Which CFL bulbs have the shortest "lag" time?

[edmicman]

I'm working on replacing some of my lights with CFL bulbs, but a big part of the wife-acceptance-factor is based on how quickly the light actually turns on. Frankly, it *is* annoying when you flip the switch and there's a noticeable lag before the light actually turns on.

Are there any given brands or types that known to be good in this regard? I'm bought a couple different ones from Meijer, and GE brand ones seem to be exceptionally bad. Like 1-2 second lag before the light actually comes on. I found some off-brand (Feit Electric?) that is better, but if there's something out there I should be looking for it'd be nice to know. Is there any way to tell from the specs on the package how long the lag time and warmup time is? Are there any resources online?

Thanks for any info!

 

[Mxylplyx]

Probably not going to notice much of a difference between the various brands, because the underlying technology is the same. Just use them for lights that stay on a lot, and stick with the old ones for lights that arent on for any lenghts of time, such as closets.

 

[0roo0roo]

most of the newer ones you find at the store are pretty quick these days. back in the bad old days ones could take a minute or two to warm up...and started off so dim it was rather frightening.
ikea?
bulbs improve pretty quick so maybe an old batch of ge isn't the same as a newer one. they've been shrinking the bulbs pretty quick as well.
think cfs were tested in pop mechanics a few months ago
this months consumer reports has some too

and your wife....maybe you should explain that a small delay for using 1/3-1/4 the energy is not much to ask? cost wise..and perhaps for the planet u know

 

[Saulbadguy]

I told my wife to get used to it. I don't think there are any bulbs that have less of a lag time.

 

[FoBoT]

this is why i mix them with traditional bulbs

if a fixture has four bulbs, i put two 60W incandenscent bulbs with two CFL 15W bulbs. that way it looks like they get the light right off, but i still save some $

 

[Mill]

I can barely tell a difference and with the energy savings and higher life cycle it wouldn't matter if I could notice a difference.

 

[Jhill]

DAMN, I thought I was impatient.

 

[imported_LoKe]

How is this even an issue? What could be so important that you need the lights on one second faster?

 

[edmicman]

Dude, there's seriously noticeable problems with some bulbs. Maybe I just managed to find the crappiest ones out there or something. I do have some that are instant on. But there's others that have a very noticeable flicker and delay before even turning on. I'm not talking about the warmup time - that I can live with. But when you flip the switch and a half second later the thing flickers and then comes on, it's bad. IME it seems like its a crap shoot to find ones that are good.

So there's no "best" brand out there that's known to be good, or way to tell something like this? I can't be the only one that this bothers....

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: edmicman
Dude, there's seriously noticeable problems with some bulbs. Maybe I just managed to find the crappiest ones out there or something. I do have some that are instant on. But there's others that have a very noticeable flicker and delay before even turning on. I'm not talking about the warmup time - that I can live with. But when you flip the switch and a half second later the thing flickers and then comes on, it's bad. IME it seems like its a crap shoot to find ones that are good.

So there's no "best" brand out there that's known to be good, or way to tell something like this? I can't be the only one that this bothers....

Buy more of those.

 

[Canai]

Get the Feit Electric white light ones. Very little lag and very bright (in the 60 watt one, anyway), plus it's a nice white light, none of that yellow shit.

Edited for spelling.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I have a few that are instant on. They seem to be at 95% brightness right away, and the 100% maybe 2 seconds later. i don't know what brand they are though

 

[sandorski]

My Phillips brand bulbs turn on as fast as traditional bulbs. They just take 20-30 seconds to reach full brightness.

 

[BigJ]

While you may consider Feit an off-brand, they're actually very good bulbs. It's just that for the most part, they come in cases (geared towards contractors) instead of individual or 2 packs. Home Depot started carrying smaller quantities of the "60w" CFLs in either 4 or 6 packs, I forget.

And for the most part, all of the newer bulbs are going to be instant on, with a short warm-up time.

 

[lokiju]

The current Consumer Reports magazine actually has a review on CFL's.

Worth checking out maybe.

I have it somewhere...

 

[Throckmorton]

Mine go on instantly. They are the ones Home Depot sells.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: Canai
Get the Feit Electric white light ones. Very little lag and very bright (in the 60 watt one, anyway), plus it's a nice white light, none of that yellow shit.

Edited for spelling.

Yellow is what you want-- the reason they invented the yellow kind is that the white sucks

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Mine go on instantly. They are the ones Home Depot sells.

I have the HD ones and they turn on instantly but take 20+ seconds to reach full brightness, I dunno what you've bought. The Consumer Reports article on CFL's actually said these are the slowest. I mix mine with regular bulbs as someone else said.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Mine go on instantly. They are the ones Home Depot sells.

I have the HD ones and they turn on instantly but take 20+ seconds to reach full brightness, I dunno what you've bought. The Consumer Reports article on CFL's actually said these are the slowest. I mix mine with regular bulbs as someone else said.

Home Depot is going to carry 3 brands of CFLs:

-Feit
-n:Vision
-Philips

The Philips are the only ones that are dimmable, besides the "15w" Candelabra bulbs. They come in Par38, R30, and R40.

The Feit are more geared towards contractors (cases of 12+) and depending on store, are usually only the "60w" CFLs. Not dimmable

The n:Vision is what you're going to see in the full bay. All different styles and colors. Not dimmable except for the single 15w Candelabra bulb.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Mine go on instantly. They are the ones Home Depot sells.

I have the HD ones and they turn on instantly but take 20+ seconds to reach full brightness, I dunno what you've bought. The Consumer Reports article on CFL's actually said these are the slowest. I mix mine with regular bulbs as someone else said.

I don't notice any change in brightness because it's gradual and my irises work. Are you people sitting there waiting for your lights to get brighter??

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Mine go on instantly. They are the ones Home Depot sells.

I have the HD ones and they turn on instantly but take 20+ seconds to reach full brightness, I dunno what you've bought. The Consumer Reports article on CFL's actually said these are the slowest. I mix mine with regular bulbs as someone else said.

I don't notice any change in brightness because it's gradual and my irises work. Are you people sitting there waiting for your lights to get brighter??

Take one of the bulbs. Put it in a lamp. Turn it on and look directly into the light. Look away for 30 seconds and then look directly into the light.

You are going to notice a substantial brightness difference. It is gradual, but the warmup is there.

EDIT: And one more thing. Home Depot used to sell Commercial Electric CFLs. To put it simply, they were crap.

 

[imported_Imp]

I haven't been bothered by the "lag" in a long time. Way I see it, the time it takes to light up is usually as long as it takes to take your first step into a room or move away from the fixture. Just something you get use to. Same goes for the time it takes to reach full brightness; you just get used to it.

 

[wetcat007]

I got mine from menards think they're GE or something, they turn on in about a quarter second start at about 70% brightness and get to 100% after about 30-40 seconds. If they were recently on though they start out at fully brightness.

 

[biggestmuff]

Unless you're doing FPS gaming, it's not a big deal.

 

[Throckmorton]

These are the bulbs I have
http://www.popularmechanics.co...nt/4215199.html?page=3