Technobabble

Compact Florescent or LED Bulbs?

Posted by on Dec 19, 2007 | 12 Comments

Like it or not, it’ll soon be time to flip the switch on those treasured old school incandescent light bulbs once and for all. The gargantuan energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush will do away with most incandescents in favor of more efficient alternatives.

Longtime readers know that we’re big fans of compact florescent (CF) bulbs … while they’re still far from perfect – with compact florescent lifespan a huge issue for some – the newfangled bulbs deliver significant savings in the long run.

Gnomie Jon wrote:

I don’t know if you have heard, but incandescent light bulbs are going phased out by 2012 in the US. The best alternative would be compact florescent bulbs, but personally, i would prefer L.E.Ds, which, at the current time, are fairly pricey per build, replacing all your household bulbs could easily cost thousands. My family has decided to start gradually switching in 2009, and I was wondering, do you think the LED bulbs are worth the price, our should we just go with florescent?  

It looks like compact florescent bulbs will be the most economical alternative for years to come. Just how many years is the big question. There’s little doubt that LEDs will eventually rule the roost … but right now, they’re far too expensive to recommend for most applications.

This year’s wave of LED Christmas lights is a harbinger of things to come. Once the factories really get geared up to deliver massive quantities of LEDs, prices should drop rapidly. But if you’ve checked into LED Christmas light prices at your local big box stores, you may have gone into shock.

Be sure to stop back in when they kick off those inevitable 50% off sales to pick up those sweet LED lights at half price …

[tags]LED bulbs, LED Christmas lights, compact florescent bulbs[/tags]

  • Tom Smith

    We use flourescent, xenon, incandescent, halogen and tulip bulbs. The tulips are in our flower garden and most of the rest are inside. I would like to paint the house and car with lead paint and use mercury lights, but I suppose I’d have to go to China for it. A serious answer is that knee-jerk miniscule solutions are just that. We ought to look at the overall problem. Within 50 years, we will probably be using electric trains and fuel cell vehicles, with power provided by nuclear power plants. Until the Uranium runs out. Then maybe we will finally discover how to build nuclear fusion power plants. The greenies want to kill off most of humanity and return the rest to barbarism as their solution.

  • Glenn Thomas

    I have been using LED Christmas lights for about 3 years and my power bill has gone down. But that is just my 2 cents worth…

  • Rob

    There is one thing that the govt forgets to tell everyone about Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs. Once they burn out, which they will, they are considered HAZARDOUS Waste as CFLs have Mercury in them. You just can not throw them away in the garbage. If they get broken in the landfill they will pollute the ground and ground water give enough time.

  • Mark Gross

    I thought that I “saw the light” and picked up a couple of dozen CFB’s a few months ago at my local Hardware store. Much to my surprise and chagrine, THEY DID NOT WORK in about half of my fixtures, All are single step switched (they do not have multiple contact positions for multi-volt bulbs) I put meters on the outlets and everything seemed normal. Read resistances in the lamp sockets were relatively all the same. I don’t have the time to troubleshoot every lamp/fixture/etc, so I returned the bulbs. I wonder if anyone else has seen this problem.

  • rnr-oldster

    The presence of small amounts of highly toxic mercury in CFLs poses problems for consumers when breakage occurs and for disposal when bulbs eventually burn out. The potential environmental hazard created by the mass introduction of billions of CFLs with few disposal sites and a public unfamiliar with the risks is there.

    What will happen with all these bulbs? Where do we dispose of them? HOW mcuh mercury will be disposed of each year if only a small percentage of the households must dispose of at least one a year?

    No matter how the tree-huggers spin it – MERCURY is dangerous!!!

    Along the Concord River in Massachusetts there are posted signs along the banks warning you not to keep or eat the fish you catch because they are contaminated with mercury. The mercury levels in the water are so incredibly low, but they are still very dangerous.

    Mercury in CFLs are present as elemental (or metallic) mercury. Once spilled, you can be exposed by touching it- after which it can be eaten and/or absorbed through your skin. More importantly, you can also be exposed to mercury through the air, as it vaporizes – becomes a gas – and can be inhaled into your lungs. Breathing elemental mercury is generally more dangerous than if you ate the mercury or absorbed it through your skin. Once inhaled, the mercury vapor can damage the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver.

    These toxic effects are why any mercury spills are handled carefully, including those that result from a CFL breakage.

    The BOTTOM LINE: mercury will cause problems, either in my own home, or in the landfill when it is thrown away.

  • Marty

    Energy wise the comacts look good.

    Somehow I am wondering why nobody is yet talking about the long-term effects of all that Mercury going in to landfills as the bulbs eventually die.

  • Michael

    CFLs can be hard to dispose of safely, but if you live near an IKEA store they will take them for free. They also dispose of any type of battery, too.

  • http://www.hayesreport.net Danny

    As usual the enviornmentalist do only what they think is good. All the mercury will be a problem and then they will scream bloody murder again. I actually like flourecents and have them in my house in most place. However there are certain spots where I like an incandesant. I wish I could have a few around after 2012 for specific places. As far as saving energy, that’s largely a crock. It’s insignificant. I know what they claim but I haven’t seen any real evidense of it and mostly I’ve seen the opposite to be true. Part of the problem there may be that you tend to burn additonal lighting. However bulf for bulb you there aren’t any real savings to speak about. LED’s I think actually will save money when they are affordable.

  • John

    “Fluorescent” is misspelled repeatedly in your own article as well as other sponsored advertising. Where will this flagrant violation of the English language end – when it is no longer English, but Modernish?

  • Todd B

    Here, here John. It’s time someone spoke up about this sort of abuse. Maybe congress will finally act and start imposing heavy fines? We need grammar rules with some real teeth!!

  • Sue Ouimet

    Is it just me, or do LED lights give off far less light? Those millions of tiny little Christmas lights don’t nearly light things up as the old incandescents, so you have to use far more of them to get the same affect. I’m not going to replace my big ones for those wimpy, dull, unexciting LED’s.
    And thought I do have quite a few fluorescents in my home, I have no idea how I will dispose of them when they fail.
    We never get the whole story until too late. And don’t you hate how the government jumped in and legislated CFB’s without researching the truth about them?

  • John B

    I was trying to do the right thing by using CFLs where I could (forgot about the mercury impact). But, I’ve found several outlets that kill a CFL just days after inserting it. So much for the savings on that bulb. I had to go back to incandescent just to have a light that lasted more than three days. Plus, I find that one-second lag between when I flip the switch, and when the light actually comes on, to be annoying, even after months of dealing with it; it’s just a pain. Hope they fix that as well.

    Also, dusk-to-down adapters, like for your porch lights, will kill CFLs. Anyone seen a dusk-to-dawn adapter that will work with CFLs?

    One last thought. How many millions (billions?) of automotive bulbs are out there. Are those going to have to go away as well? “Logic” tells me that there’ll be no replacement for tens of thousands of models, so I’d think that incandescent automotive bulbs will be with us for several more years, until/unless much cheaper LED replacements come about. Collector cars will no longer be able to be ‘factory original’ as bulbs will be “history.”