Study: CFL Lightbulbs About as Efficient as LEDs

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Torment

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I've yet to have a CFL last anywhere near 10k hours. I'm lucky if they last a year (which amounts to about 3k hours) before the ballast fails.
 

jp182

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i've had a CFL I used outdoors that lasted for well over a year and it's on pretty much all night long.
 

nukemaster

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[citation][nom]Torment[/nom]I've yet to have a CFL last anywhere near 10k hours. I'm lucky if they last a year (which amounts to about 3k hours) before the ballast fails.[/citation]
I had some in the worlds most unstable ceiling fan and even those lasted for at least 3 years.

As for the mercury, Its not like the bulb is FULL of it, there is a small drop. And it has been that way with all florescent bulbs(older bulbs had even more).
 

d_kuhn

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I've had the same experience as Torment... I bought CF's and while they did last longer than normal bulbs, they didn't last 10x longer, maybe 2-4x. I'd worry about the same problem with these high power led's... will they be sensitive to power surges and sags (I think that's what killed a couple of CF's at my house earlier this year)?

If the LED bulb's are as reliable as low power led's (which seem to run forever and don't seem to be bothered by much) then I'll be all for them, in the meantime I still use CF's but only in spots where I don't want to replace bulbs often (hard to reach).
 

Shadow703793

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Note to every one: When you buy CFL bulbs make sure you buy quality ones. The "no name" brand ones will fail very quickly (in little time as 6-7 months). From my experience Philips CFLs tend to last longer(~2-3+ years depending on use) than others.
 

Wayoffbase

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One of my favorite things about the CFL's is that they put out less heat, I live in AZ and it is hot enough in my house without the light bulbs making it worse. I would think that the LEDs would be cool as well but there was an article here a few weeks ago about one needing liquid cooling, so I wonder.
 

Torment

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[citation][nom]D_Kuhn[/nom] I'd worry about the same problem with these high power led's... will they be sensitive to power surges and sags (I think that's what killed a couple of CF's at my house earlier this year)?[/citation]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was my problem. We have frequent power quality issues here. Since the LEDs use a/c-dc step down coverters, I'd think the dc side would be pretty immune and the a/c side should be pretty easy to build resilience into.
 

KyleSTL

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@nukemaster:

Original (SCP) IDLH: 28 mg Hg/m3
Current OSHA PEL: 0.1 mg/m3 CEILING
IDLH = immediare danger to life and health
PEL = permissible exposure limit

Each CFL contains ~5 mg of mercury. If everyone in America disposed of 1 CRL improperly (landfill) each year [very feasible] that would result in the introduction of 1500 kg of mercury per year into our landfills. Don't tell me that's not a big deal. The amount of information out there to educate people about CFLs is laughable in this country (USA), and the prevalence of recycling recepticles is even more pathetic.
 

kaby

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[citation][nom]KyleSTL[/nom]@nukemaster:Original (SCP) IDLH: 28 mg Hg/m3 Current OSHA PEL: 0.1 mg/m3 CEILINGIDLH = immediare danger to life and healthPEL = permissible exposure limitEach CFL contains ~5 mg of mercury. If everyone in America disposed of 1 CRL improperly (landfill) each year [very feasible] that would result in the introduction of 1500 kg of mercury per year into our landfills. Don't tell me that's not a big deal. The amount of information out there to educate people about CFLs is laughable in this country (USA), and the prevalence of recycling recepticles is even more pathetic.[/citation]

If you read the article from last week you would know If everyone threw a cfl into a land fill that about of Hg would still be far less than what is created by a coal plant powering the same amount of incandescent bulbs.
 

greenspoon

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[citation][nom]kaby[/nom]If you read the article from last week you would know If everyone threw a cfl into a land fill that about of Hg would still be far less than what is created by a coal plant powering the same amount of incandescent bulbs.[/citation]

Yes, but a CFL is in my home. A coal power plant is not.
 

Torment

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[citation][nom]GreenSpoon[/nom]Yes, but a CFL is in my home. A coal power plant is not.[/citation]

Where do you think that mercury from the coal plant goes?
 

dravis12

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[citation][nom]GreenSpoon[/nom]Yes, but a CFL is in my home. A coal power plant is not.[/citation]

Exactly. What burns my toast so to speak is how CFL's are preached as a perfect "Green" alternative when they contain a very dangerous chemical. I'm not saying they are bad, but I feel many people are not aware of how to handle/dispose them, especially if they break.
 

chuenl

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A while ago I bought a 1157 automative 36-LED tail light bulb from ebay and it didn't last more than 6 months. My conclusion is that the failure rate of no name brand LEDs is as high as no name brand CFLs. So, only buy quality brand.
 

AdamB5000

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An electrician told me that CFL's are now manufactured that dim, but he thinks it's still poor technology. They apparently 'fizzle out' when they get dim and you lose control at dimmer settings. My entire living room is on dimmers so I cannot go that route.

I guess LED lighting is very directional, but I'm sure they'll figure that out and as long as the price drops and they can be dimmed, I'll be fine with LEDs.
 

Torment

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[citation][nom]chuenl[/nom]A while ago I bought a 1157 automative 36-LED tail light bulb from ebay and it didn't last more than 6 months. My conclusion is that the failure rate of no name brand LEDs is as high as no name brand CFLs. So, only buy quality brand.[/citation]

Please. People have been using fluorescent bulbs forever. This newfound faux concern about mercury is really just anti-environmentalism.
 

greenspoon

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[citation][nom]Torment[/nom]Please. People have been using fluorescent bulbs forever. This newfound faux concern about mercury is really just anti-environmentalism.[/citation]

You are right. Having a fluorescent bulb in the ceiling of my kitchen, where it just sits there, does not get jarred or anything is like a fluorescent sitting on my coffee table where my kids can get to it. Thank you so much for enlightening me.
 

Torment

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[citation][nom]GreenSpoon[/nom]You are right. Having a fluorescent bulb in the ceiling of my kitchen, where it just sits there, does not get jarred or anything is like a fluorescent sitting on my coffee table where my kids can get to it. Thank you so much for enlightening me.[/citation]

If you let your kids play with lamps, you've got bigger problems.
 

IzzyCraft

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[citation][nom]Torment[/nom]If you let your kids play with lamps, you've got bigger problems.[/citation]
Only when they get the forks and plays lets see if it fits into the outlet.
 
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