Octopus Overlords

Bought my house Brand New just over 4 years ago. All lights are CFL (except for the bathrooms, garage and one light in the kitchen) The CFLs in my home are rated to last 14 years.... I've had to replace 6 in the last 2 years... Yeah I call bullshit.

Possibly a wiring or fixture issue. Have you checked the voltage in those sockets?

I think the ratings are screwy too. Our failure rate is well above what it is supposed to be.

Ya my in laws who live a few blocks away and my neighbors all have similar issues.

Maybe I'm just lucky; I think I've had one fail in about 8 years, out of maybe 50 or so.

5-packs were recently $0.95 at the local Menard's. They said it was via a Com-Ed subsidy but I have a hard time believing that they are of the same quality as other bulbs. Still, I bought 4 packs.

wish my lights were cheap. $10 a light...

noxiousdog wrote:I think the ratings are screwy too. Our failure rate is well above what it is supposed to be.

I think it's fixture-dependent. Some CFLs need replacing every year and some have been in service for several years. We have ancient wiring and all of our lamps and fixtures date back decades. My impression is that they last longer than incandescents, but not dramatically so.

Kraken wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:I think the ratings are screwy too. Our failure rate is well above what it is supposed to be.

I think it's fixture-dependent. Some CFLs need replacing every year and some have been in service for several years. We have ancient wiring and all of our lamps and fixtures date back decades. My impression is that they last longer than incandescents, but not dramatically so.

Oh, don't get me wrong, they last much longer than incandescents. But I'm got getting Zax's results either.

We did notice those installed vertical last longer than horizontal.

noxiousdog wrote:We did notice those installed vertical last longer than horizontal.

Interesting. Not sure I have any that are horizontal.

Zaxxon wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:We did notice those installed vertical last longer than horizontal.

Interesting. Not sure I have any that are horizontal.

I'm sure I made the same observation earlier in this thread, and I stand by it.

Troglodytes - LEDs are where it's at!

It's been a year and I haven't had one burn out yet (20 installed). I have had the bulbs fall off 2 of them, but that's it.

stessier wrote:Troglodytes - LEDs are where it's at!

It's been a year and I haven't had one burn out yet (20 installed). I have had the bulbs fall off 2 of them, but that's it.

I'd like to try one or two of those when the prices come down a little. Still way too rich for me.

noxiousdog wrote:

Kraken wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:I think the ratings are screwy too. Our failure rate is well above what it is supposed to be.

I think it's fixture-dependent. Some CFLs need replacing every year and some have been in service for several years. We have ancient wiring and all of our lamps and fixtures date back decades. My impression is that they last longer than incandescents, but not dramatically so.

Oh, don't get me wrong, they last much longer than incandescents. But I'm got getting Zax's results either.

We did notice those installed vertical last longer than horizontal.

That's odd. All my CFLs are vertical and lasts about 2-4 years

If I were you, naednek, I'd be checking my fixtures with a multimeter to see if they're actually feeding a consistent 120V or if there are issues. Could certainly be bad bulbs, but you have had way more fail than you should.

naednek wrote:Bought my house Brand New just over 4 years ago. All lights are CFL (except for the bathrooms, garage and one light in the kitchen) The CFLs in my home are rated to last 14 years.... I've had to replace 6 in the last 2 years... Yeah I call bullshit.

I read somewhere that it's not a great idea to put a CFL say in a bathroom light, or one that is switched on and off frequently. Dramatically cuts down on life span.

I have some in some bathrooms, but have been slowly phasing them out for LED's in the past few months as prices for LED bulbs just fell off a cliff. I bought two 60W equivalent LED bulbs at Home Depot recently for $14.99. They don't save a whole lot more in terms of energy costs/year than CFL's, but I prefer them because 1. they don't get hot at all, 2. they are instant on, full power, and 3. I prefer the warmth of the light color (CFL's have warm tones, too, but I still prefer the LED's I have to the warm CFL's). 4. Issue above apparently does not affect lifespan like it does for CFL.

BTW, 4-pack of FLAT LED 60W equivalent bulbs at Home Depot for $38. Add some fillers to get free shipping:

These things looks wild!


Cnet video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=innoI4Ey9C8" target="_blank

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-Slim ... /204780591?#" target="_blank

Same failure rate as Zax sees, here. Maybe it's the exceptional Colorado power? (Have lived in multiple homes over that time span, all of which have been built since 1990. As a renter, I've been dragging the same CFL bulbs with me from home to home.)

The Meal wrote:Same failure rate as Zax sees, here. Maybe it's the exceptional Colorado power? (Have lived in multiple homes over that time span, all of which have been built since 1990. As a renter, I've been dragging the same CFL bulbs with me from home to home.)

Altitude FTW! Although many of mine came with me from Hoosierland.

Believe it or not, we're still on incandescent here... bought a couple CFLs in the past, but hated the "fluorescent" quality of the light. That said, I'm assuming the jig is up for us - seems the incandescent supply is finally, actually, really drying up (or at least, that's what I'm reading - still see regular light bulbs at the store near me).

It's been a few years since we tried "modern" light bulbs. Are there any brands/models/types that duplicate the quality of light produced by good ol' incandecent now? I mean, really nail it?

Carpet_pissr wrote:BTW, 4-pack of FLAT LED 60W equivalent bulbs at Home Depot for $38. Add some fillers to get free shipping:

These things looks wild!


Cnet video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=innoI4Ey9C8" target="_blank

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-Slim ... /204780591?#" target="_blank

That looks very cool! I might try those.

stessier wrote:Troglodytes - LEDs are where it's at!

