Posted on 01/14/2012 8:08:34 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE
I get 4 good ol bulbs for 86c vs 6.88 for 4 new bulbs at my local walmart
What are you talking about?
Here are some example online prices for incadencent 38c per bulb vs 1.24875 per cfl
http://www.1000bulbs.com/category/60-watt-standard-shape-light-bulbs/
http://www.amazon.com/GE-13-Watt-Energy-SmartTM-replacement/dp/B000NISDNU
Also, you really have your lights on for 12 hrs a day? My lights only average about 1 hr of use a day. Yes, there are a few that get used for 6 hrs a day, but there are only 4 in the entire house that get used this much.
Like I said, even the manufacturers don’t make this absurd of a claim. And we know they aren’t right either.
Yes, some are. My wife refuses to turn them off. Even when we had incandescents.
Here are some example online prices for incadencent 38c per bulb vs 1.24875 per cfl
Proves my point. Over three years I would replace the bulbs six or seven times to the one CFL.
The calculations I used are an example. If you choose to live in the dark using incandescents that's your choice. We use the lights and so we save money. It's really just simple math.
Oh, another thing about CFLs. You can get the daylight lamps (5000K) and they REALLY brighten up a room. It’s a much whiter light than a typical incandescent. They take a little getting used to but once you do it’s amazing how much they light up a room. Can’t get that from an incandescent.
I quit reading your post at “Greenie.”
I don’t buy decorative light bulbs (or spots), but would have saved their cost anyway, had I chosen to do so. I get my electricity from the local power company (3rd lowest in the nation, IIRC). The fact is that it’s not merely the savings from the reduced wattage itself, but also the reduced air conditioning also used from the mini space heaters in every fixture. When you have 5 bulb fixtures, that’s between a quarter and half of the heat of a space heater PER fixture. Having lighting on and paying to cool down the same air that is being heated adds up fast.
The money quote:
“The calculations I used are an example. If you choose to live in the dark using incandescents that’s your choice. We use the lights and so we save money. It’s really just simple math.”
Ditto. Unfortunately people are all about choosing until they tell us how we’re wrong. I merely stated the pro’s and con’s I’ve seen in my own use (FIRST HAND!) of CFL’s and it’s become a witch hunt.
Bingo. I use them where appropriate, they aren't all that bad.
I reckon I would be the cheap Charlie, I buy 'em when I can get 'em for about a buck. They don't last 9 years or even 6, rather two or three. Sometimes they blow up sooner. The light is not the same is an incandescent. They are terrible in the cold.
Exception to all that is the purpose built CFL lamps & fixtures (with the plug in U-shaped lights). They do provide better, brighter light, they do last 6-9 years, and there are versions which work great outside in the cold. I have a lot of them in my house in Oregon (the one I don't live in, thanks again Mr. President).
But either the plug-ins or the screwy ones lower my electric bill. Substantially.
You are the only one that I know that attempted to leave their lights on 12 hours a day and still needed air conditioning.
Most people that use lights this long each day, they live north of the arctic circle.
Did you even check your power bill?
My 38c incandescents were purchased 5 years ago and are still going strong in the same light fixtures where CFLs died after only 6 months.
I guess if you buy bulbs with no intention of ever turning them off, they are the bulbs for you.
We are talking about the government dictating that you are the normal case in the United States, I doubt you would even dare try to argue that. You are a statistical out-liner.
I assume you’re unaware of who you’re talking to. I didn’t say I left them on 12 hours a day.
Laying aside your snarky and ignorant babble, yes, I do check my bills, I certainly pay them every month. Also, just for your information, not everyone works in the day and sleeps at night. Some people work in the evening are up and night and sleep in the day. It’s called the swing shift.
I realize now that you’re the kind of person that covers your ears and hums when you hear something you don’t like. Several posters have already described their SUBSTANTIAL savings with fluorescent lighting. If it (fluorescent lighting) wasn’t cheaper, businesses wouldn’t use it. The fact that it now comes in compact bulbs now and not merely long tubes shouldn’t mystify you, it’s called technological advancement. Get a grip.
If you want to pay extra for a mini heat lamp that suits your purposes, I’m not stopping you. I don’t even care. But don’t be a moron who questions my ability to review a power bill, because you simply can’t grasp the concepts of simple energy matters. More energy=more heat. More energy=More cost.
If you have a reason to use a particular bulb, use it. See ya!
Crazy eh? Sort of like troofers.
Bottom line - one size does not fit all, and there are good reasons for each individual to use or not use certain options. The important discussion is, should government (and especially the federal government) mandate certain choices NOT be available? (And you can mark me down on the side of absolutely NOT!)
Of course with all that being said, I don’t want the government to mandate what light bulb I can and can’t buy or use. On the other hand I like saving money over the long term. If I were ever in a position to custom build a house, it would have a conventional HVAC system but I’d also look into solar panels and geothermal heating and not because I'm a "greenie" unless being a greenie is liking to hold on to the green.
Not considered a selling point, but a useful byproduct at this latitude (48 degrees N+). In the summer, we have far longer daylight hours (up to 16 hrs/day) and seldom use electric lights. In the winter, daylight hours are far fewer, but the weather is cold outside--the rooms in use gain from the extra heating effect, those not in use do not. Thus the incandescent bulb heat effect permits lower thermostat settings for the entire structure.
I have been saying this since my nitwit Congressman (since replaced) flapped his lips on Capitol hill saying 'waste heat' was a good reason to vote for the bill that made this mess, but he had been living out of this area for too long to realize it isn't a problem.
I'm with you on the depressing aspects of the light. And the older CFLs make a noise that magnifys my tinnitus, not a happy sound.
The lower wattage ones work a lot closer to what they advertise on the packages.
I believe they are taking the case of a 11w bulbs and extrapolate this onto the higher wattage bulbs.
My desk lamp lasted the longest, it was one of the last bulbs in my frequently used light fixtures to fail. It lasted almost 3.5 years before it finally stopped working.
The thing that makes the cfls fail is turning them on and off. If you leave them on all the time, that isn’t a normal case.
I suspect, if you left an 11w bulb on without switching them off, you would perfectly replicate their results on the package. That just isn’t the real world though.
did you check the link? Yes, and that is a high price for them.
I'm with you on the depressing aspects of the light. And the older CFLs make a noise that magnifys my tinnitus, not a happy sound.
I’m on the computer at work just about all day, at least 8 hours some days more, and by the end of the day, my eyes are so red and watery it looks like I’ve been crying or coming off a bender.
I know I need new glasses but as an experiment, last week I turned off the overhead florescent lights in my office and used a desk lamp instead. The difference was remarkable. I’m thinking of buying a floor lamp and keeping the florescent lights off for good, new glasses or not.
I'm fairly certain that it's related to seasonal affective disorder (which I have). Also, according to this (non-peer reviewed) article, the artificial light may interfere with the circadian rhythm. I find absence of light far more tolerable than artificial light.
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