I have repented of my energy wasting ways. Why? Well, First of all I discovered the problem with the CFL’s I was buying. Secondly, I have been able to make work areas much brighter than they ever could be with incandescents, while still using less energy.
The problem bulbs were “Bright Effects” CFL’s (made by Feit) from Lowe’s. These were the ones that popped in my face, more than once. They also suffered from a very high failure rate. The Sylvania bulbs faired much better and lasted longer, but the older ones are making a humming noise that is unacceptable. Most people wouldn’t notice this noise, but both myself and my dog notice it. The dog doesn’t deserve to be tortured by a noisy bulb any more than anyone else, so those are being relegated to other service spots. They still work fine, but not for in the kitchen, or elsewhere in the house where they will be distracting.
All of the bulbs recommended, if available, will be listed in links at the end. I tried to find the TCP equivalent to the Walmart bulbs at Amazon.com for you.
Opinion - New bulbs are even nicer. The best of the new bulbs so far is also one of the cheapest. WalMart brand CFL’s have the most comfortable soft light (2700k) (if you like the yellow) of all the bulbs I have used. They seem to most closely match the incandescents. These are made by a company called TCP. One failed out of the box, out of about 20-25 purchased, and Walmart graciously exchanged it for me. As it turns out TCP also manufactures theirs bulbs differently than other manufacturers, including the way they use the mercury, and by using lead free glass and solder, according to THIS article.
I have also been very pleased with the soft light (NOT daylight bulbs which are very bluish) version of the new GE CFL’s that are being sold at WalMart. The color of the ’soft’ bulbs is whiter, not as warm, than the TCP, and they are more compact in size. The smaller size is a nice bonus. I am using the 10W GE and 9W “Great Value” TCP bulbs in ceiling fan fixtures. The fan is rarely used, so I don’t buy special bulbs. These bulbs (4 in a fixture) use a whopping 40 Watts maximum and deliver more than enough light. Both bulbs seem to reach full light in 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending upon conditions.
The GE bulbs are smaller, and newer, and more expensive. GE has a $1.00 off coupon on their website for their Reveal and Energy Saver light bulbs. I had trouble printing it, because of the software that they use, which limits the number of coupons you may print from one computer. I bought 2 for $8.44 - $1. I bought 4 of the Walmart 9 Watt (40 W equivalent) for $5.44. This is an excellent price, especially for the satisfaction I have with these bulbs.
I have also replaced bulbs in the garage and outside, opting for the 100 Watt equivalent variety from Walmart. These were the 23 W “Great Value” bulbs. They warm up in a few minutes, and were working even in 4 F cold weather. Before installing them wholesale in the garage I had purchased a 65W (300W equivalent for 3900 lumens) Bright Effects bulb from Lowe’s for around $17. This was a very bright and pleasing bulb in the garage. It’s too bad that it exploded while I was looking up at it just a few weeks after the purchase. That’s the last bulb I buy from Lowe’s. Those Bright Effects bulbs are made by a company called “Feit”. Apparently they make cheap bulbs that aren’t worth your health. That’s been my experience. Not wanting to rewire the whole garage to try to duplicate the volume of light produced by that bulb I opted to buy Y adapters for the existing sockets, and installed 4 Walmart bulbs at 23Watts (100W equiv. @ 1600 lumens) in two sockets. This produces more light at 6400 lumens, and more dispersed, than I had from the Bright Effects bulb and a single 23W Walmart bulb which was a total of 5500 lumens. It’s also a nicer light, uses almost the same amount of electricity and cost about $11 total. Replacement costs should be even less.