It's been a year and I haven't had one burn out yet (20 installed). I have had the bulbs fall off 2 of them, but that's it.

Do you mean the bulb part detached from the screw-in base? Is that common with the LED bulbs? Next time I go to HD, I'm probably going to grab some of the Cree bulbs and try them in our overhead fixtures.

Freezer-TPF- wrote: Next time I go to HD, I'm probably going to grab some of the Cree bulbs and try them in our overhead fixtures.

I'd try one first. They have a tendency to buzz in some fixtures/dimmer combinations. I ended up switching my main kitchen light to IKEA LED bulbs (don't buzz at all) -- this was on a CFL/LED rated Lutron dimmer to boot. Cree bulbs are great though in simple switched locations though.

AjD wrote:Believe it or not, we're still on incandescent here... bought a couple CFLs in the past, but hated the "fluorescent" quality of the light. That said, I'm assuming the jig is up for us - seems the incandescent supply is finally, actually, really drying up (or at least, that's what I'm reading - still see regular light bulbs at the store near me).

It's been a few years since we tried "modern" light bulbs. Are there any brands/models/types that duplicate the quality of light produced by good ol' incandecent now? I mean, really nail it?

I'd say you probably ended up with a high color temperature. Look for a 2700-3000K number for a more "warm" (yellow) light than the higher numbers that are more a bright white light. I find that the packaging for the low end tends to green, whereas the high end tends to be packaged in blue.

Freezer-TPF- wrote:

stessier wrote:Troglodytes - LEDs are where it's at!

It's been a year and I haven't had one burn out yet (20 installed). I have had the bulbs fall off 2 of them, but that's it.

Do you mean the bulb part detached from the screw-in base? Is that common with the LED bulbs? Next time I go to HD, I'm probably going to grab some of the Cree bulbs and try them in our overhead fixtures.

I'm assuming it is extremely irregular. Yeah, the bulb detached from the screw part...while it was installed. The bulbs are plastic coated and so they didn't shatter on impact, just spider web broke. The LED is still firmly attached and working fine - just no bulb. These are the Cree 60W equivalent bulbs from HD and despite that issue, I still highly recommend them.

stessier wrote:

Freezer-TPF- wrote:

stessier wrote:Troglodytes - LEDs are where it's at!

It's been a year and I haven't had one burn out yet (20 installed). I have had the bulbs fall off 2 of them, but that's it.

Do you mean the bulb part detached from the screw-in base? Is that common with the LED bulbs? Next time I go to HD, I'm probably going to grab some of the Cree bulbs and try them in our overhead fixtures.

I'm assuming it is extremely irregular. Yeah, the bulb detached from the screw part...while it was installed. The bulbs are plastic coated and so they didn't shatter on impact, just spider web broke. The LED is still firmly attached and working fine - just no bulb. These are the Cree 60W equivalent bulbs from HD and despite that issue, I still highly recommend them.

Ok, thanks. I was thinking of a glass bulb crashing down to the floor, which would be not good. As long as they don't break, I can live with that kind of (rare, I hope) failure. I've done some more research this morning and it seems that sort of detachment is more common with hanging-down orientations, which makes sense. The overheads where I will try these first have the bulbs sideways and are not quite fully enclosed.

I might pick up a few different types to compare (Cree, Ecosmart, and the funky Philips flat/slim LED).

Yeah, mine was hanging vertically when it let go. After the one broke, I checked all the others which is how I found the second (luckily, before it had a chance to drop). The remaining 18 were all firmly attached.

Just a reminder, LEDs are not made for enclosed fixtures. I know you said yours were only "almost", but just wanted it out there as a reminder. There are special ones made for enclosures, but they are way more expensive (or were when I checked 9 months ago).

Heat kills lightbulbs, be they CFL or LED.

Not so fast - the budget compromise repealed the light bulb efficiency standards. If passed into law, incandescents will still be legal.

This was a smart compromise from the Dems - the Repubs get a "victory" - and most manufacturers have already announced that incandescent is dead anyway.

They've already redesigned the Easy Bake Oven to use a heating element.

GE and Walmart think you should stock up on heat balls before those darned bureacrats take them away from you. "Celebrate" Throw a party. Throw some light bulbs. Just make sure you buy them all before the end of the year.

LEDs are indeed getting really good, as in better than incandescent good. Many for sale now have a color rendering index (CRI) in the 90s and above, this is great for those that don't like the unflattering light of fluorescent or don't care for the original LED narrow CRI range. And now LEDs are pulling ahead in bulb efficiency. All hail the mighty LED!

So far I only have one LED bulb, but I intend to replace my corkscrew fluorescents with LEDs as they burn out. Ten bucks a bulb is less of a hurdle if it's done gradually.

They're even cheaper around here. Seen them down around $4 per bulb.

I know Lowes is running a $5 per bulb promotion subsidized by...um, somebody. By the time my CFLs start burning out the regular price of LEDs ought to be down to that level.

Long way to go from proof of concept to production. Interesting idea though. I wonder if it would work with any of the other technologies.

stessier wrote:Long way to go from proof of concept to production. Interesting idea though. I wonder if it would work with any of the other technologies.

I think it would be a bit difficult to apply to the other technologies. IIRC, CFL and LED heat is a by product of using electricity to create light (CFL by electrically exciting gas, LED by passing electrons through semiconductors). Incandescents use electricity to create heat which then creates light so any re-captured heat can be used directly to create more light (by helping to heat the element).

With CFL or LEDs you'd have to convert the re-captured heat back into electricity to create more light.

So I just need to figure out a way to put little steam turbines in each bulb...no sweat!