Comments on: Money Saved Using Compact Flourescent Bulbs

By: ganghuiled

ganghuiled — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:31:54 +0000

LED lights will be the best choice for you if you want to buy ligts.
Why I do so,now let me give you a example why I would personally go for 240 watts over 1000.If I use led for a 24 hour diner with a sign burning 24 hours a day.The 100 watt bulb would use 2400 watts of electricity a day,but the 24 watt LED bulb would only use 480 watts and gives a much brighter glow. So it can help you save many money.

By: cdiver

cdiver — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:35:26 +0000

Some brands warm up much faster than others. It is annoying when you are waiting in the dark for the level to come up.

By: echidnina

echidnina — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:30:29 +0000

That’s true, and the time it takes for them to warm up can also be annoying if you’re impatient (like me). I’m always in the habit of turning the lights off when I’m out of the room, and turning them back on when I come back, which might not be the best way to go about it with these bulbs.

By: echidnina

echidnina — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:28:25 +0000

I love the Ikea CF bulbs! I got a whole bunch when I saw them so cheap. I put one in our main hallway light, which is on whenever we’re up in the evening (so the light tends to burn out quickly), and it’s lasted forever so far.

By: vicky

vicky — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:56:12 +0000

hi,
does any one knows what apositive lighting is?

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:10:19 +0000

I have flourescent tubes in my basement. They are not all that old but are not burning brightly. So…how do you know when they are shot? Unlike a regular bulb that blows out, these seem to be dying a slow death. I put a new bulb in and it didn’t come up brightly. Do I have to replace both sides?

Also, I remember that my dad had these as a kid and there was a silver two pronged “plug” that went into the fixture that seemed to be the culprit and not the bulbs. He would replace that and, voila! we had light again. I took my balast apart but don’t see one. Have they been obviated by newer technology?

Thanks

By: v. musre

v. musre — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 02:25:48 +0000

i changed all our lights to compact flourescent bulbs, and even with the rate increases, our bill has stayed more or less the same. and i don’t have to worry about turning lights off and on!

By: Veronica Casale

Veronica Casale — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 05:47:52 +0000

To answer my own question about how to use overhead flourescent lights, our handyman says to go ahead and turn them off and on like regular lights unless they will be on for hours and hours. It doesn’t make much difference otherwise.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 11:37:35 +0000

Paul – Unfortunately yes, you can get them for pretty cheap now (~$1.50) a piece from a lot of places like Costco, Home Depot, and even WalMart.

By: Paul Bibb

Paul Bibb — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 08:41:07 +0000

Is it true that you can get compact flourescent bulbs at Costco or home depot for $1.50 apiece? I bought a lot of 100 on ebay for $150.00 cause they advertized that retail price was around $6.00 and up.

By: Veronica Casale

Veronica Casale — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:32:39 +0000

Would someone please explain how to use overhead flourescent lights properly.

We have two overhead tubes in the kitchen. Does it really matter if you turn them on and off like a regular light?

What is the cost difference to turn it on and off like a regular light vs. keeping it on.

Does the ballast burn out faster by turning it on and off with each use?

Once the flourescent light is on is it cheaper to keep it on? WHY?

By: jim

jim — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:46:21 +0000

The bulbs are ideal in rooms where you will want light but don’t necessarily “notice it” such as when you’re at the computer or watching TV. You want light but not necessarily a ton of light and you don’t really care or notice how much.

What takes a little getting used to is the delay and the initial dimness. For the split second after you switch it on, sometimes you wonder if the bulb has died because it takes maybe a quarter second to turn on. Then the initial dimness is a little disconcerting but if you’ve been watching a movie, sometimes starting off dim is very nice because it’s not as shocking.

By: Dus10

Dus10 — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:27:42 +0000

At $15/year per bulb… wow, that is a pretty quick ROI. I think they would work well in my situation. I always run around the house turning lights off… however, I am rarely home to monitor this. Working full-time and going to school full-time really keep me away from the house. I think this has a great potential to save some money. I may try an experiment to see the impact of changing just one of these in a room that has little natural light, the laudry room. Most of my house has decent natural light, so we do not use the lights very often. The only two rooms that get decent natural lighting but still get plenty of usage from our lightbulbs would be our kitchen and my home office. Beyond that, when there is not natural light in the bedrooms, we are usually sleeping or not using the room. So, the laundry room light is probably on the most, but is only one bulb. Next up would probably be the kitchen, because it has six bulbs. The bathrooms probably get more usage, but have less bulbs at 3 a piece. Finally, my home office would be last, as it has one bulb and is not used all that often when there is little natural light. So, I am looking at 14 bulbs, until I finish the half-bath, then we will 17. Basically, as soon as the billing cycle is over, I will change the bulb for the laundry room, then I will observe the difference on the bill. I have a feeling that I will only save about $8/year, but hey, that is $8 that I would have spent. That is the cost of two “buy” transactions on Sharebuilder. The kitchen may have a larger impact because of the number of bulbs, and may come in at about $20/year. But, that is all speculation, as I do not even know how many hours a month they are on… not even in the ballpark, really.

By: denon

denon — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 06:31:00 +0000

After using several dozen of these bulbs, we’ve found the average lifespan of them to not be a whole lot longer than a good quality incandescent. This seems to be true especially of the bargain basement fluorescents, but also the higher quality ones. Now, I realize most of them have a 2 million year warranty, but did you save the receipt/packaging/etc?

IMHO, they’re not worth the initial cost difference, not to mention it’s mildly irritating how some brands flicker when they power up, and others take a good minute or two for the light color to warm up to normal.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 05:18:46 +0000

Also depending on the kind of fixtures you have you may be able to get by with some cheaper CF bulbs. These aren’t coiled; they’re straight with a single loop. We got a few on sale at Ikea for $1 apiece. They don’t fit in some fixtures because they’re too long, though.