# Compact fluorescent lightbulbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051 "2007-04-29T16:25:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/21 "2007-05-01T00:01:29Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] I took it that the point was that the fridge didn’t have to dispose of the heat generated by the light, not that the light itself saved significant power. [/QUOTE] Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/22 "2007-05-01T00:25:19Z")
> [@](#): > > There are also LED bulbs, which use even less electricity and last for so long their “life” is more or less not an issue. Cost is crazy, but if you need a not so bright bulb in a place where it will burn 24/7 and it is hard to get to; then LED’s are a solution. Another advantage of LEDs over fluorescents (of any type) is that they’re instantly on with no warmup time, and repeated on-off cycles don’t impact their longevity. And they tend to be smaller, too, which is nice for fitting into cramped fixtures. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/23 "2007-05-01T00:25:57Z")
[QUOTE=Lunar Saltlick] Should I just forget watts entirely and look at claims for lumens, as **emilyforce** suggests? Does most CFL packaging state the lumens? … Are the claims for lumens accurate? [/QUOTE] I’ve found that the better bulbs do state lumens. I have no idea whether they’re accurate, but they seem to be adequate – unlike some of the 99 cent ones I’ve tried. We have one cheapie in the bathroom that seems to vary lumen output a whole lot from day to day, especially in the first five minutes it’s on in the morning. Some days it starts bright; other days it’s a bit of a dim… CFL. **Lunar Saltlick** , you might benefit from a daylight spectrum CFL in your basement shop, or maybe from one with a specifically “warm” color rating. I have a daylight CFL in one lamp in the living room, and find it makes a huge difference in close work of many kinds. If you were used to a bare incandescent bulb down there, it might be more the quality (color temp) than the quantity (lumens) of light making that mark so hard to see. [Real Goods/Gaiam](http://www.gaiam.com/retail/gai_content/learn/gai_learnArticle.asp?article%5Fid=583) has a chart comparing the quality and quantity of light from bulbs they sell No comparison chart, but [GE](http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=CONSUMERCATEGORYSUBPAGE&CHANNEL=Consumer&CATEGORY=Lamps&bulbtype=Lamps_Compact%20Fluorescent) does give details for each of theirs [Sylvania](http://ecom.mysylvania.com/sylvaniab2c/b2c/z_login.do) tells color temp but I don’t see lumens ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/24 "2007-05-01T00:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=panamajack] While we’re at it, LEDs are dimmable by the same methods, though they won’t necessarily produce exactly the same brightness curve as an incandescent on the same dimmer (but it would at least work, and probably well enough). [/quote] Come to think of it, LED light bulbs probably won’t work on a dimmer that uses regular line voltage, unless they’re designed for it. But they are continuously dimmable in a way that fluorescents generally aren’t. On refrigerator lights: Seems to me it’s almost pointless to worry about waste heat from a refrigerator lightbulb when you’ve got the door wide open, letting all the warm air in anyway. Though this is one application that LED bulbs will be definitely better, mostly because of the efficiency of light produced. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/25 "2007-05-01T02:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=panamajack] Seems to me it’s almost pointless to worry about waste heat from a refrigerator lightbulb when you’ve got the door wide open, letting all the warm air in anyway… [/QUOTE] Hey, at our house, every little bit counts. We have very crappy AC and the house is made of cinderblock (read: heatsink). I’ve also been working on my 'fridge door manipulation speed. Whatever we’re doing right, it is an improvement - the milk lasts four or five days longer than it did before we became vigilant about it all. > [@](#): > > Though this is one application that LED bulbs will be definitely better, mostly because of the efficiency of light produced. Agreed. But I had a spare CFL on hand 😛 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/26 "2007-05-01T02:29:53Z")
I would cheerfully replace all of our incandescents with fluorescents tomorrow except for two issues: 1. some models make a faint but irritating humming noise, although none of the ones I’ve bought recently do this; 2. the one I have in my bedroom, for example, takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness. Is there a good way to tell which makes of bulbs will not do either of these things? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/27 "2007-05-01T02:32:27Z")
In my experience, the IKEA CFLs are extremely quick to turn on. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/28 "2007-05-01T06:42:48Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I would cheerfully replace all of our incandescents with fluorescents tomorrow except for two issues: 1. some models make a faint but irritating humming noise, although none of the ones I’ve bought recently do this; 2. the one I have in my bedroom, for example, takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness. Is there a good way to tell which makes of bulbs will not do either of these things? [/QUOTE] Those are the older models, anything you buy today almost certainly will have neither problem. Well, except some CFCs do have that “takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness” the very first time you use them and never again. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/29 "2007-05-01T17:52:19Z")
