I changed the last of our non-dimmer lights to cfl bulbs this weekend. I had changed about half of them last year, and we noticed our bills dropped about $20 a month - I guess that's probably more than most people would see - figuring that since someone is home all day, the lights are on more, and are a bigger chunk of our electric usage. So now we can extend that gain a little more.
The only thing to get used to is the warm-up cycle, when turned on it takes them a couple minutes to get to full brightness. But I've found that first thing in the morning, that can be a real benefit, as my eyes have a little time to adjust without being blinded by full intensity. The outside floods suffer this dim problem more, but after a couple minutes, they're as bright as incandescent ones.
There were a few spots where incandescent bulbs would frequently burn out - the front porch light would only last about 3 months on a bulb, and the kitchen light had a short life as well. Both have now used the same cfl bulbs for over a year.
Of course, it's not all rosy - cfl bulbs contain mercury, so I can't just toss them in the trash when they burn out. I think local supermarkets offer some type of recycling drop-off. But none have died, so we haven't had to worry about it yet.
2 comments:
You could do like I do:
Wrap the burnt-out bulbs in a paper towel, put in Ziploc sandwich bag, then put that in Ziploc freezer bag, then put in a drawer where you forget about it until the day after you read the "today is hazardous waste drop-off day" announcement that appeared in last week's neighborhood paper.
Love, The Anal-Retentive CFL Bulb User
Our plan b is to toss them on the neighbor's roof.
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