Compact fluorescent bulbs stink.

[Coronita]

….So a few years back, as part of an energy conservation program, I exchanged some traditional lamps I had with new “energy efficient” lamps…

The newer lamps don’t use the traditional E26 screw in socket for lightbulbs…..

…. but instead use the new GU24 socket with the two prong….

And that’s the problem…

1. Despite what folks say about CFL, they don’t nearly last as long as folks advertise them say they do. I’ve been getting maybe 1 to 1.5 year out of them before they break (usually the ballast stops working)…

2. While you can find CFL’s with the e26 bulb screw for traditional lamps relatively cheap at $1 each or sometimes even cheaper than that….A CFL with the GU24 base costs anywhere from $4 each to $8!!!! What a big scam….

3. Even ignoring the big scam price difference for CFL with a GU24 base….Disposing CFL’s is a PITA because they have mercury in them and should be properly recycled. Replacing them every 1.5 years to 2 to me doesn’t seem very green to me…..so…..

I’m considering going with LED’s…I see a bunch of newer “bulbs” that uses LED instead, which probably will last longer, and more energy efficient (albeit considerably more expensive…..)…BUT….

The LED lightbulbs sold at stores use the E26 lightbulb fitting, not the GU24!!!…..

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-SlimStyle-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-LED-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-433227/204780591?N=bm79Z5yc1v

…So now I’m stuck buying a bunch of GU24->E26 adapters to convert my “green” lamps back into a “not-so-green” lamps, so I can use a “greener” LED light bulb” that’s made to work only on “not-so-green” lamps…

http://www.bulborama.com/GU24-TO-MEDIUM-E26-SOCKET-ADAPTER-INDUSTRIAL-GRADE-p1762.html?AdID=13880cm00cm0N00559

Great…

[Hatfield]

I feel your pain.

I hated the look of CFLs so never switched over. Oh we might have one or two of them but that’s about it. We’ve slowly been replacing our soffit-mounted PAR spots with LED replacements. They have a nice color, they don’t flicker, and they’re dimmable. Jury’s still out on how long they last, but so far so good.

[joec]

[quote=flu]….So a few years back, as part of an energy conservation program, I exchanged some traditional lamps I had with new “energy efficient” lamps…

The newer lamps don’t use the traditional E26 screw in socket for lightbulbs…..

…. but instead use the new GU24 socket with the two prong….

And that’s the problem…

1. Despite what folks say about CFL, they don’t nearly last as long as folks advertise them say they do. I’ve been getting maybe 1 to 1.5 year out of them before they break (usually the ballast stops working)…

2. While you can find CFL’s with the e26 bulb screw for traditional lamps relatively cheap at $1 each or sometimes even cheaper than that….A CFL with the GU24 base costs anywhere from $4 each to $8!!!! What a big scam….

3. Even ignoring the big scam price difference for CFL with a GU24 base….Disposing CFL’s is a PITA because they have mercury in them and should be properly recycled. Replacing them every 1.5 years to 2 to me doesn’t seem very green to me…..so…..

I’m considering going with LED’s…I see a bunch of newer “bulbs” that uses LED instead, which probably will last longer, and more energy efficient (albeit considerably more expensive…..)…BUT….

The LED lightbulbs sold at stores use the E26 lightbulb fitting, not the GU24!!!…..

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-SlimStyle-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-LED-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-433227/204780591?N=bm79Z5yc1v

…So now I’m stuck buying a bunch of GU24->E26 adapters to convert my “green” lamps back into a “not-so-green” lamps, so I can use a “greener” LED light bulb” that’s made to work only on “not-so-green” lamps…

http://www.bulborama.com/GU24-TO-MEDIUM-E26-SOCKET-ADAPTER-INDUSTRIAL-GRADE-p1762.html?AdID=13880cm00cm0N00559

Great…[/quote]

It’s funny that it says it’s not allowed to be sold in nearly every state:

