jimn wrote: The ones I bought 10 years ago (and cost 10+ bucks a piece and made in North America) are still working. The ones I buy today, last maybe a year or two.. Guess where they are made. Thankfully they are cheap. Recycling them can be a pain (which you should do.. they contain mercury). I am not sure the money saving equation is working as much anymore. I do it because it uses less energy (at least here in the US.... not sure the making of these is using any less energy in China) .
Just like most stuff made to day, cheap, and not to last.. Cars have gotten much better though, go figure.
Me neither, they were 75¢ at a local hardware store. I forget the brand, but it was a made in China deal. When CFLs first came out they were well over $10 I recall.
I have one CFL in my basement that's close to 20 years old. Now it gets turned on maybe once a day but it used to be in my living room where it was used a lot. It was a bulb given away or sold cheaply by Con Ed when CFLs were new.
Some of the cheap ones I bought a few years ago haven't fared nearly as well, but it does seem like the brand name ones are okay and the dollar store types aren't.
Look online, at HD, 4 -14w =3D 60w bulbs are 1.85. Get the green pack, that is Soft White or incandesant color equivilant. Popular Mechanics magazine rated them 1st in color, CR rated them about 4th in color. LPW tests were also 1st or second on CRs test. Mine last, I have maybe
I researched this recently. CFLs are still a new technology and therefore not reliable. Cheap ones being made by minor companies don't last. And even good ones made by major companies won't last if you often have them on for less than 15 minutes.
Ones that are on for only 15 minutes at a time will last significantly shorter than their rated life expectancy, but will still get in a few thousand hours of run time before they die.
When CFLs fail to get in a few thousand hours of run time, there are 3 usual reasons:
1) Use whey they overheat. Solution: Get ones rated for recessed ceiling fixtures, or be conservative with wattage.
2) Abuse worse than having them on 15 minutes or several minutes per start. Solution: If average on-time per start is less than a couple minutes, use incandescent, LED, or cold cathode CFL. CFLs that have a delay of a fraction of a second to a second before starting (and don't blink during that delay) have little starting-related wear and will last a long time in restrooms used for short trips.
(Cold cathode CFL is not as efficient as the usual hot cathode, but suffers no related to starting.)
3) Use of dollar store stool specimens of brands usually found in dollar stores other than Dollar Tree. My experience with these is a high rate of dying young, high rate of dying spectacularly, light output almost universally less than that of other CFLs with the same light output claims - sometimes by a factor of 3 - and usually either icy cold bluish white color or low color rendering index. Furthermore, in my experience most of these do not claim UL listing - which other CFLs with built-in ballasts generally have.
4) Use of ones of the Lights of America brand. My experience with those is a high rate of dying young, along with usually producing less light than is produced by other CFLs and by incandescents that have the same light output claims.
However, I have purchased only once purchased a L.O.A CFL since 2002 and none in the past few years. I do not know if my experience will repeat itself if I bought any now.
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