Thanks for the info, \*\*panamajack \*\* and **emilyforce**. I’m giving up on wattage claims, and I’m going for 1000+ lumens, and probably daylight CFLs. **mat\_mcl** , I’ve got an old CFL in my house (at least five years old - it was there when we arrived in the house) and it takes a good four or five seconds to light up. And it buzzes, though very lightly. The CFLs I just bought take less than half a second to come on, and they make no noise at all. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/30 "2007-05-01T18:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Those are the older models, anything you buy today almost certainly will have neither problem. Well, except some CFCs do have that “takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness” the very first time you use them and never again. [/QUOTE] This is not really true. I recently bought some from Lowe’s that had a noticeable startup delay and did not reach full brightness quickly. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/31 "2007-05-01T18:41:28Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Those are the older models, anything you buy today almost certainly will have neither problem. Well, except some CFCs do have that “takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness” the very first time you use them and never again. [/QUOTE] As much of a CFL nut as I am, sadly, I have to agree with **crazyjoe**. Some are much better than others, but some do buzz and some are tardy. I’ve had better luck with non-bargain, non-multipack ones being quiet and fast. I try to use the cheap ones in places where the fixture is far from my ears and not the only source of light. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/32 "2007-05-01T18:43:08Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] [QUOTE=DrDeth] Those are the older models, anything you buy today almost certainly will have neither problem. Well, except some CFCs do have that “takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness” the very first time you use them and never again. [/QUOTE] This is not really true. I recently bought some from Lowe’s that had a noticeable startup delay and did not reach full brightness quickly. [/QUOTE] I bought 6 very nice looking enclosed CFLs at a chain store recently and they have the old slow warm up period. The bare CFLs all start extremely quick. They go from a little dim to bright in 10-15 seconds. The enclosed ones take up 45 to 60 seconds to warm up and start dimmer. So the problem still exists in some brands. I am probably 85% CFLs at this point, but there are still some issues with them and I consider them a stop gap until LED lights take over. They have reduced my energy use by quite a bit. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/33 "2007-05-01T18:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Those are the older models, anything you buy today almost certainly will have neither problem. Well, except some CFCs do have that “takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness” the very first time you use them and never again. [/QUOTE] Huh? Just a few weeks ago I replaced the most used bulbs in our house with a variety of types of CFC’s. All of them take a noticeable few seconds to turn on at all, then a few minutes to reach full brightness. Plus two of them have burned out already (faster than regular bulbs!) I have been very disappointed in them. I have tried GE, Sylvania, and whatever Lowes brand is. (on edit, apparently Lowes brand sucks is the consensus here.) Some have better color than others but all seem noticeably dimmer than their regular counterparts. I would gladly replace most or all of the bulbs in my house if I could find some that really compare to regular bulbs. Who can recommend a really good bulb? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/34 "2007-05-01T19:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=Velma] Huh? Just a few weeks ago I replaced the most used bulbs in our house with a variety of types of CFC’s. All of them take a noticeable few seconds to turn on at all, then a few minutes to reach full brightness. Plus two of them have burned out already (faster than regular bulbs!) I have been very disappointed in them. I have tried GE, Sylvania, and whatever Lowes brand is. (on edit, apparently Lowes brand sucks is the consensus here.) Some have better color than others but all seem noticeably dimmer than their regular counterparts. I would gladly replace most or all of the bulbs in my house if I could find some that really compare to regular bulbs. Who can recommend a really good bulb? [/QUOTE] If you have had two burn out already, there might be something either seriously wrong with the manufacture of the bulbs in question or the wiring in the house. I have been running many CFLs for many years. I have had one bulb go bad and it was in an outside socket. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/35 "2007-05-01T19:24:21Z")
