Popular Mechanics Compares CFLs
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.11.07
For those whiners who still think compact fluorescents are not good enough for them, perhaps you just don't have the right bulb, or perhaps its all in your head. Popular Mechanics Magazine tested seven CFLs against a 75 watt incandescent for the usual brightness and efficiency, but also did subjective quality testing. "Our subjective data came from a double-blind test with three PM staffers and Jesse Smith, a lighting expert from Parsons The New School for Design, in Manhattan. We put our participants in a color-neutral room and asked them to examine colorful objects, faces and reading material, then rate the bulbs’ performance."
The results were surprising; in a blind controlled test, "Even though the incandescent bulb measured slightly brighter than the equivalent CFLs, our subjects didn’t see any dramatic difference in brightness. And here was the real shocker: When it came to the overall quality of the light, all the CFLs scored higher than our incandescent control bulb. In other words, the new fluorescent bulbs aren’t just better for both your wallet and the environment, they produce better light." Read the whole thing by the light of your CFL at ::Popular Mechanics, via ::Groovy Green
When will they be dimmable?
They're already available, just expensive.
Search "B000HJ977Q" on amazon.com
They're bonkers, or they've colored the room to improve CFL warmth. I use CFLs, but I won't try to claim they produce the same spectrum - or anything like the spectrum - that an incandescent does.
Dimmable CFLs have been available for years. Got all of mine in '02 and even then there was a plethora of them.
Like the climate change deniers, the CFL opponents now have even less of a leg to stand on. Or, all they can say now is "I just don't like them!" (in an impetuous child-like voice).
Dimmable CFL's exist now. Do a Froogle search.
It really depends on the kind of CFL you get. Most of my lighting is from CostCo, and it gives off a fairly yellow light that's not too far from an incandescent bulb.
The bulb in my kitchen is a 120W equivalent bright white from GE. It gives out a lot of very white light, and it's a very nice light for working, though I do have under-cabinet tube fluorescents for task lighting.
Really, there are only two non-CF light fixtures in my house. Our new ceiling fan in the baby's room and our floodlight outback, which came with the house, are both halogens. The former is only a halogen because finding a ceiling fan that looks good and accepts traditional bulbs is next to impossible, and the latter came with the house and is getting replaced this summer, probably with LED christmas lights.
Hopefully this article, which seems to have been approached as a way to disprove the efficacy of CFLs, will convince more people to make the switch.
Moaning about the quality of light to justify using a product that is only 5% efficient really sums up the mess we are in.
Be thankful that you have electric lighting!!
I wonder If they will ever cover the obscure CFL that use the Full spectrum of visible light?
D~W
LED lights have UV potential, are not hot enough to bake away the phos. coating. But where are the version that can be screwed into a socket ? If we stepped over the last of the mercury containing energy savings bulbs and installed LED Arrays, we could cut USA energy use by 50%. Why buy a bulb that when its spent, we don't have any waste stream able to accept.
Dimmable CFLs are really difficult for the common consumer to find, and the ones that are readily available are just plain lousy. I have a bunch of "torpedo" style little guys in my dining room handing lamp, and they flicker and flash terribly, even when the dimmer is on full power. Dimmable lights also can't be found with as high of wattage/brightness as the standard lights. I really hope that they get working on improving dimmables.
Kerr, go here:
www.goodmart.com
TCP dimmables are exactly what you want. Maybe a bit more pricey, but mine have lasted since '02 and I "abuse" them big time: turn them on/off within a minute if I leave the room, multiple times a day.
So, just order them up, not difficult at all.
I went and bought all the ones that got good reviews on this story and really liked the N:Vision Soft White bulbs. I went back to Home Depot and replaced all the bulbs in my house. We will see if I get a headache after a couple of days but I think the bulbs have probably gotten good enough. These seem really stead but a little warm. I can't wait for LED bulbs to get brighter and more available.
Dimmable CFL's are always in my local Home Depot; you pass them whenever you enter the store.
Also, almost all of my fixtures have a CFL, in varying shapes and sizes. Some approximate daylight, some are really white. It's all in the brand.
The only downside of CFLs that I experience is how long they take to get to full brightness. Has anyone ever tested different CFL brands for their warm-up time?
I like Popular Mechanics, but we should be careful not to get too bold-font-excited over the results.
You wouldn't rank your movie queue based on the ratings given by three strangers of my choosing, so why not be a little more skeptical of the opinions of three magazine employees?
From a scientific perspective, the problem is that the authors attempt to make generalizations about how good these bulbs are for consumers in general using only three naive judges. The blind aspect is nice, but even if they had used interrater statistical tests to rule out flukes in the scores, their results would be still be a bit suspect.
In fact, the more persuasive part of the article is the inclusion of an expert on color and design. At least then there's no mistaking that the value of the results depends on the quality of the judge.
As a rule of thumb, the only time a true experiment with three participants yields acceptable results is when the population of interest is ridiculously small, the causal mechanisms are ridiculously well specified or understood, or the effect of the manipulation is ridiculously ginormous. For example, if BrandX bulbs had actually burned a participant's retina off, I would recommend dumping the stock.
Good use of the light meter, though.
I spent about a week finding which lights I like the best. I bought a bunch of different brands and tried them each in my different rooms 'til I found the ones that worked the best (put off the closed to incandescent light in the different fixtures with the different wall colors) then returned the one's that that didn't. My whole house is CFL's and I'm quite pleased!
Please do not equate "CFL naysayers" to "climate change deniers".
Some of us are looking at a bigger picture than a politicians's four year term and grasping at straws to look like they're making progress.
Please have a look at some ideas such as the embodied energy it takes to make CFLs and LEDs.
Also, please consider the circadian rhythm research that shows we have a third set of photoreceptors in the eyes which is basically tricked by CFLs into believe it's daytime and thus inhibiting night-time hormone balance.
This is a MUCH bigger issue than whether you look pretty or not.
I spotted dimmable CFL's for $6.50 / ea here
Mike
Light quality is not about the brightness or the overall appearance but about the spectrum.
CFL has been built by phosphorus and this gives an inherant band properties (only small band of the light spectrum is lighting up). this gives this boring effect and become far away from the sun light which is the best light for human being and wellness