apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Or maybe, some of us bought our CFLs years ago, which are still going strong, and have had no need to buy any in 2007.

Just a thought.

With fluorescents, you not only want to check the brightness, you want to check the "warmth" of the light, which is measured in Kelvins. The lower the Kelvins, the warmer the light.

I have one incandescent bulb and two halogen task lamps in my entire apartment. Everything else - the overheads, the table lamps, the floor lamps - are fluorescent and no one who visits even realizes it because the light is so warm. Check the Kelvin rating on your bulbs - 3200 or less is the way to go for home if you like that incandescent tone.

jose: kudos to the folks who made the switch early on! But there are plenty of folks who neither know about CFLs nor know their importance for energy conservation, so anything/anyone who gets the word out about it is a-okay in our book (including you!).

mcquaidla: a very good point. I once purchased full spectrum CFL bulbs, and the light was so bright-white harsh, I thought I was under KGB interrogation. Thanks for the reminder about Kelvin rating.

Q. How many folk singers does it take to change a light bulb?

A. One ...... and four other folk singers to say how bright the old one was.

Kudos for GE, but how long with these HEI bulbs last? Part of the benefit of CFLs is not only that they are more energy efficient but that they last a LOT longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.

Its not just about the energy wasted during use (and greenhouse gases thus emitted in making that energy) - its about the energy and resources wasted in manufacturing the bulb (and later disposing of it in a landfill). Less bulbs used = less energy wasted and less waste stream going to landfills.

Okay Im no expert, but I did hear that these bulbs are made with mercury and have to be recycled properly. Why is no one mentioning this on this new push to get people to buy these. If people aren't responsible and dispose of these properly its just going to be a new environmental problem. I hear IKEA will except them but not all recycling programs will except these types of prouducts.
Wal Mart had no comment on this when faced with the question of offereing drop off locations at their stores. They want to sell over 100 million of these bulbs by the end of 2008.

Beth, mercury is definitely a valid issue worth worrying about. But I think the reason people aren't focusing so much on the mercury issue is because of the many studies involving CFLs and mercury seem to dispute the dangers versus the benefits of switching:

"An extremely small amount of mercury—an average of four milligrams—is sealed within the glass tubing of a CFL. This is said to be about the size of the period at the end of this sentence"

"Ironically, a regular incandescent light bulb actually releases much more mercury into the environment than a CFL. CFLs prevent mercury from entering our air, where it most affects our health by reducing energy demand at the power plant. The highest source of mercury in our air comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, the most common fuel used in Michigan to produce electricity. A CFL uses up to 75% less energy than an incandescent light bulb and lasts up to 10 times longer. A power plant will emit 10mg of mercury to produce the electricity to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg of mercury to run a CFL for the same time."

- http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_30068_30172-90210--,00.html

WOW Thanks for the information Gregory!That puts me at ease with making the change.