying to light. We use 12 of them in one application at work and several others at home, but my DH refuses to let me spend $90 on a single light bulb of the new LED variety. I have one of the older ones in a porch light, very 'film noir'. I have a 10 watt 14.3 oz (nearly a pound!) LED bulb in another application. When it's on by itself late at night, it's like wading through an acquarium, minus the water. According to one vendor I talked to, the problem has been that LEDs really prefer DC (direct current) to the AC (alternating current) we use in the US. They are also very sensitive to how much DC. They will burn out quickly if they receive too much...they will be brighter, but will crash faster. Although they don't use much energy,like most other bulbs they are degraded by heat and last longer in applications where they have sufficient airflow.
They last much longer in cool applications. The LED manufacturers just have a lot of challenges with regard to bringing useful, durable lighting products to the US market. In fact, judging by the pile of non working LED flashlights I have and the number of barely functioning traffic lights (primarily the green ones) I have seen, they are having trouble bringing any reliable LED technology to the lighting market.

I switched to CFL's long ago.  The first batch showed arount the edges of light fixtures because they were large and clunky.  Now they fit everything, and I am gradually replacing the clunky ones as they get dimmer.  Our transfer station has recycling for flourescents.  Otherwise, never buy them.  They are dangerous for landfills.  

I like a lot of light, and the closer to sunlight the better.  I always use the largest daylight bulb that will fit.  For a couple of lamps I had to buy a larger harp.  For one lamp that also meant buying a slightly taller shade.  I recommend Lamps Plus on line.

The LED's are another story.  I ordered a sample pack of several sizes.  Only the largest was bright enough to illuminate anything.  Each bulb had some sort of gasket on the base that prevented its being screwed into any lamp or fixture in my house except one antique lamp.  The light is very blue and looks truly weird in that lamp.  I would say they aren't yet ready for prime time.

Does anyone know anything about how to dispose of them?

I'm switching over to CFLs in our house as much as possible.  I find I prefer the "daylight" ones for reading, writing and artwork, and use a "BlueMax" brand floor lamp (42 watt dimmable CFL fixture) for my detail work.  It does take a bit of getting used to the "cooler" color of the daylights (around 6500K temp.), and in some cases, I find the "warm" toned ones more pleasant.

A company known as "Finelite" offers what looks like a good-quality LED desk lamp, and under-cabinet lighting.  The lamps use 1-watt LED elements, and are heavily heat-sinked, which helps prolong their lives (claimed at 45,000 hours on the site).  More expensive than the office supply cheapies, but it looks like a good product.  Hopefully, LED technology will continue to improve.

While they may not tax the power grid as much, therefore reducing our use of oil, coal, etc, these bulbs are made with mercury and therefore are not really that great for the environment either when you throw your old bulbs out and the chemicals leak into the soil... I've read that compared to the pollution a coal plant creates powering an incandescent bulb is more than the mercury in a CFL, however not all power is from coal. Anyhow, that's my two cents. Seems we're doomed to pollute if we want light after the sun sets.

My favorites are the Daylight CFL's also.  They're great for two reasons... My eye's adjust to them much quicker than the normal fluorescents.  I sometimes get the flicker affect with others.  And the color reproduction is almost perfect.  Being an artist I need to see the colors like they are supposed to be.