You may or may not have heard on the news about the end of the light bulb as we know it. Normal bulbs are being phased out. The production of incandescent bulbs will end, and they will be replaced with fluorescent bulbs which are supposed to be more energy efficient and environmentally safe.
That said, you have two options for light in the future. The first option is to stockpile normal bulbs while they are still available. Store them in a safe place and use as needed. The other option is to start looking for these new bulbs, and get them when they go on sale.
Right now, they are more of a novelty. I imagine when they become the required norm, they will go up in price. I recently ran across these new bulbs on sale at Lowes for $1.25 each. I purchased four. If you are not familiar with the bulb I am referring to, look at the attached picture. These are the bulbs of the future.
By Suntydt from Tazewell, TN
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The CFL bulbs don't last as long as advertised when they are used in lights that are turned on and off in short periods of time. Therefore in my bathroom, bedrooms, hallway, and kitchen(a good percentage of the time, I'm not in my kitchen for extended periods of time.) The only lights that are on for any length of time in my apartment are the lamps in the living room.
I have been using them for years. In some states the electric companies will give every home several as a one time thing to encourage use. Why spend money stockpiling the old style when the new style will save you money on electricity?
I have been using these bulbs for years. They last way longer than the incandescent light bulbs. I think in about 5 years, I've only had to replace one bulb and that was in a lamp that burns for about 15 hours a day!
You certainly are Blessed to have found your CFL's for such a low price! Where I live each CFL bulb cost minimum is $4.00 and up depending on the type and output.
All the hoopla about how much money you'll save in energy costs is a bunch of bunk. Unless the prices of the bulbs go way down you haven't saved a penny because of the initial outlay of cash for each bulb and especially in rooms where the lights go on and off often. Redhatterb is completely correct about their efficiency and especially in bathrooms that hold a lot of moisture.
Things that really upset me about this forced switchover is all of the current US manufacturing jobs that will be lost. The CFL's are made overseas. Also, the majority of people are too lazy or don't care about disposing of these bulbs that contain mercury responsibly.
epa.gov/
Here in Phoenix, our Goodwill stores have them for a very good price, can't remember how much but I buy mine there.
Pat
They have been talking about these new bulbs for a good while now. They are more expensive than the bulbs we use now. I expect that will go up when they are the only ones on the market. I don't have enough experience with them to know if they last longer for me. I do know that the bulbs I have now don't last long at all, especially the 3-way bulbs. For me the biggest issue is that they have mercury in them, and that is an environmental hazard. I am sure that all this mercury in landfills will be worse for the environment than our current bulbs.
For those of you who don't know, you have to be real careful if one of these bulbs gets broken in your home. If you have kids and pets in the house, get them away from it real quick. I'd put them as far away in the house as you can, and close a door. Open the windows around the broken bulb. Be very, very careful in cleaning these things up. Follow the instructions at epa.gov/hg/spills/ or at the site Deeli kindly posted. It is important information, so thank you for posting it, Sundydt.
I've used these bulbs for years, & they have only gone down in price. I get mine at Walmart & I think they are a pretty good deal, depending on where you use them.
I have a 100 watt equivalent bulb in my garage (wouldn't normally use one this high because of cost) - only problem is is winter when it's cold, it takes awhile to get full brightness.
I have them in all of the light sockets in my house, except the ceiling fan lights. The one's in the bathroom have actually lasted longer than I figured (a couple of years), considering the humidity & being turned off & on so much. I took the chance on putting them there in the 1st place because the regular bulbs were always burning out from so much use, these have outlasted the normal one's by a year at least! I even have one in my front porch light.
When they first came out, they were expensive & didn't seem to last very long, but these latest one's I've been using have all lasted at least a couple of years or more so far.
I'm happy with them because they save me money on my electricity. I have 4 boys (including the hubby) who don't know how to turn off lights! I'm not happy about the mercury or that they aren't made in the USA. I've never had any of them break on me, to have to worry about the mercury.
Up until recently, when they started advertising that there was mercury, I threw them in the trash (which makes me very unhappy). Now I just put the in their plastic packaging to save until the next time I go to Home Depot because they take used bulbs to dispose of properly.
I agree with most of the posters below. In Europe we have been using them for years. They last forever and save a fortune! I have had some of them for 5 years and they are still going strong. They last about 10 times longer than traditional bulbs and use around 1/5 of the energy.
Don't worry the price will go down and down until they are practically being given away. 15 years ago they cost about $15 each! Today, in the UK you can get them for 50 cents to $1 because they have become the norm. Many companies also give them away.
The reason they are so efficient is that they use most of the energy put into them to produce light. Traditional bulbs waste most of the energy put into them by producing heat.
The mercury is a concern but in 15 years I have only broken 1, because I hit it with a ladder. In the unlikely event that they fail, just take them to be recycled safely with batteries( which I am sure we all have to use despite their being full of lead and lithium!)
So embrace this technology and watch your bills go down, or at least stop going up so steeply.
Saving energy is a good thing for our wallets and the environment but the fact that these bulbs have mercury in them and emit UV radiation is a thumbs-down for me. Plus the light they give off is variable and can give some people headaches.
But I've replaced all the CFL bulbs in our place with halogen ones. They look like a traditional bulb but are more energy efficient. I find the light to be much nicer than a CFL and there's no warm up time. Although I haven't used them myself, LED bulbs are another option. Here in the UK halogen bulbs are about on par with the CFL's on cost to buy, which isn't too expensive. LED cost more but I think the price will come down. At any rate, there are options out there for people who don't care for the CFL bulbs.
I should have added that I had one of these wonderful CFL bulbs in a lamp in my living room that burned out in just a few months - less than a year. What gets me about this switch over is it is just another way that the government is telling people what to do. Similar to switching over to HDTV. It seems the government just can't keep their noses out of anything.
I am going to stock up on regular bulbs. Everything I have read on those new bulbs is good but if you break one you had better be very careful and not get cut on one. My daughter's ex boss cut his hand on one and got very sick because of what is in them. My power company has a magazine that comes out every two months and they had a article on them bulbs. We all try to be careful but accidents do happen. I think everyone needs to double think about them bulbs.
We have used the new bulbs for a couple of years now. They do save electricity and I cannot tell you when we changed our last bulb (it has been that long).
I think you have been misled. They are not pricey and have actually come down in price. I think by saving money on electricity and using these bulbs we are making a "green" America. Hoard them if you must but remember our grand children will be paying the price of us running out of natural resources.
The bulbs are not being fazed out; the old design is. We are basically using the same design Edison invented. What is going to happen is new incandescent bulbs will be sold that are more energy efficient than the old incandescent bulb design. So no need to stock up on them if you still want to use incandescent bulbs.
As to the price of fluorescents; I dont know where you live but I see them all the time at my local dollar store and 99 cent stores. They are very cheap even at Walmart. They do tend to last a long time (even the cheap ones) and they save a lot of energy.
They even now make dim-able fluorescent bulbs that work with any dimmer. So relax.You still have your incandescents if you want and the florescent ones are pretty cheap. I've bought four packs for 99 cents and got several 3 way florescent lights at the dollar store. They get them in several times a year.
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