Does anyone use those flourescent bulbs?

[Jaded]

Just wondered if anyone was using those. I have mostly ceiling fan lights, so it would be impossible to use them without changing all the fixtures, but I'm thinking I'd like to try. I've been using a lot of lamps lately instead of the overheads, which use about 100 watts or more, but it doesn't seem to be making a major dent in the bill. I'm thinking that if I use flourescents in them, and don't use the overheads at all, it may save me money. At this point I'll try anything.

Is it worth the investment?

[latierra84]

i use them. DH and i just moved into our first house (a fixer upper) and we switched out all the light bulbs thru out to florescent ones. believe me, i felt the pinch at the checkout when we were done buying all that we needed.. nearly $80 just on bulbs. but.. theyre supposed to last for years. the ones i got are 14watt, emitting the same light produced by a standard 60watt bulb. i dont know how much of a difference it made in our electric bill since i never really got to see a bill before we had made the switch.
it does take a little while for the light to reach its full brightness but... ive heard that they pay for themselves in a matter of months with all the electricity they save and the fact that they last for years.

[julieb]

We use flourescent bulbs and have been satisfied with them. It's hard to tell if we saved on our electric bill. We slowly started replacing our regular bulbs as they burnt out. For the two of us our electric bill is around 52.00 a month.

[Amanda W]

We switched our whole house to CFL's last year over a period of a few months, and our electric bill went down noticeably. They've already paid for themselves. They take a little longer to flick on then regular lightbulbs, but IMO that's a very small inconvenience when compared to the energy savings.

[miss_thrifty]

I didnt see a a differnece. But that could be becuase of the appliances that came with renting where Im at.

[pkellyc]

We use them but I have noticed that the price of them are going up and up.
I do not buy them at the dollar store because I tried them and they did not last for very long. I do like the fact that the better bulbs do not have to be changed as often as regular bulbs. This is great for high celing fixtures.
As far as energy savings it's hard to tell here. CT has the highest electric rates in the Country and my light bills are huge.

Now that I think of it we are going to PA in June maybe I should check out the prices of them there.

[many houseapes]

we were using them and didn't notice a difference in the electric bill....not even the slightest difference. then i came across an article about a woman who accidently broke one in her daughter's room. Because of the mercury that is in the bulbs had scattered, she called home depot to see what she sould do about it...they told her to call poison control...poison control then directed her to the CDC(I believe that was the dept)...& they told her that she had to have a hazmat team come to her house & clean up the mercury. So now, her daughter's room has been sealed & the little girl has to sleep in the living room. Not even the pets can go into the sealed off area...until the mother can afford the $2,000 that it is going to cost to have the hazmat team come to her house & clean it up. There was also another lady that basically went throught the same thing(in the same article). If you go to World Net Daily, I am sure that you will probably find the article in their archives. It was only a few days ago that I had read this.
After my dh read it, he told me that he had broke one of those bulbs in the garage some time ago...just perfect.
Needless to say, we got rid of the bulbs that we had in the light fixtures & went back to using the regular ones.Not only are the flourescent bulbs a potential hazard in the home, what about the trash guys that have to handle the broken bulbs? what about the mercury that is thrown into the landfill?? In my opinion, the bulbs are not worth it
With all the trouble that these "wonderful eco-friendly bulbs" are causing...I think that we will stick with Thomas Edison.

[Grayce]

I have them in some fixtures in my house. I have noticed a difference in my hydro bill as I have quite a few of the bulbs. I was even able to find chandelier size ones at IKEA. You can dispose of these bulbs in our community at a hazardous waste depot. In our province they will stop selling regular incandescent bulbs in 2012.

[jacqueline]

i have a couple of them and took the one by where i sit on the couch out. i don't think the light is as bright or something. i definitely couldn't cross-stitch by it. maybe it is just getting used to them but i like the old ones better.
many houseapes i have not heard this! in fact i haven't heard anyone say anything bad about cfl lighting. how scary!!!

[YankeeMom]

I have one in my kitchen fan light. It's not a globe so it fits. No other light fixtures or lamps in my house work with them. The lamps either have the shades that hug the bulb or the area where the bulb goes isn't tall enough for the flourescent coil ones.

My other fixtures are either chandeliers with the tiny 'flame' shaped bulbs ($$$) or fans with multiple small decorative bulbs in them rather than one big bulb.

And I'm not about to go out & buy all new lamps, lampshades, and light fixtures just to save a few pennies on light bulb usage.

[halloweenfreak]

i replaced all of ours last year and theyre still going. as it was, i was changing out light bulbs every other month with the old ones. but i did notice a change in our electric bill, a big enough change that i thought it was well worth the extra cost of the bulbs.

[monkeywrangler71]

I have them in every fixture except one that is on a dimmer and the one in the range hood. I've heard that you can buy ones that can be used with a dimmer switch but I've never seen one. It is too hot above the stove though. Hopefully they will come out with something that can be used over direct heat before the old bulbs are banned.

The price of them has dropped significantly over the past couple years here, and the government and stores have had numerous campaigns with rebates & coupons. I didn't pay much more for them than I would have for the old bulbs. There are different types of light, some have a yellowish tinge that is more like the old bulbs and is easier on the eyes, but I use the bright white in the basement and it is much easier to see down there. It is different, but you get used to it.

The impact on your light bill is going to depend on how much you leave your lights on. My daughter always has her light on, so I am saving about $2 a month in her room, the rest of the house isn't on that much. I do know we are using significantly less energy than our neighbours (they show us where we rank on the bill) and we always have, but it did drop down a bit more after we switched. Nothing though, compared to the nosedive it took last month when I stopped using the dishwasher ($20!, I almost fainted). If you replace the few bulbs that get the most use, you will get the best impact.

[justpeachy92]

I have thought about switching over to them, but the thought needing thousands to have a hazmat team come clean up mercury if one breaks, makes me think a couple dollars saved on the light bill isn't worth it.

[monkeywrangler71]

http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index...7446&Itemid=31

Here's the story about the woman who broke the bulb. Rather long, but you'll need to read all the way down to get both sides of the story.

Just for comparison, here's a list of the amount of mercury in other common items.

Compact Fluorescent Bulb
5 milligrams

Watch Battery
25 milligrams

Dental Amalgams
500 milligrams

Home Thermometer
500 milligrams – 2 grams

Float Switches in Sump Pumps
2 grams

Tilt Thermostat
3 grams

Electrical Tilt Switches and Relays
3.5 grams

[cebsme]

Its all we use, ive never had one break, weve been using them for about 4 years. It did help the energy bills as well. And with the new shapes and types they are more versatile every day