Comments on: Compact fluorescent bulbs for church and home?

By: Priscilla

Priscilla — Sun, 28 May 2006 16:41:23 +0000

I have used CF’s for years — I have found that the manufacturer makes a difference. Since I’m deeply into the process of moving and my brain cells aren’t firing well, I can’t recall the bad ones offhand. I would say, experiment with different wattages and manufacturers. And maybe do some googling about this.

I did find some full spectrum CF’s on Dr. Joe Mercola’s website . They are pricey but really great for reading, close work, and brightening a room.

One thing: if you have lampshades that fit over a lightbulb, be very careful. I broke one of the pricey full-spectrum ones this way. Grrrr. I’m in the process of changing over my lampshades because of this.

By: PeaceBang

PeaceBang — Sat, 27 May 2006 23:24:14 +0000

I use them but I don’t like the way they flicker before coming on and I don’t like the slightly greeny-yellowish tint they cast. But that’s only a problem in the darkest days of winter when I want to kill myself anyway, no matter how bright the house is.

By: Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Sat, 27 May 2006 21:34:49 +0000

I think this is true, but in the same way that some people think a 60 watt incandescent bulb is fine to read by. I didn’t even like 75 watt incandescent bulbs; nothing but 100 watt would do for me.

So we use 7 ot 11 watt CFs for accent lighting, and 23 or 26 watt watt CFs for anything to work or read by. Which itself should be a warning: the super-cheap CFs at IKEA are 11 watt (roughly 60 watt equivalent), and you’re right: it won’t be enough for many uses. But still, that’s a quarter the electricity and given the high proportion of US household electricity dedicated to lighting think its worth the effort where practical.

By: Christine Robinson

Christine Robinson — Sat, 27 May 2006 21:20:22 +0000

My husband went on a kick and replaced all the lights in our house with CF’s right after our baby was born. (his way of making up for the ecological impact.) And I went on for years thinking that pregnancy had damaged my eyesight.

Finally the lightbulb went on. CF’s just are not as bright as their hot-headed compatriots. They say they are equivelant to 75 watts but they are lying. So replace away, but to get the equivelant amount of real light for real people, you have to have more of them.

By: Derek

Derek — Sat, 27 May 2006 12:32:39 +0000

My partner doesn’t like them. He says he can percieve the tell-tale flourescent flicker, and that it eventually gives him a mild headache.

By: StevenR

StevenR — Sat, 27 May 2006 12:08:27 +0000

We’ve been using mostly compact fluorscent light bulbs for years - I think there is only two bulbs not in the house.
(one because we didnt buy enough, one because we plan to replace it, with a motion detector light ) -
cant say I have any experiences to reapeat: no news being good news.
I’ve used fluorscent bulbs when they were expensive -
and I did knock a lamp with fluorscent bulb (pre- compact) burning to the floor, they die just like regular bulbs do when you do that.