What brand of CFL's is the best?

I have about 50 HD brand bulbs working 2 years with 2 failurers. Enclosed fixturs can overheat them. HD has 7 yr warranty

Welcome to my world. I bought into the be-green-use-CFL hype, and ended up spending a lot of money on CFL bulbs that for the most part don't last a year. Yes, they have warranties. I don't bother with them though - it's not worth the trouble and I don't want another crap bulb that will burn out in

Like you, I'd like to know what brand of bulbs actually last the 5-10 years they are supposed to last.

Hopefully you will recycle them correctly.

A few years ago I got some CFLs that started to fail. Each time one failed I called and they sent a new one. Got about 5 new bulbs. Now they do seem to last much longer.

Lou

Not me. They quit working, they go in the trash.

Odd, I've had a regular indoor CFL (because that's what I had handy) in my front porch for over a year and it's still going. I expected it to fail but it hasn't yet. I think I have only replaced one CFL, ever (installed at bottom of basement steps; might have been bumped by moving stuff around)

nate

Not the HD brand thats for sure. I spent big bucks to replace 9 ceiling can PAR floods (6 inch cans) with dimmable CFL's (100 watt equiv light output). I have some old halogen ones in some other cans that are used just as frequently. Well, all 9 of the dimmable CFL floods bulbs stopped working after about 4 to 6 months. The halogen PAR floods in the other cans have been going for about 5 years with only one replacement. Both circuits use the same brand high-wattage dimmer switches.

I think the new dimmable CFL's are something you definitely want to stay away from. Since my town now charges extra for people to recycle (no profit in recycling anymore I guess), my CFL's will be in a landfill somewhere.

The best use for CFL's I experienced to date is in outdoor lighting, they do last much longer in severe conditions like that, and I hate changing the outdoor bulbs (mud, ladders, dropping the thumbscrews, etc.)

Dittos. Along with used motor oil ;)

The newer bulbs tend to last longer. The published life is based on a minimum 4 hour burn time. The more you turn them on and off, the quicker they'll burn out. But before everybody freaks out, you should know that even if a bulb burns out 75% faster than advertised and you don't recycle them properly, you STILL prevent more mecury from getting into the environment--AND, you'll save enough money on electricity charges to buy another CFL and still have change left over. The electricity to burn a standard incandescent bulb (from a coal fired plant) pollutes almost twice as much.

Lots of facts. Can you provide a source?

I don't know if one brand is better than any other but at Home Depot, they have a lit display with all the different bulbs that they sell. There sure is a difference in the colour of the light being emitted by each brand and bulb type.

Best for what? The ones with no mercury content are used by responsible people.

When the country goes to coal-powered cars this will all be negated (plug in hybrids are essentially coal-powered cars)

Shhhhh.

All those Prius owners are making the world a better place.

All the pollution required to make the batteries and recycling/ landfill issues don't count.

Quite! ;)

I have one in my front porch that has been there for 3 years. However, I don't turn my porch light on very often, so that probably isn't a good test of longevity. I used to use them in my bathroom, but got tired of them burning out. Same for dining room and kitchen. It doesn't seem to matter where/how they are used.

I have a lot that is supposed to be for high temp locations. So far they seem to be doing well, but it was a one-time purchase at HD, and I'll probalby never see the brand again.

nate

You want facts?

Here's some.

EPA site has some side by side comparisons too.

Just search for CFL & mercury.

Also search for CFL & life

When I bought my house seven years ago, I bought a bunch of the cheapest CFLs that Lowe's offered (Sylvania brand, 13 watt). I installed them almost everywhere. Some didn't last long, but most did. The ones that failed did so within the first year. The rest are still installed, working and being used more or less every day.

Where I used them is places where they are turned on and left on for hours at a time. I didn't put CFLs where lighting is needed infrequently and/or only for short periods each day (closets, bathrooms, most exterior locations). I don't know if that's a false economy. And there were places where standard fluorescent lighting was the right choice (kitchen, garage).

One CFL I wouldn't waste my money on again is a 3-way CFL. Its three levels are "dim", "slightly less dim", and "no brighter than the last level". Maybe that particular technology has improved since then, though.

I put CFLs in two ceiling fans, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how well they tolerate that environment.

Nope. Coal accounts for about half of our nation's energy production. China is bringing, on average, three coal-fired power plants per week on-line and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Non-carbon producing energy generation facilities will go up. But by an infinitesimal amount. Virtually all the dams that can be built have been; a new nuclear facility is at least ten to twenty years off. That leaves wind, solar, and maybe tidal as possibilities, none of which are very cost effective or even capable of producing the power needed.