apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I experienced the same problem and learned that I had too much wattage. Try fewer watts. It should work. (I'm assuming you aren't leaving the bulb bare. Nothing will help if you do that.)

Keep trying! It's one of the little things we can actually do to reduce energy use.

Not an answer, but related to the question. You should know that you can't throw these bulbs out, they have mercury or something in them and just like you used to have to do with batteries, you need to take them to a proper disposal place. I know IKEA accepts them.

OMG - I was JUST about to post the same question.

I've been gung ho to change all my bulbs, but after buying the first two, and test driving them at home, they give me flashbacks of all the awfull dressing rooms I've been in trying on bikinis.

I love mother nature, but frankly, that light looks like ass.

Are there different kinds out there? And what about for little chandelier-type bulbs?

It's not easy being green.

L.E.D., a different technology, uses less energy that Cfb and its light output can be more flattering. Alas though LED's are very expensive ot purchase, although the bulbs last far longer than other technologies. A good place to start looking these up might be this site or treehugger.com.

The Energy Federation sells a wide variety of energy-saving bulbs, including CFLs with a warmer tone. They also have energy-saving chandelier bulbs. http://www.efi.org

Try an OzoneLite. I've had good results with these; also, they make a full-spectrum model.

Good luck!

I know several people who swear by the bulbs made by Phillips (expensive compared with the others, but worth it in terms of color and quality of light). The ones from IKEA are to be avoided at all costs!

Oops, meant to post the URL for OzoneLite, even though you probably would have found it: http://ozonelite.com/

Have you tried the full spectrum CFL? I find them to be WAY better than standard incandescent. Incandescents are much too yellow.

You might also want to check the color temperature of the fluorescent bulbs. Those marked at 4000K will be cooler in temperature and will look a little blue. Those marked 3000K or 3600K are warmer and are more like traditional incandescent bulbs.

I had great luck with LightWiz, which is available at www.efi.org. We have the 15W in our lamps and ceiling fixtures.

Before finding these bulbs, I had bought and tossed 4-5 other brands. I highly recommend them.

I wanted to buy LED lights and don't mind that they cost more, the problem is it seems as though the majority of existing light fixtures will not accept them. I've been looking all over for LED lights for my track lights and I can't seem to get around the fact that LED bulbs do not work with electronic transformers. Are there tracklights without electronic transformers? The heat my halogen mr11 bulbs throw out is ridiculous.

ok, this is going to sound totally weird, but I had a similar problem and came up with a strange solution. I have two paper globe lanterns that I wanted for more "moody" lighting. I bought two small compact fluorescent bulbs and the light was awful, so bright and nearly blue... so i got out my paints and painted both bulbs a soft sheer pinky peach color. the bulbs don't put out much heat, and they've been going strong for more than three years! Of course this does make the lights much less bright, but that was the look I was going for.

Are the OzoneLites worth it? I'm very intrigued by them and their supposed ability to filter the air, but they seem so expensive.

I've made do with lower wattage and warmer colors of shades like aquarabbit mentioned.

Haha this is great! I, too, was about to ask the same question this morning. I hate how life-suckingly white flourescent bulbs are. Someone said to avoid the Ikea lights... and I agree, EXCEPT for the globe/round ones. I can't find any bulbs on their website, but the globe/round ones are awesome! They put off a really, really warm light. The only drawback is that they're not very bright. The long and corkscrew ones from Ikea suck!

For me the OzoneLites are worth it because I like the light rendition of the full-spectrum lamp.

If you're interested in the photocatalytic qualities of a TiO2-coated lamp but want something less expensive (and don't care about full spectrum), try Fresh2: http://fresh2.com/

Are any of these bulbs dimmable? I know they exist, but I have never found a place that sells them.

Arthur, buy a dimmer. Ikea sells them for around eight bucks.

Caren, the majority of the new eco bulbs are not recommended for use in dimmers - all the ones I have bought have specifically stated that.

I think I must be the only person that prefers the light from the 6500k bulbs. Its much closer to daylight then the crusty orange of the 2700K typical energy savers, and the colour rendering is much better too, under the lower temperature lights blues and greens all look just drab.

For the person with the track lights, swap the bulbs out for osram titan decostar 35 watters with IRC - they put out the same light as a 50 watt and a lot less heat, the infra red coating keeps the heat on the filiment making more light and less heat

Has anyone had any experience with under the cabinet LED lights for the kitchen?

Look for bulbs with a light temperature below 3000 K(elvin) -- 2700 or 26(50/70) for instance. The higher the temperature, the harsher the light.

I can handle the light from these bulbs, but my lampshades can't, which is to say that most of my shades clamp onto the regular incandescent bulbs with no problem, but I daren't try them on the compact flourescents. Any ideas? Are there adapters out there?

Arthur --

I saw some dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs at my local (Canadian) hardware store. Click on my name for the manufacturer's link. Didn't buy any, so I can't speak for its effectiveness or colour temp.

