01-03-2007, 11:19 PM
[quote Racer X]davester, both of my garage door openers shipped from the factory with CF bulbs. I wouldn't worry about it. After 4 years of daily use several times a day, they still work fine.
I bet they went with CF bulbs because of the vibration a garage door opener generates.
I was going through garage opener lights fairly frequently years ago in my old home due to vibration, and this was even when using the special Garage Opener bulbs designed for high vibration. Finally I decided to try CFLs there, and that solved my problem.
I switched my entire house to CFLs except for a few odd shaped or dimmable bulbs (and I haven't done the fridge yet, not sure if I ever will). I noticed an immediate drop in the electric usage (I read the meter every day). With the electric rates in my area, and bulbs from Costco for about $1.50 each, it was easy to do the math to see that within a few months of use, each bulb pays for itself in electric savings, so I didn't wait for the old bulbs to burn out (any market for used incandescent bulbs?).
The packaging said 2 year warranty and 8000-10000 hours of life depending on the bulb. I recorded when each bulb was put into service, and of the 120 bulbs that I installed just two have failed after 14 months. I have not had the time or motivation to call the manufacturer for warranty service on the failures.
My wife wants to change her parents ceiling lights to CFLs for longer bulb life because she's afraid of them falling while changing bulbs.
I bet they went with CF bulbs because of the vibration a garage door opener generates.
I was going through garage opener lights fairly frequently years ago in my old home due to vibration, and this was even when using the special Garage Opener bulbs designed for high vibration. Finally I decided to try CFLs there, and that solved my problem.
I switched my entire house to CFLs except for a few odd shaped or dimmable bulbs (and I haven't done the fridge yet, not sure if I ever will). I noticed an immediate drop in the electric usage (I read the meter every day). With the electric rates in my area, and bulbs from Costco for about $1.50 each, it was easy to do the math to see that within a few months of use, each bulb pays for itself in electric savings, so I didn't wait for the old bulbs to burn out (any market for used incandescent bulbs?).
The packaging said 2 year warranty and 8000-10000 hours of life depending on the bulb. I recorded when each bulb was put into service, and of the 120 bulbs that I installed just two have failed after 14 months. I have not had the time or motivation to call the manufacturer for warranty service on the failures.
My wife wants to change her parents ceiling lights to CFLs for longer bulb life because she's afraid of them falling while changing bulbs.