Flourescent bulbs

[Mother of Sons]

Who has these? Do you get used to it? My husband replaced all of our bulbs with these compact flourescent ones and I HATE them. All of my paint colors look different, everyone in the house looks jaundiced and sick. My dimmer doesn't work anymore and if the living room chandelier doesn't stop flickering I'm going to have a stroke.

I know they save money (supposedly) and they are better for the environment but I really can't stand them. Will I get used to it?

[canadiyank]

We have them in pretty much everything. You can get dimmable ones, but I have never used them. You can also get "natural light" ones that look better. The flicker I'm not sure...I have one that does that but I'm not sure why, it just started. I like them fine, but I haven't found they last as long as they say they will. They are much cheaper now than they used to be, and you can get them for nearly every fixture, so we use them for everything now.

[hiddenhippie6]

We use them and I haven't noticed a big difference in the lighting. They do take a few seconds longer to come on though and that is normal. Here is a page that might help some of your questions
http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm

[The Tickle Momster]

We have them. Not my favorite. The slow to come on thing is frustrating when I just need 1 thing from a room but have to wait 30 secs to go get is so I don't trip. :blush

[Drew]

We've been replacing the regular bulbs in our house with compact fluorescent as they burn out. As was mentioned there are a few different types (soft, bright, daylight) so you may want to try others to see if you like them better. There's one I really don't like, I think it's the daylight but I'm not sure. It has a blueish tinge.

So far we haven't had any flickering so I can't speak to that. If you change the bulb, does the new bulb flicker as well?


We have them. Not my favorite. The slow to come on thing is frustrating when I just need 1 thing from a room but have to wait 30 secs to go get is so I don't trip. :blush


Seriously 30 seconds? Ours take about 2-3 seconds to come on. It's a noticeable lag compared to regular bulbs, but not too bad.

The one thing I've noticed is that I have to get a higher "equivalent" than if I was using a regular bulb. I like rooms to be bright though.

[Mother of Sons]

Mine come on pretty quickly. They aren't very bright. I like there to be bright light and these are soooo yellow and dim. Yuck. The thing I dislike the most is the color. Everyone just looks so yellow and sick. It's gross. I don't like having stuff with mercury in the house, even if it's a small amount either. I could live with it I suppose if there is a daylight bulb or some thing. I just can't live with the yellow.

The flickering bulbs... I don't know. They've flickered since he put them in but they don't do it all the time, just most of the time. It's kind of like being under a strobe light.

[Drew]

I would try going to Target (or wherever) and picking up a few different types (I'm pretty sure you can get individuals) and try them out to see if you like the color of any of them. From the yellow tinge I'm guessing you're using the soft white bulbs. You may like the "bright" ones much better.

Also try bumping up the equivalent wattage. So if you're using the ones equivalent to a 60 watt regular bulb, try the 75 or 100 versions. They actually only use 19 and 23 watts respectively.

[crunchymum]

yeah, i would try a few different types. :scratch (which can get expensive!) we replaced *some* of our bulbs with CF - our laundry closet, regular closets, outside lights. i'm a total light snob, and the way i "feel" in certain kinds of light really affects me. we have track lights with dimmers so they burn at a lesser wattage. i *did* see a huge difference in our energy bill after switching out our outside ones, and they last forever. we chose ones that are the closest to regular bulbs in terms of the quality of light, they are not the coiled ones, thoughm they actually look more like a 'normal' bulb and give off a warm light.

there's also some more eco friendly halogen bulbs that may work better for you, MOS, if the flourescent really bothers you.

[AttachedMamma]

The previous owner of our house had those twisty-looking fluorescent bulbs in all the ceiling canister lights. It looked horrible and the lighting was blech. We replaced them all with the correct size (diameter) bulbs...soft-looking. I've always hated fluorescent bulbs. They remind me of a garage workshop. I especially can't stand the long tubular ones commonly seen in those ceiling lightboxes in kitchens. Here in the northwest you really need some "sunny" bulbs.

I figured they were all pretty much the same. :shrug I guess we'll have to check out some of the newer, softer ones. I'd be open to change if the color effect/softness/warmth was similar. But, as concerned as I am about the environment, I cannot live in a home with cold lighting that makes me feel depressed.

[Mother of Sons]

But, as concerned as I am about the environment, I cannot live in a home with cold lighting that makes me feel depressed.

:yes2

We had the office style fluorescent lights in our kitchen and laundry room when we moved here. I was SO relieved to get rid of them. Now I feel like we are back to the same yucky light that we had back then.