Who has CFL's in their home?

[Lew Zealand]

We switched to ~95% CFL years ago so I have no idea what our energy savings is. Bulbs today are much cheaper than even 5 years ago when $4 bulbs at IKEA were the cheapest I could find. Now $1-1.50each @Costco (in 6 or 8 packs) is plenty cheap.

However the bulbs I got in the expensive old days did seem to last longer and I only replaced them after 5+ years because they were getting too dim. Also almost all "inexpensive" bulbs at that time had you wait 1 sec or more to start up (I still have 2 IKEA bulbs which are really bad with this delay) but the newer ones from Costco, etc are instant-on.

I use the 100w and 60w replacements from Costco and none of the 100w have been replaced in the last 4 years but a few of the 60w ones have (I have more of these installed, tho) so those really do seem to last for a shorter time. I'd say I've replaced about 1/3 of them in 4 years.

[Seacrest]

No, I do not have any Canadian Football Leagues in my home.

[ArtP]

I am using a few here and there around the house mainly in areas where the lights get used multiple daily/nightly . I have one on a timer so it comes on every day at sundown and off in the early morning. I guess I am at about 25%.

I do have the fixture problems mentioned above and some of the color/hue problems but I guess I will start using more of them this year after reading this thread.

[graylocks]

had to replace bulbs in my bathroom today and bought the CFL Daylight blue 75w. they are very different than other CFLs in the house. my son wants me to take them out and get the kind we've been using. let's see if we get used to it.

i'm also trying one of those yellow ones designed for post lights. the package doesn't say 'outside' but heck, that's where post light are. the CFL i was using definitely dims below 58 degrees but that's tolerable for an outside light. we'll see how this one does.

[D-Rod]

We're about 60% changed over. Anyone have any experience with the LED bulbs. They look like the next generation in lighting but the prices seem to be WAY too high yet.

http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

[Filliam H. Muffman]

[quote Dennis R]We're about 60% changed over. Anyone have any experience with the LED bulbs. They look like the next generation in lighting but the prices seem to be WAY too high yet.

http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx
LED bulbs are still a little experimental. Light output per LED for mass produced models has almost doubled in the last 5 years and will likely double again in another 5 years. After they start selling 20 million units per year the prices should drop to about the same as incadescent units, will be twice as efficient as CFL bulbs and last four times as long.

[RAMd®d]

One of the problems with LED lights is their directionality.

They are more "spot" lights rather than "flood" lights, so most "bulbs" contain LEDs aimed at several different angles.

On those refrigerator lights-- do CFLs work in the non-frost free models? These seem to have far more moisture in them than the frost-free types.

[mikebw]

So if we all switch to CFLs now, by the time they wear out we can replace them with LEDs? And then what, laser diodes?

Thanks for the replies. This has been a rather successful thread.