<p>I will never buy another CFL - don’t want the mercury in the house. LED bulbs have come down in price, and Costco sells some from reputable manufacturers. They are supposed to last for many years.</p>
<p>Three years ago, we put LED bulbs in all our lighting fixtures (mostly overhead lights–only a few lamps.) Electric bill is down some, but it will take a long time to recoup costs. Also, I can’t dim the LED overheads unless I get new dimmers (which is more than I want to spend). If you do switch to LEDs in overheads make sure that they are compatible with your dimmers.</p>
<p>I have an entire houseful of antique chandeliers, ceiling fixtures and table lamps, with antique glass globes that the “new-fangled bulbs” do not fit into. I guess my job this week is to start hoarding. Some of my lighting fixtures have been in use for over a hundred years. Who am I to tell them they can’t function anymore?</p>
<p>Buy them on ebay, fafnir!</p>
<p>Eureka! Found 10 pkgs. of 100watt incandescent bulbs at Walmart today and bought all of them. They are GE reveal. So much brighter! Hate, hate, hate CFL bulbs and can’t yet be convinced to pay the price for LED.</p>
<p>Going shopping this weekend for old bulbs!</p>
<p>Candelabra and other specialty bulbs are not affected by the new regulations.</p>
<p>Just use real candles in your candelabra.</p>
<p>looks like industry combined with the government here to get higher profit margins under the guise of “improving environmental standards”…</p>
<p>shocking.</p>
<p>Just bough 48 GE 75 Watt Soft light incadescents from Amazon. This will keep us going for quite a few years since we have only a few lamps which use these. Now, will have hubby look into the recessed fixture bulbs. All of our recessed lighting is on dimmers and the idea of having to replace them all is not appealing. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if those candelabra style bulbs (usually 20 or 40 watt) are also being phased out? We have a large number of those in the bathrooms. </p>
<p>My crystal balls tells me forcing us to use mercury containing CFL’s will prove to be as stupid as putting MTBE into the CA gasoline supply.</p>
<p>We just swapped out the CFLs in the kitchen recessed that were driving me freaking nuts with LEDs. Instant on so no more waiting for these to get to full brightness. Two 4packs at Lowes for $50 a box. Well worth it to be able to see. Also, we all noticed how warm the light is. You forgot after years under those ghastly CFLs. Thanks for those that suggested it. :)</p>
<p>We never installed even one CFL in our home. I’m currently in a hotel room with all CFL’s of course. It feels like a ‘brown out’. There simply is not enough light anywhere. </p>
<p>There is one place in the kitchen which has florescent bulbs as required by code at the time of the remodel. We’ve used full spectrum natural light style bulbs in this fixture. Some of us simply can not use this type of light.</p>
<p>I also never installed one CFL. I can’t see with them, even after I wait…and wait…and wait…I’m a patient person, but I am not waiting for lightbulbs to warm up. They are an accident waiting to happen in a dim garage. My eyes cannot see well without bright light, and lots of it. I am also not paying for LEDs at their current price.</p>
<p>We’re some of the bad people who starting stocking up when it was first announced. It will be interesting to see how long they last. Dim light, expensive, mercury and disposal issues, new fixtures–I’m not at all convinced they are a good thing for us as a group and I know they are not for me as an individual.</p>
<p>There are no mercury issues with LED bulbs.</p>
<p>I’ve been telling my DH for years I couldn’t see well enough with the CFLs. My eyes just aren’t that good. He can see in the dark so never appreciated how bad it was at night.</p>
<p>Have been hoarding for a few years. A shelf in the storage room. Drives H nuts but I intend to continue. I only wish I had set up shop and become a seller :).
We are in general very Green but this is the one thing I just cannot embrace.</p>
<p>Regarding LED’s: we switched our outdoor Christmas lights to LED strands…will see how those hold up.</p>
<p>As for using them daily in the house…I’m going to wait until more data on longevity and customer satisfaction is available. At this point, they are pretty darn expensive.</p>
<p>And as far as the CFL mercury issue…just think of how often a bulb will break when used in a hotel setting. I can see it now…lawsuits from hotel housekeepers because of mercury exposure…quick…someone call a lawyer…</p>
<p>I ended up buying a case (120 bulbs) of 60 watt incandescent bulbs from Home Depot after this thread the other day. I will pick it up in store around the 13th. I’m so relieved. I’m hoping by the time I go through those, there will be better options.</p>
<p>I’m slowly replacing all the CFLs I have with LEDs; the CFLs had replaced all the incandescent light bulbs.</p>
<p>I like the Philips 424382 11-watt model, which provides 830 lumens (that’s equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent) and lasts about 10 times as long as said incandescent (very conservatively). No mercury, turns on right away, no noticeable humming.</p>
<p>They are dimmable and provide light at a 2700K color temperature, like a soft white incandescent light bulb. (You can also get a more daylight-like 5000K color temperature in a 12 watt model.)</p>
<p>These are about $14 now on Amazon, and since there is plenty of competition now (Cree and others) the prices should continue to come down.</p>
<p>Using an incandescent bulb for three hours a day every day, the cost over ten years would be about:</p>
<p>10 yrs X 365 days per yr X 3 hrs per day X 0.1 dollars per kilowatt-hr X 0.060 kilowatts</p>
<p>or $65. (I’m ignoring the price of the incandescent bulbs and replacements.)</p>
<p>Using the above LED bulb for three hours a day every day, the cost over ten years would be about:</p>
<p>10 yrs X 365 days per yr X 3 hrs per day X 0.1 dollars per kilowatt-hr X 0.011 kilowatts</p>
<p>or $26. (I am of course including the $14 cost of the LED bulb.)</p>
<p>Even if the LED bulb failed and had to be replaced once or even twice over the ten years, the cost would still be less than using an incandescent bulb. (The manufacturer’s lifetime for 3 hrs/day is about 22 years, so my 10 years is pretty conservative.)</p>
<p>Stocking up on 60 watt incandescent light bulbs just makes no sense to me at this point in time.</p>
<p>OK-- I could not post until I researched and ordered. Amazon still has 100 watts.
I ordered 48 100 watts for 98$.
I am so happy. H will sigh.</p>