I always see those being pushed by the manufacturers to replace incandescents. I don't know if they're truly cost effective or not.

There are different types of the spiral style bulb. Most them have a yellowish color to them and are very bright. These ones are pure white and are for growing plants and for brightening up rooms.

Thats cool Mike! It says they put out 1800 lumens. If I can see that correctly. Thats 5400 lumens for an $8 3-pack! Thats just under a double 48" fluorecent setup. Not bad and even saves more space. Good deal!

Alex, I may be able to (ok, sorry in advance) spread some light on that. LOL :)

Where I became a believer in CFs was back in 1994, you know, when 1 freak'n bulb cost like $18 or so.

So we spent $148 at that time and change all of our reg. bulbs.

Here in this part of Canada, we are billed bi-monthly.

So, in 3 billings (6 months) our electric use was reduced so much that we saved MORE than the $148 that we spent.

Our current house is ALL CFs, except for 1 chandelier, which is on a dimmer and we don't use often.

We see a savings.

Using .18 cents per Kwh here's what it might look like

40 watts X 25 = 1kw (a 40 watt bulb would have to be on for 25 hours to use 1kw of power)

40 watt bulb:
40watts X 25hrs = 1,000kwh
at 0.18cents per kwh
on 24/7 for 365 days
= 8760 hrs per year
That's 350.4kwhs used in year costing
$63.07 per year
9 watt CF:
9X111.11hrs = 1,000kwh
at 0.18cents per kwh
on for 24/7 for 365 days
= 8760 hrs per year
That's 78.84kwhs used in year costing
$14.19 cost per year

So, 40 watt, $63.07
9 watt, $14.19
Savings of $48.88 per year FOR EVERY BULB.

Of course, not all bulbs will be on 24/7/52
But even calculate 1 hour daily for 1 year each.

yes, the savings are there.

BUT, HERE'S THE PROBLEM!!!!!

YA GOTTA WATCH WHAT YA BUY!

Buy only name brand products. Almost everything is made in China these days, BUT CFs made by direction of say, GE or Philips (only examples) would simply last longer than no-name, DANGEROUS CFs being shipped here.

Some CFs don't last long enough to make any real savings. But the better name brands seem to be lasting OK.

We have some CFs in our current house that we bought when we bought the house, 5 years ago. A couple of CFs are actually from our apartment long before that and still working in the house.

Those have saved $$$.

In error, we tried some of those crap brands from China. Most lasted not much more than a year or two. So be careful at what you buy and you will have savings.

p.s. we need the extra electricity to run the plasma TV that takes 3.5X the power of our CRT based HDTV (100 watts vs 350 watts). Sheesh, we can't win! LOL

Thats a very good break down. The ones I have had last about 3 years on average. When I first put them in they were 12 dollars each. My wife is the one who watched the electricity bills and noticed a difference. These new ones I bought because of the plants I brought indoors this winter. These shine pure white and have been great for my plants and that they are growing towards the new lights in the middle of the room. They didnt do that last year same time with the ones that shine off white or yellow. I dont know if they will last as long as the rest but we will see.

I just began switching my household light bulbs over to the CF's. The prices have really come down. I bought a 6 pack of 60watt CF's for $4(not name brand). Of course they're made in China, but what isn't these days? Anxious to see how my utility bill responds.

I don't use any extra lighting for the indoor palms. I have them in front of south facing windows so they get direct sunlight. They have done fine for the last few years. This is my first year overwintering the Trachy's indoors. So the jury is still out on how they will come through. But I expect they'll be OK.

My wife bought some light fixtures she seen in her quilting magazines,there standing models and table model fixtures.
These are suppose to have a full spectrum of light.
So I asked her when she's not sewing if I could use them on my plants and seedlings,so here's some pics,and only time will tell if they make a difference or not!

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I just put the light over them today,about 6 to 8 inches away from top of seedlings,these are pink bananas.
Will see how it works in the coming days whether I notice anything or not.

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Way to go MIKE - I put a new light bulb in my hall yesterday as the old one burnt out..lol

Just being an A**

Jeff

LoL was it a regular or the new style??? It must be a sign from the light bulb gods!! lol

I actually use these for lighting my plants. You can get the cords with sockets and hang them over your plants then you can get the dual adapter from TSC stores or the Y adapter that turns one socket in to 2 then just put 2 of those large bulbs in them. actually I wonder if it would be a fire hazard to put 2 more y adapter into the 2 sockets so you would have 4 - 23 watt bulbs.Anyone know if that would work?

Jeff

Actually after receiving my P.H.D in 6 months from Devry in Cold fusion technology - I've been quite successful in setting up the power of the Sun in my basement...LMAO

After seeing Blondboy breaking down those numbers I think he got a good education too..lol

Okay its pick on Jeff time.. bring it..lol

I actually have 4 light outlets in a fixture in my livingroom and I put Y adapters in and have the CF bulbs in it over a year now and in my hallway. I just added the y adapters to my dining room, I also have a metal halide lamp fixture in the dining room. The light coming from my windows at night can be seen from a 1/2 a block away lol. I leave the lights on 12 hours a day now because I have some AeAe banana plants that are actively growing and the 12 hours of light seems to be helping.

I have my lights set up for 12 hours also - Ill start reducing in Febuary - just so when I put my plants outside they won't get all confused. Hey Mike if you get a little tiny AE banana pup that would fit into a padded envelope - would you bare root and send it to me - let me know what you would want for a little one - would not be until spring though or when ever you had one - too cold now. So you have had 3 y adapters in one main socket thats what I'm wondering is safe? So you have the main socket - put in one Y, then put in 2 more y's so you would have 4 23 watt bulbs in one main socket technically ?

Jeff

No I have a light fixture with 4 main sockets at 12 , 3 , 6, and 9 oclock positions in the ceiling and I put a y adapter in each one. So I have 8 bulbs in a circle each facing down on a slight angle. The AeAe I have are slow to pup I hear. I should havemore in the spring keep my email handy because Ill forget.

I bet the space shuttle can see your homes from outer space!LOL
Cops show up to your house looking for marijuana growers,it wasn't me who called!!!!
Don

Here is what the light fixture in each room with plants looks like now lol oh and the hallways to lol. If you look closely you will see the one regular CF light that has a yellow look to it. The rest are the new Daylight CF bulbs that shine pure with and the plants all love it. My bananas, elephant ears, and philodendrons are all pushing out new leaves.
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Wow thats cool looking Mike! If we spin that fan got some lazers a disco ball and a DJ we could have a wintertime Rave at your house! LOL!

Wow you can see the yellow in that bulb!
Is the household wearing sunglasses inside????

Well the yellow bulb is one of the older ones and its being removed. The all Daylight white bulbs are what the plants like. I keep the fan on a low setting keep air circulating.

Oh and we use SBF 70 sunscreen in the house lol just kidding.

Mike with Lights so bright you would have to put shade cloth on all your plants..LMAO

Wow!! now that's what i call a light !

the fuzzy top pic reminds me of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"..lol. There comin to get ya Mike.

When you try light bulbs wear protective
eyewears like sunglasses. Because I have
read a post in which a person nearly gets
blind because of light bulbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Benji Madden Sunglasses

I don't how the rest of you are doing with these new spiral fluorescent light bulbs,but they don't seem to be lasting any longer than the incandescent bulbs!!!!!!!