Why Aren't Curly Light Bulbs Perfect Yet?

Mr Siminovitch said the technology exists to create C.F.L.s that are comparable to incandescent bulbs. "They can be configured and made today with great color," he said. "They can also be dimmed. They can also be put together in such a way that they last for a very long time."

And yet, Mr. Siminovitch said, many manufacturers have been cutting corners and putting C.F.L.s of lesser quality on the market, skewing consumers' perception of the technology.

Green Inc. recently chatted with Mr. Siminovitch about light bulb performance and efficiency, consumer expectations and "Super C.F.L.s," among other things. Excerpts follow:

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[GTRich2004]

I've replaced almost every bulb in my house with CFL's. The only ones left are the lights in my chandelier and I can't replace them because the CFL's don't dim and are frightfully expensive in that size. I really like the fact that I can get more light out of the comparable CFL's for a fraction of the cost. Personally, I think the watt comparisons you see on the CFL boxes are generally about 1 bulb size off and I can get the same amount of light in my light fixtures with the 25W equivalent CFL's compared to the 60W incandescent's I replaced.

I do agree on the warm up time. The flood lights in the recessed fixtures in my kitchen take about 5 minutes to heat up. But after they do, they work fine.

I've also had some early mortality issues with a few of the lights. Out of the 60 or so that I have used over the past 2 or 3 years, I've had 3 or 4 got out very quickly. I didn't care too much about it when it was one of the little 13W guys, but when I lost a $7 flood light in the kitchen, I took it back to home depot and had them replace it.

[Angelus2007]

I don't pay my electric bill (my building does) but I put CFLs in for no other reason than I hate changing bulbs. Not green, not money, just lazy!

[MajorKong]

I hate giving money to the power company. I've had CFLs in my house for years now.

[GeeBee]

The interview didn't even mention my pet peeve, which is the pitiful light output of many CFLs when they first turn on, gradually building up to a decent light output. My MIL has one in her dining room that is fine after about 40 minutes, but to start with is barely bright enough to read a newspaper.

[research]

Good ones are instant on full brightness.

return bulbs that don't start immediately.

[LeBeau59741]

I mostly use incadescent bulbs and in many of my lamps, I use incredibly expensive(blah) full spectrum bulbs... I do a lot of different things to minimize my personal impact in this rock but I refuse to live in a terrible, cheerless, cold flourescent glow.

[KillTheMessenger]

Then you better start stocking up on incandescent bulbs. The world is moving on.

[research]

You can get different spectrum of CFL, including much better full spectrum than incandescent. You also get 5 times as much light per watt.

I like the 5500k bulbs for best color rendering, but sounds like you prefer the warm white 2000-4000k.

[CrzyRussell]

I have CFL's in my dining room and living room. I am very disappointed in their performance as compared to the incandescent's I will be installing incandescent bulbs in my new fixures when I install them next month.

[research]

CFL's vary tremendously in quality. color and reliability.

See my comment above about color temperature choices.

Make sure you are getting enough lumens compared to incandescent.

If a CFL comes on slow or dim, it burned out. replace it.

[OhioVoterAlso]

I too have a few of them in assorted light fixtures. They have lasted - up to a couple of years now - but I am still on the lookout for CFLs that put out the same brightness of light as my regular 60 and 75 watt incandescents. And if any are made in the USA, please say so!

[KillTheMessenger]

Simply buy the ones that are marked to be equivalent to a 100W bulb.

I light my whole living room with two CFLs. It's more than enough to read and pretty much anything else. I do have large white wall areas, though... that's key to having a bright room.

[JScott]

Yup I got a few that didn't last too long.

And yup what about those LED ones. The Xmas ones seem to be ok but do they have ones for regular use?

[KillTheMessenger]

"Yup I got a few that didn't last too long."

It only means that you did not have a CFL compatible light fixture. The electronic ballasts will burn out when they overheat. Unlike incandescent bulbs CFLs do not tolerate poorly cooled fixtures.

"And yup what about those LED ones."

Yes, there are lighting fixtures based on LEDs but if you have to ask, you can't afford them.

[alvdh1]

There you go again Mr. Messenger. The upfront cost is, of course, higher, but the energy savings and repalcemnt lights allow you to recover your cost in 2 1/2 to 3 years leaving, in many instances, 10 to 15 years of useful life. Many people can afford the upfront cost which will ultimately drive the cost lower because of demand and competition. Go to Earth LED to see high quality repalcement LED fixtures.

If you have 4 or 6 inch down lights go to Cree, Inc. for high quality dimmible LED down lights. Everyone forgets that China is moving in a big way toward cheaper LED lighting for residential and commercial use. Many domestic and foreign manufacturers have established a presence in China.

Cree now has a 24"x24" layin fluorescent replacement fixture for grid and hard ceilings. The Pentagon has ordered 4,500 fixtures from Cree. LG signed a license agreement with Cree today for their LED chips to be used in laptops and flatscreen TV's. Color rendering is key when purchasing an LED light. Cree is state of the art when it comes to color rendering which needs to exceed 90 to replace the light quality of an incandescent bulb.

All of their lights have a rendering of 92. Their lumen output per watt recently acheived 161 lumens per watt. The competition is dwarfed by Cree's technology in rendering and lumen output. For the latest LED technology and news go to LED Magazine. Spread the message Mr. Messenger.

[research]

CFL has a fairly high "infant mortality" rate, about 40% in my experience die within days or weeks.

The rest last forever.

Leds are fast surpassing CFL in Light per watt and lumen s per dollar, while completely blowing them away in lifetime.

The largest CFL, like the 105Watters are a great replacement for the old Metal Halide lamps.

But LEDswill take over everything in a few years.

[tubette]

i hate the ones i have.... they go on and off all the time.....

[000Jade000]

I got 2 bulbs recently.

One lasted around 3 weeks and blew out. The other lasted 1 day!!!!! So much for 7 years!!!

[KillTheMessenger]

Your light fixture overheats the electronic ballast. You need to get a new fixture. It's not the CFLs itself but how you use them that leads to early mortality.

[Gasparilla]

I've used them for at least ten years. Never had that happen.