Best Low-Energy Light Bulbs?

[corfe83]

I just bought a house, and am looking to install the lowest-energy light bulbs I can get, all over the house. Up-front cost isn't really a concern, and the time it takes to "earn back" my investment doesn't matter either - I'm doing this because I care about the environment, and want to be a good world citizen. I just want the lowest-energy, highest-quality lighting I can find.

Overall, I'm looking for bulbs that:

1.) Use as little energy as possible!
2.) Rarely need replacement.
3.) Give off white light - normal light bulbs are yellowish, and some things out there are blueish or purplish
4.) Can be bright - at least as bright as a typical 80 or 100 watt bulb
5.) Turn on instantly (that rules out the compact fluorescent bulbs that are starting to become popular)
6.) Fit inside a regular light bulb socket!
7.) Bonus points if they work in a dimmer switch

So my question is, what bulbs should I be buying, and where should I be buying them? Are bright LED/OLED bulbs available somewhere? Are there other types of bulbs I should be thinking about (besides regular, compact fluorescent, and LED/OLED)?

 

[FoBoT]

no such thing, you can't have it all

 

[corfe83]

Well, are there at least some low-energy, bright (80 watt or 100 watt equivalent) options that fit in a normal light bulb socket, BESIDES compact fluorescent? I just can't find LED bulbs that match the brightness, or any other type of bulb that works!

Again, up-front cost isn't a concern! Anyone know of other options?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

CFL will be fine. The only time I have ever run into a bulb that did not turn on instantly was when I used the equivalent of a 150 Watt bulb in my Wisconsin garage (that took about three minutes to get to full brightness). I have never seen the normal 75W equivalent not turn on instantly.

 

[Queasy]

Yeah my wife picked up a bunch of flourescent bulbs on Black Friday at Lowes and they've turned on instantly.

 

[corfe83]

I bought CFL's, but they don't turn on instantly - maybe I should look into a better brand of CFL (The ones I have now are from IKEA)

Also, I believe LED's get higher energy efficiency than CFL's, so I was really hoping for LED's, but they just don't seem to be available. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet...

 

[Rubycon]

Install trasers for low level lighting. Up to 25 years service life, zero energy use (no wires required) and will work in the event of catastrophic attack against electrical equipment.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: corfe83
I bought CFL's, but they don't turn on instantly - maybe I should look into a better brand of CFL (The ones I have now are from IKEA)

Also, I believe LED's get higher energy efficiency than CFL's, so I was really hoping for LED's, but they just don't seem to be available. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet...

I've purchased many CFL bulbs, and yea, some of the crappier ones take a bit to turn on all the way, but the better ones go on instantly. I'm totally blanking on the brand name now, but I bought a bunch of full spectrum 80w equivalent CFL bulbs and am really happy with them.

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: corfe83
I bought CFL's, but they don't turn on instantly - maybe I should look into a better brand of CFL (The ones I have now are from IKEA)

Also, I believe LED's get higher energy efficiency than CFL's, so I was really hoping for LED's, but they just don't seem to be available. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet...

I have had very good luck with the cheapo home depot "Commercial Electric" CFLs. I've put in a couple dozen over the last few years and I think only one went bad on me. They also start instantly in a comfortable (over 65 degrees) environment - not sure how they do in cold, I know that can slow CFLs a bit. T he HD ones are cheap and relatively compact. I use the 14w ones which are a 60 or 75w (?) equiv). On sale they have 9 bulb "contractor packs" for $12-15.

I have had bad luck with some "major name" CFL bulbs. Anything from whacked out color spectrum to taking 3 seconds to turn on.

In fixtures where I REALLY want to make sure the light ALWAYS works or want a warmer color, I'd put in a 14w CFL and then a 15-60w incandescent right next to it. Still save half the power without being quite so harsh.

Oh, and sorry - no dimming. I hear about fluoresent dimming occasionally but don't think I have ever actually seen a dimmable flourescent bulb?

 

[Rubycon]

Also bear in mind that the bottom of the barrel ones (Lights of America come to mind - they are crap like the bank. ) never last as long as their published lifetimes.