Most dimmable CFLs are not really that dimmable. We use one in our kitchen, and it can really only dim about 50% or so. It's not an issue, since we're usually running it at full blast.

I've found that I'm much happier running regular bulbs that I dim heavily. I use full strength halogen task lighting when needed.

I use 120 watt floods, usually dimmed to about 25% of full strength, as fill lighting for various zones of my apartment. Usually I use two of these on a track. The rest of the lighting for each zone is supplied by shelf/floor/table lighting using smaller dimmable bulbs (halogen or regular).

What about the so-called "natural light" bulbs. (Not florescent, I know). Are they all they are cracked up to be?

Thank you Michelle of Montreal

Here's some background info on some terms being thrown arround in lighitng now days...

Full Spectrum- Halogen lamps are really the only lamps commonly referred to as “full spectrum” because they render all the visible colors in the spectrum equally. Regular screw-in incandescent "A" lamps tend to be warmer in color, (don't produce that crispy white light) but therefore they also render warmer tones better. The "Full Spectrum" lamps they sell now days are just regular incandescent lamps with a blue-pink coating on the outside to boost the cooler color tones.

The ability of a given lamp to render all visible colors well is called Color Rendering Index (CRI for short) and is measured on a scale of 1-100. Most fluorescent lamps for high end use (commercial grade) have a CRI of 85%. Most “Warm White” and “Cool White” lamps you buy at hardware stores are between 52% and 72%, which is the reason why most people think the light all fluorescents emit looks terrible. Remember the fluorescent light in grandma’s kitchen that gave off that totally unflattering blue light?

Then there is another term called “color temperature”. Color temperature refers the "color" of the light, and is referenced on the Kelvin scale.
Cool white lamps are higher color temperature (more blue, violet & green), and have Kelvin values of 4000K to 5000K.
Warm white lamps are as you might expect, warmer in color (more orange, yellow, red) and range in Kelvin temperature from 2700K to 3500K.
Generally “incandescent color”, or the stuff people have come to expect of the light they want to use in their homes, is between 2700~3200K. What is the color palate of the the room where you are installing these lamp? If you have a room with cool tones, then install lamps with a warm color temperature your lighting will not look right.

The best thing I can recommend is that you use lamps from one of the “Big 3” Osram–Sylvania, GE, or Philips. Phillips makes dimmable CFL lamps now that actually work quite well, & come in all shapes & sizes, but this is all stuff you need to go to an electical distributor to get.

Here is a general cross walk on Compact Fluorescent = Incandescent wattages:
12w CFL = 40w INC.
15w CFL = 50-60w INC
20w CFL = 75w INC.

Visit the big 3 websites and look through their online catalogs and call a distributor. I know it's a pain, but unfortunately that's the only way you can get most of this suff.

sells LED bulbs that fit regular sockets -- but very expensive! :-(

Hmm, don't know what happened to the first part of my post. I meant to say that C.Crane Company sells LED bulbs that fit regular sockets.

http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

John is right... CRI is the most important spec to check when buying fluorescent lights. We replaced all the old 4ft bulbs in our office with Phillips 92 CRI bulbs from Home Depot. The reduction in eye strain and daily fatigue is amazing.

Color temperature is more a matter of personal taste.

have fun defining Color temperature.
Terrestrial Atmospheric Spectrum.

http://www.housesofthefuture.com.au/hof_houses06.html

I purchased the "warm white" of these bulbs form the HomeDepot....They shine like regular bulbs....I also purchased energy effecient flood lights for outside....remember "warm white" (NOT "soft white")

When I come home from work being around fluorecsent bulbs all day I still prefer the warm tones of incandescent bulbs.
Long live incandescent bulbs!

If you are looking for some LED light bulbs at a much better price that will save you some "green" try donsgreenstore.com they have tried to make an informational site along with offering LED light bulbs at about half the cost of those overpriced stores you see all over google.

I have 4 florescent bulbs, 2 yellowish and one white. When the plastic cover is over, one can hardly see the difference.

But and this is a problem I have, how to replace the plastic covers. The lights are framed and the only way I know of replacing them is to install one cover, and then add the second cover on top of the first. The second cover can then be slided pass the first one. This is NOT by all means easy, and the covers are heavy and tend to fall if they are not placed properly.

Which is the safest and easiest way to do it? Is there some pictures on how to do it?
The electrical system, including the bulbs is OK and does not require any work.
This is a project for Monday. I can't stand the light without covers.
Sorry, I wanted to post a new message, but I do not know how to.

I just went to Home Depot and tried to do my duty for the environment. I bought a dozen N:Vision Soft White light bulbs, which are equal to my 60 watts GE Soft White Reveals I normally use, but the lighting is scary...it's not as warm and cozy as my reveals, the light is yellowish but it gives a "cool" tone. I want to do the right thing, but want the same warm glow. Any ideas on what I should be using to get the same affect.