The mercury vapor yard blaster over my garage was producing good light for the yard at night. It’s a dusk to dawn light, but I always shut it off after the last trip out for the dog at night, which is about 1am. There isn’t a point in leaving it on to scare thieves since the extra light helped them to see what they were stealing, which was substantial. I faired better by leaving the lights off. I have replaced the 175W mercury vapor light with a 65W fluorescent that uses the same ballast, made by Lights of America. Lights Of America #2365E39 65W Buster Bulb
This cost less than $20 locally (about $25 at Amazon.com) and saves 110W of power. It only took a few minutes up on the ladder to make the replacement. The light from the fluorescent isn’t as strong and it has an ugly bluish color, but it’s more than sufficient for the task at hand. The other bulb was lighting up my neighbor’s yard on the other side of the house, which is unnecessary since he has his own lamp. A 23W Walmart (TCP) CFL is in a fixture next to the house which keeps the entire drive lit. This is a safety issue more than anything, and it’s nice to have that light on all evening. That bulb replaced a 60 or 100W incandescent (depending on what I had on hand) and works fine even in very cold weather.
Most of the lights were replaced with a 10 watt CFL. Using these lower wattage bulbs has allowed me to leave more lights on while using less electricity than ever before, improving the quality of the indoor light, and reducing the power consumption, noticeably. In places where more light is desired the 13 watt CFL filled in nicely, and where maximum light is needed the 23 watt CFL was the proper device. There are a few places where I still have incandescent bulbs, just because it’s practical. I have also purchased a case of these bulbs because of their instant on ability, and because the heat is sometimes desired. I use a trouble light inside my work van on some nights to keep items inside from freezing. This is a much cheaper solution than multiple space heaters, and it does a fine job. Light bulbs have long functioned as low cost space heaters. Some people will stock up solely for that reason.
These TCP bulbs have greatly improved my own personal satisfaction with the CFL industry, and the new GE bulbs cooperated. The tighter Sylvania bulbs also look enticing, given their smaller design for the same light output. All of these bulbs should be Energy Star compliant, which means they should also deliver greater overall satisfaction, reduced buzzing and less flicker. At the current price for many of these twisty bulbs there doesn’t appear to be much reason to use anything else any more.
To recap. The TCP’s had a more yellowish light. The GE warm lights had a whiter light. The Sylvania’s also had a whiter light. I have been buying the Soft Light or Warm Light variety. The only daylight bulbs went back to the store the next day. They were too white/blue and only seemed good when they were used to create very bright light, or when they were accented by a yellow light. I am satisfied enough to remove the GE Reveal bulb from the desk lamp. This is a 30 watt savings alone. All in all roughly 600 watts in frequently used bulbs were reduced from a few months ago. This doesn’t even account for the hundreds of watts of bulbs that were initially replaced several years back. The energy savings on the electric bill has already been noticed, although it still hasn’t covered the cost of replacing all of these bulbs. There’s no reason to believe that this will be more than a few months, especially since everything has been done during the darkest time of the year when the lights are used the most. I rarely use these lights in the summer months, even outside. The reduced cloud cover and improved moonlight in summer months often allows enough light to shine at night that there’s less need for these extra lights, and even when they are used they operate for about 2 hours instead of 7-8 hours.
Listed below is an attempt to find everything mentioned above from online stores. I searched for an equivalent to the Walmart bulb. The Springlight appears to be the same bulb, but repackaged. It’s made by the same company and it’s not a bad price.
Lights Of America #2365E39 65W Buster Bulb
TCP 9 Watt CFL Soft White - 9 Watt Compact Fluorescent Mini Spiral / 2700K / 3 Pack
TCP 14 Watt CFL Soft White - 14 Watt Compact Fluorescent Spiral / 2700K / 3 Pack
TCP 23 Watt CFL Soft White - 23 Watt Compact Fluorescent Spiral / 2700K / 3 Pack
Other Springlight Bulbs by TCP
Sylvania 8 Pack
- If you prefer Sylvania bulbs, which appear to be solid performers overall, this is an 8 pack of 13 watt bulbs that isn’t too terribly expensive.
I was unable to find the GE bulb. The number on it is FLE10HT2/2/XL/SW. The code “FLE10HT2″ is used to describe numerous 10 watt compact fluorescent bulbs by GE. Searches brought up several bulbs that were not the one I found at Walmart. These seem very nice, and they are smaller, but are also very expensive when compared to the TCP Walmart CFL.
There are better deals to be had in local stores, but you have to consider how much time you plan to spend at the store buying light bulbs. Is it worth it? It depends on whether or not you enjoy shopping for lights.