PRODUCT SOLD : Online Only
Item cannot be shipped to the following state(s): AK,AL,AR,AZ,CA,CO,CT,DC,DE,FL,GA,GU,HI,IA,ID
,IL,IN,KS,KY,LA,MA,MD,ME,MI,MN,MO,MS,MT,NC,ND
,NE,NH,NJ,NM,NV,NY,OH,OK,OR,PA,PR,RI,SC,SD,TN
,TX,UT,VA,VI,VT,WI,WV,WY

If someone has more info on where to get all types of CFLs or LED bulbs, please post. Some of the ones I bought to replace the stock ones don’t seem to work as well.

I have a ton of bulbs I need to figure out what to do with and yeah, they last no where near as long as advertised which like you, has prompted me to consider LED as well which maybe 2x-3x as expensive, but maybe worth it for the lack of hassles.

In regards to recycle, Home Depot will typically take it I think.

[Hatfield]

That is correct – Home Depot has a bin where you can drop off CFLs but not the long tubes. There’s a place in Kearny Mesa where you can take those, otherwise you have to find an e-waste event.

[patb]

most municipal dumps will have a tube waste receptable plus for batteries.

[moneymaker]

Last time I checked EDCO would not accept long tube fluorescent bulbs at any of their locations. here’s a GU24 bulb http://www.amazon.com/Feit-A19-800-GU24-LED/dp/B009NCEA98 , a little pricey but said to last a long time.Home Depot has them as well, but for $10 more.

[Coronita]

[quote=moneymaker]Last time I checked EDCO would not accept long tube fluorescent bulbs at any of their locations. here’s a GU24 bulb http://www.amazon.com/Feit-A19-800-GU24-LED/dp/B009NCEA98 , a little pricey but said to last a long time.Home Depot has them as well, but for $10 more.[/quote]

Hmmm. I think I have a few LEDs lying around.. Maybe I’ll just hook a few together to an existing GU24 broken base from a CFL instead… What could go wrong, right? 🙁

[FlyerInHi]

I think that Ikea has plenty LED bulbs.

[ucodegen]

[quote=flu]1. Despite what folks say about CFL, they don’t nearly last as long as folks advertise them say they do. I’ve been getting maybe 1 to 1.5 year out of them before they break (usually the ballast stops working)…[/quote]That is strange. I have been getting a lot more life with them. I do try to stay away from off-brand though. I think in something like 8 years, only two CFLs had had to be replaced. One was in my ‘trouble light'(portable light) that suffered an impact, the other was a high power (200 watt equivalent) CFL that was over 8 years old. Most of the lights in the house are CFL, with incandescents in critical areas (where full light is needed immediately – like one lamp out of several in hallway, one lamp in middle of kitchen overhead, one lamp near specific door access.). I pulled the other incandescents out and stored them as replacements for these. I didn’t worry about getting the ‘fast warmup’ versions of CFLs. I was concerned that it might stress the electronics (push higher voltage for a longer time to implement the fast warmup).
[quote=flu]2. While you can find CFL’s with the e26 bulb screw for traditional lamps relatively cheap at $1 each or sometimes even cheaper than that….A CFL with the GU24 base costs anywhere from $4 each to $8!!!! What a big scam….[/quote]Didn’t even know about the GU24 base. I don’t understand the reason unless it is to force people to use CFLs (don’t know of any incandescents using that base). All mine are E26s.
[quote=flu]3. Even ignoring the big scam price difference for CFL with a GU24 base….Disposing CFL’s is a PITA because they have mercury in them and should be properly recycled. Replacing them every 1.5 years to 2 to me doesn’t seem very green to me…..so…..[/quote]I have a box where I ‘store’ the bad ones (only 2 so far), but the hours for hazard recycling are a problem.

[UCGal]

We were early adopters – but learned to look for the label “warm white” so we wouldn’t get that horrid blue-green flourescent glow.

We also bought ‘dimmable” when they were on sale – because dimming a non-dimmable CFL will kill it in short order.

