Compact Fluorescent Lighting

They Look Odd.
They Cost a Bundle.
But They Can Last For Years And Make For An Economical Alternative To Regular Bulbs

Consumer Reports Jan99

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, introduced more than a decade ago, didn't exactly catch on right away. Though very expensive to buy, they were a bargain in the long run because they use very little electricity. People apparently didn't feel the benefit was worth a list of drawbacks: The bulbs didn't fit every lamp and fixture. They blinked when turned on, and some flickered or emitted a ghostly fluorescent glow.

Those drawbacks have largely disappeared, making the new generation of fluorescents a lot easier to live with.

The bulbs we tested, all designed to fit a table lamp, ranged in price from about $10 to $25. Some provide about the same light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb but use only about 25 to 30 watts. (You could use one of those bulbs in a fixture designed for, say, a 60-watt incandescent to safely increase the light output.)

The bulbs' strong points

They start rapidly. Some compact fluorescents, called "rapid start," turn on in a second or so. Others, termed "instant start," light up as quickly as incandescent bulbs. No more of that blinking to start or flickering during operation.

They give comforting light. A panel of staffers characterized the light from several compact fluorescents that claim to equal a 100-watt incandescent. With the lights side by side, panelists considered the Osn am Sylvania CF30EL/C/830/MED/6 very bright and pleasing, and the Lights of America 2127 less pleasing and fairly dim. But the same panelists, asked to read alone for five minutes by the light of one of those bulbs and then an incandescent, couldn't say that one light was more satisfying than another. When we lined up six compact fluorescents in identical table lamps with identical white shades and tossed in an incandescent as a ringer, panelists couldn't consistently pick out the incandescent. In sum, compact fluorescents seem to have come of age.

The best do last. Tests performed by the independent Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., show that compact fluorescent bulbs from GE, Osram Sylvania, and Philips met or exceeded their rated life of 10,000 hours, no matter how often they were switched on and off. Bulbs from Lights of America consistently fell far short of their rated life. See the table at right.

The bulbs' weak points

Package claims are accurate-mostly. Most of the bulbs we tested, except the Lights of America, achieved the light output stated on the packaging more often than not. The Lights of America 2127, which purports to equal a 100-watt incandescent, was more like a 65-watter. Another Lights of America bulb, which claims to be like a 150-watt incandescent, was comparable to a 110-watt bulb.

There's an upside and a downside.

Older compact fluorescents tended to give less light when operated base down (as in a table lamp) than when base up (as in a ceiling fixture). GE, Osram Sylvania, and Philips have overcome this problem in some of their bulbs, but with a tradeoff-the bulbs take longer to achieve full brightness. Two rated Philips and GE bulbs needed about 4Y2 minutes to warm up to full brightness. If you want a bulb that gives full brightness instantly, some compact fluorescents will disappoint.

They need breaking in. Compact fluorescents may need to be seasoned for about 100 hours before their brightness level stabilizes. Some bulbs get a little brighter after that, some slightly dimmer.

The ballast may cause interference.

A compact fluorescent may interfere with the remote control for your TV set, VCR, or hi-F system. It can also cause satic in an AM radio or cordless phone. If that happens, check whether it disappears when you turn off the light. If the remote works and the static goes away when the light is turned off, try moving the lamp or plugging it into a different outlet.

The shape may matter. As a rule, circular compact fluorescents distribute light more evenly than the tube designs. But circular bulbs can be a tough fit with lamp harps and shades.

The size of the saving

While incandescents are much cheaper to buy, their energy cost is about three to four times that of a compact fluorescent bulb. Suppose you pay $20 for a compact fluorescent with a 10,000-hour life. You'll eventually pay about $5 to replace all the incandescent bulbs needed for 10,000 hours of light. But the energy cost of operating the incandescents will be about $84 (based on the national average electricity rate of 8.4 cents per kilowatt-hour), for a total of $89. The fluorescent will cost about $25 to run, making its total cost only $45-or $44 less.

On a national scale, switching to compact fluorescents can yield large savings of energy and a cleaner environment. According to federal government estimates, if every household replaced the incandescents used most often with compact fluorescents, that would cut annual energy use by 32 billion kilowatt-hours.

Recommendations

We recommend that you stick with bulbs from General Electric, Osram Sylvania, and Philips. Avoid bulbs from Lights of America; in our experience, they don't provide as much light, nor do they last as as long as the package claims.

Our first choice to replace a 100-watt bulb is the Osram Sylvania CF30EL/C/830/MED/6, $17 to $20. It reaches full brightness in seconds. The Philips Earth Light Universal SLS25, $15 to $20, and the General Electric FLE28QBX/SPX27, $16 to $18, are also good choices.

Some utilities offer rebates on the cost of compact fluorescents. Check with your electric company before you buy.

Finally, keep in mind that you can shorten a compact fluorescent's life if you don't use it properly.

These bulbs aren't meant to be used with dimmer switches, electronic timers, or photocell on/off switches. For a future update, we're testing one product that claims to be OK with such devices. 

Notes on the table

The table lists compact fluorescent bulbs tested for light output and life by the independent Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Light output gives the wattage of a comparable incandescent bulb. Watts is the actual wattage used. Comments include the bulb's basic design (see photos above for examples) and, for some bulbs, the time needed to warm up to full brightness. It also highlights bulbs life-tested by the LRC. In those tests, two models of each brand were tested five ways: 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off; 15 minutes on, 5 minutes off; 1 hour on, 5 minutes off; 3 hours on, 5 minutes off; and 3 hours on, 20 minutes off. We also give the company's claimed incandescent equivalent, when it differs from our test findings. Price range is approximate retail. The LRC has tested other compact fluorescent bulbs as well; you can find a summary of its findings and other useful information at the LRC web site, www.lrc.rpi.edu .