DonC wrote:
"Pete C." wrote in message
...
wrote:
Of course, nobody sees anything past the "ENERGY SAVINGS!!! YAY!"
I've been using CFLs for quite a while and have not experienced any of
the claimed issues. Color temperatures are good, initial brightness and
time to full brightness are fine in living area conditions, no CFL
meltdowns, no fit issues vs. "A" incandescents, etc. Only in an unheated
storage container in CT winter is there a noticeable dim start and full
brightness in a couple minutes and that's hardly a problem.
I've tried them for years and have also been disappointed. They are slow to
reach full brightness. I've had several burnouts. No way can you count
"long life" as an asset especially if you're paying a significant premium
for them vs. Incandescent. Over time their color temperature (and
brightness) decays toward yellows. The one exception is a special "Day
Light" rated bulb which cost me $8.95 + tax. If I could find these where I
live now (no Menards in AZ), I buy a few more but CFLs are definetly on my
"watch, don't buy." list now.
None that I have purchased in the last few years has been slow to reach
full brightness. Long life is an asset if you factor in your time to
replace burned out incandescents even at minimum wage given the large
number of incandescents you'd replace over the life of one CFL. I've not
found any notable change in color temperature or brightness except for
during the first and last ~5 hrs of CFL life, the thousands of hours in
between are quite constant. The nominal 75% power savings over the life
of the CFL more than makes up for the cost difference. Your local
lighting supplier should either have the "daylight" color spectrum CFLs
or be able to order them for you.