The bulbs that burn out are in recently added recessed lighting sockets. Could they have been wired wrong or something? How can we tell? The regular bulbs I had in there before didn’t burn out this fast. Why would these burn out faster? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/36 "2007-05-01T19:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I would cheerfully replace all of our incandescents with fluorescents tomorrow except for two issues: 1. some models make a faint but irritating humming noise, although none of the ones I’ve bought recently do this; 2. the one I have in my bedroom, for example, takes for-fucking-ever to turn on to full brightness. Is there a good way to tell which makes of bulbs will not do either of these things? [/QUOTE] Do you only have one bulb in your bedroom? In rooms where I want quick brightness to run in and grab something AND cheaper in the long term light, I’ll replace half the bulbs with CFLs. This way the regular bulbs give you quick light and if you’re planning to stay in there a while, the CFLs will be at full brightness after a minute or so. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/37 "2007-05-01T19:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=Velma] The bulbs that burn out are in recently added recessed lighting sockets. Could they have been wired wrong or something? How can we tell? The regular bulbs I had in there before didn’t burn out this fast. Why would these burn out faster? [/QUOTE] Hard to say, but did they flicker at all with incandescents? If so, could be loose wiring. The constant power blips would not affect incandescents as much as CFLs. Are the recessed lighting sitting in an area that would have wide temperature variations? This is the problem with a standard CFL in an outdoor outlet. Are the two bulbs from one manufacturer? Did they come in a two pack? Are there other bulbs from the same package or manufacture that are working fine? BTW: Do not use CFLs in most Garage door openers. They are not made for the vibrations involved and with the small amount of time a garage door light stays on, it is not worth it. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/38 "2007-05-01T19:36:24Z")
[QUOTE=Velma] The bulbs that burn out are in recently added recessed lighting sockets. Could they have been wired wrong or something? How can we tell? The regular bulbs I had in there before didn’t burn out this fast. Why would these burn out faster? [/QUOTE] When did you do this? A few years ago I replaced a bunch of bulbs with CFLs and they all burned out within a few weeks, then about 6 months ago I gave it another go and so far so good, and I’ve already paid for some of them with the noticible savings on my electric bill. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/39 "2007-05-01T19:47:54Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Hard to say, but did they flicker at all with incandescents? If so, could be loose wiring. The constant power blips would not affect incandescents as much as CFLs. Are the recessed lighting sitting in an area that would have wide temperature variations? This is the problem with a standard CFL in an outdoor outlet. Are the two bulbs from one manufacturer? Did they come in a two pack? Are there other bulbs from the same package or manufacture that are working fine? BTW: Do not use CFLs in most Garage door openers. They are not made for the vibrations involved and with the small amount of time a garage door light stays on, it is not worth it. Jim [/QUOTE] The ones that burned out were the same type, but 2 single packs bought at the same time (GE, IIRC.) They are in recessed can lighting in our kitchen, we had the recessed lighting installed about 2 years ago. We have 6 lights total in there, I started by replacing just 2 of the bulbs to see how they did. They are the ones closest to the stove, could the heat from the stovetop be making them go out? I actually have another brand lighting the stove hood itself and that one seems to be doing fine. I have not noticed flickering otherwise, although in the summer when our central air kicks on I sometimes notice the lights in the whole house dim a little. I think I have another of the same kind left, maybe I should try that one in another location and see how it does. **Joey P** I bought them at a Target about 2 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051/40 "2007-05-01T20:15:58Z")
[QUOTE=Velma] The ones that burned out were the same type, but 2 single packs bought at the same time (GE, IIRC.) They are in recessed can lighting in our kitchen, we had the recessed lighting installed about 2 years ago. We have 6 lights total in there, I started by replacing just 2 of the bulbs to see how they did. They are the ones closest to the stove, could the heat from the stovetop be making them go out? I actually have another brand lighting the stove hood itself and that one seems to be doing fine. I have not noticed flickering otherwise, although in the summer when our central air kicks on I sometimes notice the lights in the whole house dim a little. I think I have another of the same kind left, maybe I should try that one in another location and see how it does. **Joey P** I bought them at a Target about 2 months ago. [/QUOTE] It could well be just defective bulbs, which stinks. The Central Air Dimming problem is one I share and these little brown outs do not cause much strain on lighting. The Central Air compressor kicking on is probably the single biggest draw the average home has and quite often the line from the street is not up to the job. We had a phase burn out on us at the connection from the main line to the main house line. I still need to replace the main line to the panel in the next 3 years. Mine is 47 years old and overdue for replacement and possibly an increased size. Older houses generally draw more power than they were designed for and these main lines deteriorate with age. Back to the CFL issue. The experiment with the third bulb sounds like a good idea. The bulbs should last much longer than incandescents. Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs/402051.md?page=3)