LED lights are a GIANT decrease in energy use from the old incandescent. BUT they are only a small difference from CFL. If fact the LED i replaced in my kitchen recessed can is actually 18w vs the 15w i took out. It is brighter though.
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That's the reason why I keep using my CFLs until they fail before replacing them with a LED. Only in places where I need instant light and want to save energy I will take out the CFLs prematurely.
That's the calculus I've been trying to decide on. I have a few places I've never been able to use CFLs satisfactorily, they'll get the LEDs first. A few marginal places where I'd prefer faster light might be next, but after that the CFLs will have to die before I'll replace them, and the ones that are left by now are the ones that may even last as long as claimed. By then the choice and price of LEDs will be even better.
TE
I do mix and match them. Like in the kitchen I have 4 floodlights but hated the 30 second waiting time before getting full brightness. Thus, I replaced 2 CFLs with 2 LEDs and now have 2 lights come on instantly and the 2 CFLs lagging behind are far less of an issue. Once they fail I will replace them with the CFLs I took out until they are all gone and I can switch to LEDs completely.
In our bathroom fixture we have 4 globe bulbs which I have not seen as LEDs yet. Thus, I put 2 incadescent and 2 CFLs in. Instant light for the quick potty break but energy savings for the wife's beauty hour.
In our bathroom fixture we have 4 globe bulbs which I have not seen as LEDs yet. Thus, I put 2 incadescent and 2 CFLs in. Instant light for the quick potty break but energy savings for the wife's beauty hour.
Same here. I have no issue with our current CFLs. Once they got the color temperature correct they have turned out to be a decent light source. The minute or so that they take to come up to full brightness doesn't bother us. We only use them for lights that stay on for an extended period of time. It's not like you can't see when they are starting at 75% brightness.
Just got a couple new GE LED lights to try in the kitchen. I was at our local hardware store and they had a promotional sale on them subsidized by the power company and GE, priced at $8.99. Their form factor is identical to an R30 lamp and their lumen output at 700 lumens for 10watts is excellent. The bulbs are dated and in service now. Next to the the 15w CFLs they are brighter and put out a cleaner white light. I'm a little leary because there is no heat sink on these bulbs. They look like a regular bulb with a white collar. GE claims they will last 22 years @ 3 hrs a day on their website, but 13.7 yrs on the packaging. I'm not sure how they will last so I am saving the warranty info (5 yrs) and receipt.
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I get lousy life out of CFLs even though I keep buying the things. And the smell when they decide to check out is nasty. No way they are paying out. If I just left them on all of the time they would probably live forever. But I just ain't gonna stop turning the light off.
That used to happen to me with early CFLs, but not in the past few years. No smell when at end of life. I date my CFLs, just replaced one today. It was put in 10/7/10, so almost 3 years. My wife has these kitchen lights on every day about 3 hrs in the summer and 6 hrs in the winter. These are Home Depot cheapies. I think they were like $12 for 4 bulbs. FWIW, I got almost exactly 2 years out of the 45W halogens they replaced and less than a year out of the 75w incandescents they replaced.
The CFL I installed in my barn's cupola lasted only a month. It may have gotten damp, though... just discovered a small leak in the cupola.
I think CFLs don't like really cold or hot temps; that may have contributed to its early demise.
FWIW, I found CFLs lifespans to vary tremendously. Some did not make it a year, others are older than 5 years and still going strong. Like BG, I feel the newer ones seem to last longer than the first generations. On the other hand, I was always surprised how quickly incadescents burn out here. In Germany, we regularly got 5 years or more out of a bulb, here I was replacing them so often that I kept buying them in bulk to have some replacements at hand all the time. Could be the difference of 110 V versus 220 V, though.
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