Part of the reason is their drivers run way too hot and are of cheap quality. They're also sources of raucous spurious emission on the line so any sensitive equipment can act strange. If you're an X10 user expect trouble with devices receiving commands from their master, etc.

 

[Subbaculcha]

LED Light Bulbs. Super low energy, hight cost.

 

[0roo0roo]

go to ikea. they have the lamps and cheap cf bulbs with good quality. and most of their lighting is built to use cf's and has been even before the cf's became widespread. lowes and home depot have plenty of halogen/incadescent only nonsense.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Subbaculcha
LED Light Bulbs. Super low energy, hight cost.

u sure? i'm pretty sure the lumen's per watt is still inferior to cf's. its just better than incandescents. plus the light quality is sorta bluish

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo


u sure? i'm pretty sure the lumen's per watt is still inferior to cf's. its just better than incandescents. plus the light quality is sorta bluish

Cree tech is 2x of Lumileds (Luxeon III) and has better spectral output. These will be on the market very soon.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: corfe83
Well, are there at least some low-energy, bright (80 watt or 100 watt equivalent) options that fit in a normal light bulb socket, BESIDES compact fluorescent? I just can't find LED bulbs that match the brightness, or any other type of bulb that works!

Again, up-front cost isn't a concern! Anyone know of other options?

I have some Philips CFL that I just got a couple weeks ago, and they provide a much better color than a different brand that I have in another room.
They do take about 1-2 minutes to fully brighten, but meh.

 

[The Stigenator]

Originally posted by: corfe83
I just bought a house, and am looking to install the lowest-energy light bulbs I can get, all over the house. Up-front cost isn't really a concern, and the time it takes to "earn back" my investment doesn't matter either - I'm doing this because I care about the environment, and want to be a good world citizen. I just want the lowest-energy, highest-quality lighting I can find.

Overall, I'm looking for bulbs that:

1.) Use as little energy as possible!
2.) Rarely need replacement.
3.) Give off white light - normal light bulbs are yellowish, and some things out there are blueish or purplish
4.) Can be bright - at least as bright as a typical 80 or 100 watt bulb
5.) Turn on instantly (that rules out the compact fluorescent bulbs that are starting to become popular)
6.) Fit inside a regular light bulb socket!
7.) Bonus points if they work in a dimmer switch

So my question is, what bulbs should I be buying, and where should I be buying them? Are bright LED/OLED bulbs available somewhere? Are there other types of bulbs I should be thinking about (besides regular, compact fluorescent, and LED/OLED)?

WHat you need is a CFL bulb for most areas.. I have "daylight" CFL bulbs, it gives off a white color unlike the yellowish normal CFL. Its nice, i use it for reading. This one is a 75W (uses 13) but it cant be used on a dimmer.

Certain CFL bulbs now can be used on a dimmer, but some cant. But what i see you need is CFL.. they work great. I use CFL exclusively in my apartment, works great.

Edit: i got all of mine at fry's electronics. They are GE & Philips.

 

[Paperdoc]

Compact Fluorescents fill almost all of your requirements, so I'm not sure why you dismiss them so quickly. I agree that, when first turned on, they put out much reduced output, but they do turn on instantly. I takes one or two minutes to reach full output. For me, that's no big deal.

No fluorescent will work when really cold. One reply said it took 3 minutes to come on in the garage - he was just lucky that the warming of the circuits in the base was enough to warm up the bulb in that time. If it had been colder, it might never come on. So outside, etc. where it's cold is not the place. I live where winters get really cold - overnight lows below zero lots. A neighbour has these CF bulbs on the outside of his garage. All winter I see them at night gamely flickering and trying (sometimes just feebly glowing weak), but never lit. Summertime they work fine.

Also, no fluorescents will work with dimmers. Well, I have seen special dimmers and particular grades of straight-tube fluorescents that were designed for this purpose, but that's rare. And for your purposes, this probably does not matter.

In my experience the CF's come in several colors, depending on the manufacturer and product line. Best deal for this is some large chain harware / building supply places will have a display of many of them lit up side-by-side. Choose one or two that look good, buy a few and take them home to try out before buying a houseful.