Incandescent light bulbs

[JimD]

Most of the lights in my house are also ceiling fans. I do not love the look of CFLs in these fixtures but I've learned to live with it. I have a candileer (sp?) that I paid $800 for on double markdown, however, that requires old style mini-bulbs which are also incandescent. It has yet to burn out a single one, however. My exterior fixtures would be easier to replace but they use the same style bulb. I bought a case of them initiall and still have about 1/3 of it. I've thought of buying more but it seems like I am OK. With my luck they will all fail about the same time and I'll be stuck.

Other than odd fixture requirements like mine, I do not have a big problem with effectively forcing the conversion. I started using CFLs over 10 years ago when they were pricey like LEDs are today. I am more comfortable letting economics dictate this, however, than I am with "big brother" effectively deciding it for us. There are situations where I think it is reasonable to continue to use a few incandescents. But there are also people who are going to buy the cheapest thing they can screw into their fixtures regardless of whether they are wasting money. I guess that is the argument for the government display of power.

Jim

[woodturner]

Most of the lights in my house are also ceiling fans. I do not love the look of CFLs in these fixtures but I've learned to live with it.

FWIW, CFLs for ceiling fans are available and look like an incandescent bulb. I have used them for a few years and none have failed.

[Mildoc]

I can see the point if older fixtures look better with incandescents.

I personally do NOT like LED bulbs. Anyone seen the LED stop light bulbs in use? Our town started using them a year ago and so many have burned out sections it's pathetic. Leds may be guaranteed for 100,000 hours, but that is a statistic. NO guarantee on each individual bulb. Same with the new LED lights on cars. I've seen some with several burned out bulbs in their brake lights. Wonder what they cost to get a new bulb????

OTOH, I LOVE the new CFLs (not the older models). I have several that are 3-4 years old and still burning. And they are finally making them in different shapes other than the older "squiggly" style.

[LCHIEN]

Its a whole mess.
the energy law is technology neutral and does not ban anything but the current efficiency of incandescants makes them not meet the requirements for efficiency.

CFLs are still young, I imagine there were problems with edison's incandescant bulbs when they were new, now about 100 years old it's been a mature tchnology for 50 years and its in its sunset. CFLs are improving, the original colors were bad and all over the place. reliability was poor. BTW, if you read the fine print, base up application of CFLs vs base down gives you 5 or 10 percent less light and a shorter lifespan.

OTOH, as much as the new bulbs cost they may really save you money replace sooner rather than later. A 100W incandescant that lasts 800 hours will burn about $10 of electricity in its life. A replacement that takes 20W to make the same light would use $2 of electricity in the same time period. As Hank points out, if you live in the south, the extra 80 watts of heat also ends up costing you electricity to air-condition away.

My point is that incandescants are cheap, less then a dollar, but they burn $10 worth of electricity in their short life. Every time you replace one, it costs you $8 more than if you'd sprung for a $40 LED bulb. Won't take but 5 changes to recoup your costs.

[jking]

FWIW, CFLs for ceiling fans are available and look like an incandescent bulb. I have used them for a few years and none have failed.

Not if you prefer clear bulbs for the style of your ceiling fan. You can't simulate that with a CFL.

[mpc]

And if you have dimmer light switches those may have to be changed as well. Not all CFLs (or LEDs for that matter) are dimmable especially with older dimmer switches, many won't work with existing ceiling fan circuitry either. Read the packages when buying to make sure you're getting lights compatible with your wiring & fixtures! It's been a while since I've purchased any CFLs; the last batch I tried I ended up returning after 2 burned holes in themselves near the base. That was a few years ago when CFLs were still fairly new though not "bleeding edge" new. Between that, and the horrid colors they made out of my furnishings, I decided to hold off until CFLs were either fixed or hopefully replaced by even better technology.

mpc

[woodturner]

Not if you prefer clear bulbs for the style of your ceiling fan. You can't simulate that with a CFL.

Good point - the bulbs I used are "Frosted" - so the pig's tail is hidden by the frosted glass.

[leehljp]

Between that, and the horrid colors they made out of my furnishings, I decided to hold off until CFLs were either fixed or hopefully replaced by even better technology.

mpc

I don't have dimmers (cataracs onset means I don't have a need for those at the moment. ) but as for colors, there are 3 to 5 basic colors available (2600?, 3000-3500, 4000, 5000, 6000. I always look for 4000° - 5000° range and have no problems with those. 3000° and below, or 6000° and above - I can't stand. Drives me nuts. And I don't like the coiled bulbs either. Never have.

Since 2002-2003, The Japan market has had a plethora of normal lightbulb shaped CFLs in a variety of tone ranges that I am just now finding in the US. I have been able to find them since 2005, but I had to hunt hard for them back then.

[jackellis]

Being in the energy business, I understand the rationale for CFLs and LEDs, but sometimes the folks writing the regulations leave their brains at home. Examples:

We're required to use outdoor light fixtures that only accept CFLs with bayonet-style terminals, but CFLs don't work very well when the temperature is below 40 degrees, which is the case up here for about half the year.

We have a fixture in the bathroom that uses a specific type of four-tube CFL that's oriented horizontally. My guess is it's lasted about 2,000 hours or less (three years at two hours per day). I need an exact replacement, unlike incandescents that screw into a standard fixture.

We're required to have task lighting in the kitchen that uses 3/4" diameter tubes-style fluorescent bulbs. All of them have had to be replaced at about 2,00 hours or less.

On the other hand, probably the most cost-effective energy efficiency investment we made when we built this house was to have the insulation contractor seal gaps in the framing with caned spray foam, after which they installed blown-in fiberglass. I'll bet it cost less than $500 and the payback was probably on the order of a year.

It's only in the last few months that the California Energy Commission is talking about making whole house fans mandatory in new construction, even though it's common knowledge that they would save a lot of energy that would otherwise be used for air conditioning.

Then again, this IS California.