We saw a huge drop (like $50/month) in our electric bill when we converted the whole house over, years ago.

We’re slowly phasing out to LED.

We stayed with edison base bulbs the entire time. The only non-edison bulbs we have are the front porch lights.

[Coronita]

Done…

5 pack converters

$8 with prime shipping

My money says it’s Made in China. Oh well…

Switching my lamps and lights back to an e26 socket. And I’ll buy LED’s or CFL’s with those bases instead….

GU24 bulbs are such a ripoff

[an]

I switch all of my lights to CFL and all of them are E26 and not GU24. I had to buy a GU24 adapter because the light housing in front of my garage door is GU24. I have no energy comparison, but I do noticed some last less than advertised while others have last for 5 years and going. So, maybe it has to do with the housing itself that cause the early death. I got it over 5 years ago when SDG&E and Home Depot were doing some special deals on them and I got them for ~$1/bulb. I stocked up a lot and still have plenty. I can’t justify going to LED because they’re still way too expensive compare to my $1/bulb CFL.

Flu, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just get a E26 to G24 adapter for the ones that needs it? All of my recessed lights are E26. I got these and seem to be working fine so far: http://www.amazon.com/10-Pack-GU24-E26-Adapters-Screw-/dp/B00BHKZTEY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395694846&sr=8-3&keywords=e26+to+gu24. Assuming your lights have space for the adapter.

[joec]

Thanks for posting these adapters…I’ll have to buy some myself since the GU24s are so much more expensive.

[ucodegen]

I wonder if the GU24 versions of the CFLs are built ‘to fail’ for the purpose of profit. I am noticing several comments in other ‘blogs’ and ratings boards that these are failing fairly quickly. No such comments on the E26 CFLs, and mine have been lasting a while.

So we end up saving ‘CO2’, but putting mercury(a toxic heavy metal) into the environment (most people toss the CFLs into the trash instead of haz-waste disposal)

[Coronita]

[quote=AN]I switch all of my lights to CFL and all of them are E26 and not GU24. I had to buy a GU24 adapter because the light housing in front of my garage door is GU24. I have no energy comparison, but I do noticed some last less than advertised while others have last for 5 years and going. So, maybe it has to do with the housing itself that cause the early death. I got it over 5 years ago when SDG&E and Home Depot were doing some special deals on them and I got them for ~$1/bulb. I stocked up a lot and still have plenty. I can’t justify going to LED because they’re still way too expensive compare to my $1/bulb CFL.

Flu, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just get a E26 to G24 adapter for the ones that needs it? All of my recessed lights are E26. I got these and seem to be working fine so far: http://www.amazon.com/10-Pack-GU24-E26-Adapters-Screw-/dp/B00BHKZTEY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395694846&sr=8-3&keywords=e26+to+gu24. Assuming your lights have space for the adapter.[/quote]

So for my house recess lighting, I actually went in and cut out the GU24 sockets and installed and wired new E26 bulb sockets each time a new CFL recess lighting goes out or starts to flicker… Unfortunately, I think I have a total of 24 recess lighting in my home, 10 in the kitchen alone…. So yeah, it’s kind of a problem, a slow and painful problem…That’s fine, problem solved, and contractor packs for the E26 sockets at HD are pretty cheap… Just time consuming to do all of them in one shot..

For things like floor lamps, I could put on a new socket, but I would need to take apart the floor lamps, which I don’t really feel like doing…So adapters, it is… The problem with the adapters is that it adds about 3/4″ height to the light socket…Which for small lamps (not floor lamps) won’t leave enough room for a lot of the CFL bulbs which are already slightly larger….

I think a lot of these newer lights switched to GU24 simply because they thought they could charge consumers more for the special lightbulbs (that or it hasn’t caught on yet)…

BTW: in CA, 100w or more incandescent bulbs are banned in CA (started Jan 1st). If you have 100w bulbs or higher, those are going to be relics soon.

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