Are those compact fluorescent light bulbs really more efficient than normal light bulbs

Question

I thought I heard somewhere that there's not much of a difference especially when you consider the cost of them vs. normal light bulbs, is there any truth to that? Are you glad Yahoo! Answers decided to go green?

I think what I had heard was that the light they produce is not normal light it's super light that makes everything really ugly because it shows it's true self without masking it in any creamy beige undertones...

Answer 1

I have been using them for about a year now--just the 100W ones in my lamps and  ceiling fans.  I noticed that my outside porch light seemed to burn out every three months or so ( I leave it on all night), but with these new bulbs, about10 mos. have gone by and it hasn't burned out.  They do seem to take a few seconds to get up to their full brightness, but it goes away.  Yes, they are more expensive, but they last so much longer.  I read that Home Deport is going to accept the used ones: you can't just throw them away because of the mercury.

Answer 2

"I thought I heard somewhere that there's not much of a difference especially when you consider the cost of them vs. normal light bulbs, is there any truth to that?"

Then you heard wrong.  Incandescent heaters are pretty cheap but the electricity to run them is quite expensive (that's why they don't make longer life incandescents, the efficiency loss would make them more expensive) whilst CFLs have such lower power usage that the higher cost of the tube is actually paid back in lower power bills.

As for the light they produce, it isn't a blackbody (or close to it) spectrum like what an incandescent heater will put out but newer fluorescents are much improved and give you a light that should be quite acceptable.

Just make sure you don't put a CFL in a dimmer circuit or enclosed fitting (they don't like that).

Answer 3

The higher cost of them is not really worth mentioning as many of them can last for up to 12 years. Overall it is a very good idea to buy them.

Answer 4

You bet they're more efficient!  A home inspector friend of mine says that changing  to compact fluorescent bulbs is one of the easiest ways to save a lot of energy!

Incandescent lights also put off quite a bit of heat, so they will make your house hotter in the summer.  

If you don't like the color spectrum, get the full spectrum bulbs, which I recommend for any light.  

Compare the energy savings of compact fluorescents vs. incandescents on the following web page about the Top Ten Tips to Save Energy:

http://www.building-your-green-home.com/...

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

I don't buy them. You can do the same thing by switiching out your conventional lightbulb say, from 100 watts down to 75 watts. You've saved 25 watts and get instant light the moment you turn on the switch.  Those compact fluorescent light bulbs do not give instant light when you flick the switch.

It is reminiscent of what we term as a "brownout" , then the light gradually comes on up. The light is not as good as a conventional bulb.