Do you like CFLs? Why or why not?

Question

Do you think they help? Details please!

Answer 1

Absolutely YES!!!!
Cfl's produce 90% light & 10% heat where as the incadescent bulbs produce 90%heat & 10% light. I have noticed our house isn't as HOT. I know that sounds crazy, but even the thermometer even says so...
The cfl's last 5+ years. We moved into this house 6 years ago & it came with a flourescent light in the kitchen. We still have not replaced it. They may be more expensive when you first buy them but you save BIG bucks in the long run. We pay $7.58 for 3 bulbs. We have just switched to cfl's a few weeks ago. I haven't gotten the new light bill in, but I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm anxious to see how much we have saved this month. I have NEVER been excited about getting the bills, but that's what happens when you start getting involved with saving energy. You want to see what impact you have made.
I HIGHLY recommend switching to cfl's, they use a lot less energy & last a whole lot longer. Surf the net & look for energy saving tips. You will see all of the statistics. You, too, will get excited about saving energy. Take care & God bless.

Answer 2

I have used them since they first came on the market many years ago. At that time they were really expensive, not very well designed, there were few options as to size or power and the color of the light was unpleasant.

Today's bulbs are cheaper, look better, have great selections available and give off pleasant light.

But the real reasons I have used these bulbs since forever? They cost less to run than conventional bulbs overall. They are cool to run. In the hot climate I live in, we have to use air conditioning. CFL's add far less heat to the house and thus I also don't have to pay to cool the house from lightbulb use. Finally, I don't have to change lightbulbs all the time. These CFL's last for an amazing amount of time.

Every source I can find says the mercury content is negligible, less than the amount of mercury discharged in producing extra the electricity that is consumed by incandescent bulbs.

The relatively high initial cost is a drawback, but the cost is more than covered by energy savings due to reduced energy consumption.

But does anyone care that the new flat panel LCD and plasma TV's probably burn more than enough electricity to make up for the savings from CFL's? We were better off with the old picturetube televisions.

Answer 3

Yes, because...

1 - I haven't been bothered with having to buy lightbulbs at the store or having to change a light in my house in over 4 years now. (They last for 10 years!) That alone is worth it!

2 - It has saved me about $60/month - thats $2800 in the last 4 years. Anyone want an extra 3 grand? I do, and you can have it too! It's such a waste of money not to use them!

3 - It saves energy, which takes coal, oil, and natural gas to burn to make, saving global warming, and dependence on fossil fuels.

4 - Especially in the summer, the CFL's keep your house cooler, as the old bulbs used 90% of their electricity to make heat (ever burn yourself changing bulbs? well you won't anymore, these don't get hot) This saves more electricity by not making your A/C work extra hard.

Not using them is silly. I don't know if I agree with the government forcing you to buy them, but the people who still buy incandescents must be intellectually challenged individuals.

If you don't have them, replace all your lights today. The savings in your power bill will pay for the bulbs, and after that you will have extra money to spend each month!

Answer 4

A note on mercury: while CFLs do have mercury in them, it is less than the amount of mercury generated by a power plant powering an incandescent bulb: "[over its lifespan], a CFL bulb emits 76% less mercury [than an incandescent bulb]." Additionally, the mercury in a CFL can be recycled.

Answer 5

I used them for years in my parent's house.
The lights had to be on all the time.
The costs for comparstive lighting for CFl is about 5:1. CFL is much cheaper to operate

Answer 6

CFLs are great:
1) they use much, much less energy than regular bulbs, thereby saving you on your electric bill 2) they don't heat up 3) they last much longer than regular bulbs

They have also really come down in price recently.

Answer 7

yes i do like them very much. i use them in almost every light in my house (a couple of my lights have dimmers which cant be used with CFLs). the bulbs last a really long time (some in my house are seven years old and still working). and they save me about ten percent on my monthly electric bill. and i like knowing that i am doing something that helps reduce pollution.

the only down side is that they do contain a tiny amount of mercury and you have to dispose of them properly. and if it one breaks you have to be careful about cleaning it up. but the stories you hear of people having one break and having to spend thousands of dollars to have their homes decontaminated are just an urban legend.

Answer 8

While they can clearly save energy, I don't like them. Many fluorescent lights generate a line noise signal that often can interfere with my home automation signals. I also like to be able to dim my lights which is not an available option with the CFLs.

Answer 9

we put some CFL's up in our living room. they put off just as much light as the regular light bulbs but they give me terrible headaches. i haven't noticed much difference in the power bill but from what i understand its just a slight difference so i probably wouldnt notice it anyway. i am sure i would notice it if i replaced all of the bulbs in the house with them but i dont know if i could stand having a headache all the time.

Answer 10

Yes I like the, because they save me money on my electricity bill and in the long run mostly, the environmental good is secondary to that.

They work exactly the same, but are cheaper to run, so I'd be crazy not to use them. Oh and I buy them usually when they go on sale in the summertime, so I save more money. Here we have government incentives to buy them, because in the summer they want us to save added power to offset air conditioner use so we don't have another huge blackout. So we get coupons in the spring for them, so that's when I usually buy mine, a deal on top of a deal.

So yeah, same light, but cheaper, I don't see why anyone would buy the old ones at all anymore given the option.