What’s the deal with these CFL bulbs?

A long time ago I got clued into the fact that I had to look at the lifespan label(hours) whenever I purchased light bulbs. A lot of times bulbs of roughly the same price might have drastic differences in how many hours they would last… Ever look at the hours on a ceiling fan light bulb? They charge you an arm and a leg($3+), and then they are only rated to last 100+ hours?!?!? yeah, Ill go for the 4 pack of 2000 hour 99 cent bulbs please!

Recently I got clued into CFL bulbs… They have an extremely long life span(6000-15000 hours compared to 1000-2000), and supposedly save a lot of money over the long haul…

I recently remodeled my basement and put in close to 30 recessed lights. When I bought the bulbs for my basement, I went cheap and bought crummy flood lights(hey, they were in a cheap package deal, I wanted them now(not ordered online) and I just spent a fortune in remodeling!). Regardless, I bought wrong….

So with the hype about CFL’s I decided to give them a shot.

First usage was in my office area… BIG mistake.. hehe First off the CFL’s I bought were relatively cheap. So they take forever to warm up and get to full light. Not ideal when you have something quick to do on your computers(Note: You should leave cfl’s on for 15+ minutes). Second off, my office area is near my home theatre, and the CFL’s I bought were not dimmable… So basically, my wife or I can’t have 1 of us working and someone else watching tv(We have projection tv, so light kills the screen). The first set is also notorious for flickering a lot until they get warmed up. Also, I have had one of the initial 4 in this first phase purchase that has fused(took about 6 months, but we dont use them that much to have a blow out)… so my first purchase of CFL’s is batting a 25% failure rate…

Second purchase was me buying higher end cfl’s that were supposedly dimmable.. Lets just say they dim a bit, but not to the extent I need.  So in my workspace, they dont seem to be ideal, but I did start replacing the fused bulbs in the rest of the basement, and these higher end ones do warm up much quicker, and provide decent light! I have only been using these in limited quantity(6 so far of the 24 i purchased), and only for about 1 month, so I haven’t seen any failures in this batch yet…

Depending on your needs, I like them, and will continue to use them, but there is caveats to their usage. Definitely dont go cheap when buying them! That being said, I dont know that buying the most expensive cfl bulb is going to solve the problems. It very well may be hit or miss, or we can read reviews and look for the best!

Caveats:

1) Not really dimmable

2) Take a while to “warm up” and get to full strength. You get about 50% light until they get warmed up.

3) Can flicker a bit when they are first turned on.

4) Have to be left on for 15 minutes or longer, otherwise life of bulb can be cut by up to 85%…

Let me know your thoughts on CFL’s.. Maybe I R Dum and dont know what to look for etc.

What can and can’t you recycle?

Each community has their own regulations on what can be recycled and what cannot. Always check with your community recycling program to see what’s ok before you start. We’ve found that, in most communities, the following recycling do’s and don’ts usually apply.OK to recycle:

• High-quality plastics labeled with number one and two recycling symbols.
• Food and beverage containers, such as milk, soda, water, salad dressings, etc.
• Jars and canisters, like peanut butter jars, soap, aspirin bottles, etc.
• Cleaning products and detergents, including bleach, soap, shampoo, drain cleaners, etc.
• Automotive and yard care products, but make sure the containers are empty for those like antifreeze, oil, plant food and herbicide containers. Side Note: Most oil change places will recycle your old oil,etc from mowers, etc. Make sure to call and verify though.
• Junk or direct mail, including brochures, fliers, white/light envelopes, etc.
• Aluminum, tin and steel cans, such as soda, beer, tuna, vegetable, etc.
• Printed paper like newspaper, magazines, phone books, legal pads, etc.

NOT OK to Recycle:

• Plastic bags
• Newspaper delivery bags
• Styrofoam
• Lids from glass containers
• Pizza boxes
• Phone books
• Mirrors
• Aerosol cans
• Paint cans
• Wax paper
• Food-soiled paper
• Window glass
• Ceramics
• Light bulbs
• Microwaveable food trays
• Other types of plastic not labeled as CA Redemption Value or CA Cash Refund,
  including, household cleaners, cough syrup, shampoo bottles, condiment bottles,
  cosmetic containers, ketchup bottles, yogurt cups, deli product containers, egg cartons, disposable
  cups, ready-made lunch containers, etc.

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