CFL bulbs in ceiling fan?

they sell ruggedized cfl bulbs for fans. i saw them yesterday in target.

regards, charlie cave creek, az

I have a garden variety Sams club CFL in my drop light and it gets the hell beat out of it.

Do not put the twisty CFL bulbs in your ceiling fan. I don't know about the other models but they are probably the same.

When I tried it they flickered constantly and it was very annoying. I went back to incandescent type.

I've had CFLs in my ceiling fan for YEARS without any problem.

I've found them to last longer than the "fan bulbs" - at my last (rented) place I had a ceiling fan in my bedroom that just ate bulbs for some reason - excess vibration from cheap motor maybe? slapped some CFLs in it and never replaced a bulb again.

Had the same problem in a blast cabinet - even the ruggedized "drop light bulbs" wouldn't last through a single session. CFL still works.

nate

i use the 6 for $10 cfl's in my ceiling fans without issue.

Theoretically, CFLs will work better. They do not have a (relatively) fragile filament to break.

You can even get smaller CFLs for fans with limited space.

In about 1987, I found that the Phillips filament bulbs of that day would not tolerate vibration, but GE were just fine.

Likely some similar thing with CFL, some brands work OK.

What brand works for you?

I use CFLs in a ceiling fan, and I see that done a lot, and I have yet to see or hear of vibration problems.

The bigest problems are:

1. If there is bare tubing, it is easy to break the tubing by screwing the bulb in by holding the tubing. There are "ceiling fan" CFLs with outer bulbs, but those generally tend to start dimmer and take longer to warm up. The tubing gets hotter in CFLs with outer bulbs. Since fluorescents only work well over a limited temperature range, CFLs with outer bulbs are optimized for higher tubing temperature - and need such to do their best.
2. Higher wattage ones easily overheat if operated base-up in a downlight. It appears to me that most 14 watts or less are OK. 15, 20 and 23 watt non-dimmable Philips SLS are also OK, if they fit and if you get them in without cracking the tubing.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

I see lots of CFLs in ceiling fans and I never saw one flicker. Could you tell us what brand, model and wattage flickered in your ceiling fan?

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

I don't remember the brand, probably GE or Sylvania. It was 40-watt equivilent. I do have a wireless remote installed within the fan electrical system so maybe that was the cause. The fan man at the store didn't seem too surprised when I told him the problem.

Electronic switching devices sometimes cause CFLs to malfunction unless the CFLs are ones rated to use on dimmers. Electronic switching devices being used to switch non-dimmable CFLs should be rated to switch fluorescent lamps and electronic devices.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)