Read about it here
I can see it now…
Pull up to the boarder stop, the guy with the badge asks you,
“Do you have any fruits or vegetables in your car”
“No, officer.”
“Any potted plants?”
“No, sir.”
“Sayyy… you don’t have any of them GE Soft-White’s do you?”
“No, not at all.”
“Alright, welcome to Californina. Move along.”
the protests are already beginning
A 20-watt CFL gives as much light as a 75-watt conventional bulb, and lasts > 13 times longer> , according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit group studying energy issues.
Thirteen times longer, my ass. As far as I can tell, this is out and out horse hockey. They cost 4 or 5 times as much, but when I tried them, I noticed no appreciable difference in bulb life.
And those CFLs don’t work worth a damn in my Easy-Bake Oven.
When light bulbs are outlawed, only outlaws will have light bulbs.
ya…
somehow this just isn’t as funny.
Good for them! California isn’t all whackos and pot-heads. 
I won eight compact fluorescents in a contest sponsored by my electric utility in 1990; the last of those burned out last year, 15 years after I started using it, and all the others lasted at least 10 years. They don’t work on dimmer switches and even three-way switches can be a problem, and they don’t make sense in rarely used situations such as lighting your clothes closet. But otherwise I’m a big fan. CFLs generally pay for themselves in a few years, and the light they put off is warmer than conventional fluorescents.
[Edited twice because I made a typo and then when I corrected the typo I accidentally deleted the whole message!]
I agree with Brad. I started using them in just a few spots a year ago and they’re still going strong. I get 100 watts worth of light but only use 30 or so. After we replace all our 3 way lamps we’ll use them there too.
I’m not sure about “warmer”. In fact I find them bluer, or “truer” to natural light, as opposed to the yellowish overcast of incandescents. After 6 months of use, the ompact flourescents are definitely taking longer to attain peak brightness. And these wattage conversions aren’t worth much, in my experience. From what I have seen you will need something that is 30-40% the wattage of the previous incandescent bulb to achieve the same levels of brightness.
djm
Nope – not on a dimmer and not in a 3-way. These were in ceiling lights and bathroom fixtures. Most of these were two-bulb fixtures, so I think the next time I replace bulbs, I’ll put one of each in and see how much difference there really is. Right now, I can offer nothing in the way of proof other than “Christ, that damn bulb is burned out again.”
Now, what about the Easy-Bake Oven? I am tired of drinking my cake.
Probably you just got yourself some cheapo compact fluorescents that weren’t made well. I’m leery of the ones you see in drugstores and supermarkets that sell for like $3 apiece. I paid $10 or $12 each for the ones I bought five or six years ago and they last forever, no flicker, etc., although they do all take time to attain their maximum brightness, especially if it’s cold.
These were GE, and as I recall they were about 10 bucks for a 2-pack. There was a cheaper store brand that I avoided. Any suggestions as to a brand would be welcome, as I really would like to not have to climb my ass up a chair every few months. However, if a decent CFL can only be had by ordering through a specialty shop, I’m probably not even going to try. If I can’t get them at the store along with the bread and smoked oysters and Uncle Sam’s cereal, I ain’t gonna bother.
A friend of mine was having similar failures with his CFLs; he consulted an electrician and it turned out something was wrong with the way his system was grounded or some such.
Electrician fix problem, CFLs love him long-time.
I’m not an electrician so I havn’t the foggiest idea why better grounding fixed his problem; all my CFLs that are currently in use in our house I’ve had for almost four years, and all but the newer ones purchased to fill in extra sockets that the transition from apartment to house brings have been imported from apartment to apartment, then to our house.
We run the light on our front porch all night every night and in the winter when it is dark when we leave and dark when we get home it runs 24x7. We used to have to replace a regular bulb about every 3 weeks out there. I have had the same CFL out there now for over 7 months and it is still going strong. I do notice when it is cold out (less than freezing) that it is pretty dim for about 30 seconds but brightens up quite nicely then.
I have replaced the halogenia bulbs in the torchier in our living room with CFLs with good results as well, but they are a bit dim when starting up also. And they are a little stark. Next time I’ll try to find the warmer colored bulbs.
For a really large selection of CFLs, including those that work on dimmers etc., try this place:
http://www.topbulb.com/find/compact_fluorescent_light_bulbs.asp
I’d love to find a similar source here in Canada. Our kitchen light gets a lot of use and it’s on a dimmer switch; I’d love to use a CFL there instead of the incandescent we have now.
As an interesting aside here:
Incandesants can last quite a long while as well - given the right circumstances. Dimmer switches are wonderful things. You can in some cases double or triple the life of a standard bulb just by dimming it slightly. You also save on energy costs as well of course as the effective wattage of the bulb will have decreased. How much you will benefit will vary as much as as results seem to with these newer compacts. It’s all about useage and absolute light needed for a given application. I’m waiting for them to make these things into mini-Christmas light sizes next!
Yuck, I hate flourescent lighting. Gives me terrible headaches after a while, unless I’m sitting next to a window or incandescent lamp.
Well, good thing I plan on never setting foot in California.
I’m sorry, but I am not about to pop a C note or better for an electrician on the off chance he or she can make my house more nurturing for compact fluorescent lights. That would somewhat negate any savings I could potentially realize if those CFLs ever do actually perform as alleged.
CFLs represent only about 5 percent of the American lightbulb market. One would think that if they were as cost effective as the marketing hacks tout them to be, it would be a no-brainer to switch over to them. But there are so many conditions involved that most folks are going to just say “Screw it” and stick with the status quo.
So far I see the following drawbacks –
On the positive side of the ledger –
Hopefully, something more than warm, fuzzy environmental feelings will be taken into account when this thing comes to a vote.
Yo gonzo, they cost LESS, not more! You’re just looking at the purchase price. You get the same amount of light for less electricity, so over the life of the bulb you end up saving money. Incandescent bulbs are much more expensive than compact fluorescents.
The reason CFLs represent such a small segment of the market is because people are put off by the higher purchase price. It’s the same reason why people are put off energy-efficient appliances that cost more to buy but save you lots of money over their lifetime. We aren’t trained to look at a product’s lifetime costs, just the sticker price.
You don’t have to special order them to get a decent one…the ones I’ve seen in hardware stores are good quality; it’s just some of the no-name ones I see in drugstores that I’m wary of buying.
And really, there’s no need to use a CFL in an easy-bake oven. That’s a job for an incandescent. CFLs make the most sense when you’re using a light for hours a day, such as a porch light, a kitchen light, etc. – they pay for themselves in a few years and after that you’re making money. When I lived in a cottage in Vermont I had CFLs in almost every socket, used an energy-efficient fridge and washing machine, and my electricity bill never exceeded $30/month – and that’s in New England, one of the highest-cost power markets in the US.
I use 'em but remember, they don’t put out as much light when the room temperature is cold, so they make lousy general lighting if you are stepping into a room and need to actually see something rightaway. They depress me a bit. My whole universe is getting darker and dimmer anyway with age, I don’t need the extra help. But I use em in places where I can to save the energy. Glad to.
Gonzo, take a look at this graph from a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory showing the return on investment from a range of energy efficiency improvements.
It’s a little outdated (the stock market may be doing a bit better these days), but you get the idea…