Nice! 23W Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) $2 ea. at Home Depot

[Thegonagle]

No Rebate, nothing.

Actually, it's $4.00 for a 2 pk., so $2 each!

Found at Bloomington, MN location. YMMV. They didn't have a ton, and I wouldn't expect a raincheck .

I'm curious to see how widespread this deal is.

• Commercial Electric brand;
  5 year warranty;
  nice, small spiral design;
  23 watt replacement for 100;
  1600 lumens;
  6000 hours.

Enjoy.

 

[frankqfrank]

ill check tommorow in cincinnati

how good are these bulbs?

 

[Thegonagle]

I've been using them for a few hours now.

They're bright and compact for sure, but the color-temp doesn't seem as nice as with GE CFLs.

They seem to be of decent quality, and they do have a 5 year warranty.

 

[scdill]

Originally posted by: Garfang
I've been using them for a few hours now.

They're bright and compact for sure, but the color-temp doesn't seem as nice as with GE CFLs.

They seem to be of decent quality, and they do have a 5 year warranty.

Your comment on color temp worries me. I bought some cheaper fluorescents recently that cast a very yellowish light. Could have even been this brand. Does the light from these appear yellowish to you?

 

[eyeguy]

they used to make them yellowish to match incandescent color in the 3000k range. people used to think they were too blue. now people want the 4500K or higher 'daylight' color......
most cfl's have a good CRI and save the enviroment ( see previous threads ) in WA they are subsidizing them.

 

[multifacitedonyx]

Originally posted by: eyeguy
they used to make them yellowish to match incandescent color in the 3000k range. people used to think they were too blue. now people want the 4500K or higher 'daylight' color......
most cfl's have a good CRI and save the enviroment ( see previous threads ) in WA they are subsidizing them.

How are they 'saving the environment'? I understand that they use much less electricity than an incandescent, and they have a longer use-life, but how are the saving the environment?

Most things have an upside and a down side. One downside to floresents is that they contain mercury vapor. I am not sure if these particular bulbs use some other gas or not, but if they use mercury, that is not good for the environment.

Just wondering if you have more info than that.

 

[Thegonagle]

These Comercial Electric bulbs, like my GE bulbs, are designed to mimic tungsten bulbs, which is fine with me, but somehow, the GE bulbs have a nicer, warmer light, while these are just ever so slightly off, just slightly harsh. I can't explan it any better than that.

GE probably makes the better bulb, but these would be just fine for utilitarian uses, such as the basement, laundry room, garage, etc.*

They do have a 5 year warranty, so I wouldn't expect them to die early like that "Lights of America" garbage from Walmart.

*EAT TASTY CHICKEN

 

[cruzer]

Although fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and require special handling and disposal, they are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and often last much longer. These characteristics reduce our reliance on coal burning - which itself is a major source of mercury pollution.

 

[multifacitedonyx]

Originally posted by: cruzer
Although fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and require special handling and disposal, they are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and often last much longer. These characteristics reduce our reliance on coal burning - which itself is a major source of mercury pollution.

I admit that they use less energy and last longer. I have bought quite a few for my house for this reason. Plus, they do not get hot, so that is a bonus too.

And, not to be a pest, but not all electric generators use coal. Here in Texas we use natural gas and hydroelectric, and to a very small degree renewable resources like wind and solar. I know California has a lot of laws concerning coal generators and I thought coal was mostly a north eastern thing (not that that lessesn the impact).

I was just wondering if eyeguy knew something about these bulbs other than their energy savings and longer life.

 

[cruzer]

Here in Texas we use natural gas and hydroelectric, and to a very small degree renewable resources like wind and solar.

Texas ranks number two in consumption of coal. But yes they are also number one in natural gas and oil cosumption. They have an incredible energy appetite, larger than California.

Coal burning represents 51% of all electricity production in U.S.

Compare that to nuclear(21%), natural gas(16%), hydroelectric(6%), oil(3%), other(2%).

Coal is still an incredibly cheap power source and unfortunately the most polluting. Here in Arizona, when we get our electric bill we can choose how many killowatt hours to be delivered to us by solar enegy facilities. Unfortunately, it makes the bill more expensive.

 

[Melectricus]

I haven't tried GEs yet. My experience with the ones from Menards (also bloomingon MN) - generic twist cone style, have been bad. Here's a few thoughts that may help others.

Color 1: incandescent bulbs burn at about 2700k so fluorescents at about 3000k will mimic regular bulbs with color in the yellowish-orange range. Cheap phosphers in these bulbs do a poor job in shifting the color from the mercury's natural blue to the yellowish-orange range and you can sometimes see a greenish tint to the room.
Color 2: Office fluorescent lamps operate at 3500k or 4100k. The higher the temperature of the lamp in degree Kelvin the 'whiter' the color and it will have more blue components.
Color 3: daylight usually in the 5000 to 8000k range. Most people when they buy buy in these ranges don't like them because they make indoors and people look sickly pale blue.
Color 4: 'daylight' bulbs that are color corrected, ie have additional phosphers to add missing light color components are nice but are usually only available in more commercial versions of fluorescent.
Mercury: You are better off using fluorescent and dealing with proper disposal/recycling than using the extra energy of incandescent.
Halogen: are 'whiter' than normal incandescents but still are an incandescent. Their advantage is longer life and sometimes reduced wattage over normal incandescents because the useable light is better controlled in certain fixtures.
Lamp shades: The color of table lamp shades affect the color of a room. I had tanish shades and the 4000k looked a lot better in the room than the 3000k in the same lamp. Whiter shades would work better with 3000k if you like the warmer color feel.

Last note: cheap fluorescent ballasts to drive the lamp crank out excessive RF. You may never notice it but in my case I have Radio shack wireless intercoms and they raised holy hell with interference throughout my house. Not on 900mhz phones or in the 2.4ghz spectrum of wireless network or cell phones tho.

hope this may help others, I strongly recommend the compact fluorescents. I'm going to try ge's to see if they are better.

 

[fargus]

New coal plants can actually be very clean...

more information
http://www.dom.com/about/stations/fossil/clover.jsp
http://www.dom.com/about/environment/envir_rpt/emissions.jsp

 

[baaaad]

Please don't take offense, but the term "Clean Coal" would be a joke, were it not for the pollution resulting from its acceptance into the American lexicon. Actually, you have to hand it to the proponents of this outdated technology (coal producers, their politicians, etc.) that they've managed to garner such credibility for a term about as absurd as "Clean Dirt." For sure, there are ways to lessen the pollution resulting from coal, but there are far better alternatives out there.

 

[flythunderbird]

Haven't tried the Commercial Electric CFLs, so I can't comment on them. My personal favorites are the GE CFLs. They're bright, come to full brightness very quickly, and give off a nice color.

I talked my father into trying out some CFLs; told him to get the GEs and not the 'Lights of America' bulbs, since the LoA bulbs tend to have a funny color. Well, he bought the LoA bulbs(he's a tightwad), and they are pink when you turn them on. Pink!! Takes about five minutes for them to warm up and look decent, too.

 

[Msatan666]

cleaned out my local HD 2 weeks ago. The power company in my area had instant rebates on these for $3. I got 11 packages for $.50 a bulb.

 

[fishlet]

I will drop Home Depot today.

 

[Evadman]

Gimme UPC or SKU and I will verify