These Are Not Your Parent's CFLs!

Do not be fooled by my camera's automatic settings. The CFL example only looks darker because it was too bright and my camera toned it down. Take a close look at the Watt readings in the pictures to compare the difference in electricity between the single incandescent and four compact fluorescents.







And these are not your first generation CFLs:
1. They are instant on. (No more waiting 0.5-2 seconds.)
2. They are available in various color temperatures. (Note the difference between the two spiral options in the second picture. The one of the left is very close to the color of an incansecent.)
3. They do not flicker (actually they flicker 12,000+ times per second which is way too fast to be seen by even a humming bird. Which means no more headaches).
4. They still use 75% less electricity.
5. They still last 10 times longer than an incandescent.
6. They have less than half the mercury of the first generation CFLs.


If you are looking for these options and more be sure to choose an Energy Star rated product. They require the bulbs to prove their lamp life and reduce the mercury content, among other things.


Also if you have not read an earlier post about the mercury content in CFLs the short message is: because these bulbs use significantly less power (nation wide a large portion of this power is coal fired plants) less mercury is released into the environment than if an incandescent bulb was used (even is the worst case senario when the bulb ends up in a landfill instead of recycled). So as the Department of Energy says "Change a light. Change the world."