GE 26 Watt Energy Smart CFL - 6 Pack - 100 Watt Replacement
by GE
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Our Price: $18.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $17.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of GE 26 Watt Energy Smart CFL - 6 Pack - 100 Watt Replacement
Customer Review: Bulbs not 100W equivalent
Summary: 1 Stars
These bulbs are not as bright as they claim. After switching to all CFLs I noticed right away that they were dim. This is compounded over time. My CFLs lost approximately 50% percent of their brightness in the first month. Before anyone questions this I should make you aware that this is the way fluorescent light bulb go out, they dim over time.
I have done research and found out the following:
1. Manufactures are overestimating the brightness of the bulbs.
2. Bulbs are approximately 50% dimmer then Incandescent equivalents.
EX: Incandescent 60W - 126 lux (126 lumen/square meter) CFL 12W ( 60W equivalent) - 77 lux (77 lumen/square meter) as measured by a light meter.
Don't get me wrong. I liked the idea of CFLs, longer life, lower electrical bills, and even though I am no tree hugger they are supposedly better for the environment.
But I now find myself buying more lamps to try to make the room bright enough to read. Does it really save energy if I replace one incandescent bulb with 10 CFLs?
Lets do the math.
1 x 60W bulb = 60W
10 x 13W CFL = 130W
Customer Review: CFL bulbs save energy, but have problems.
Summary: 3 Stars
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL bulbs) do use significantly less energy than incandescent bulbs (IC bulbs), so if you eventually replace all your burned out IC bulbs with CFL bulbs, you will see a decrease in your electric bill. However, CFL bulbs are more expensive, so it will take a while to recover their higher cost with your savings in electricity. And there are some other problems:
1. These GE CFL bulbs do NOT last five years in normal use like GE claims, so their long-term cost advantage over IC bulbs is not as great as advertised. The five years is a dubious GE advertising claim which is apparently based on continuous usage, that is, never turning the light off. I have bought a few packages of spiral GE CFL bulbs over the last few years, and at least half of them have burned out - well before the five year claim.
2. CFL bulbs need to warm up. When you first turn the bulb on there is a slight delay before any light is produced (less than one second). Also, there is a short time before it comes up to full light output, although this has improved in the latest bulbs. However, if you are using them outside or in a garage, this warm up period can be a few minutes if it is cold.
3. If you break the bulbs, they release a small amount of mercury vapor into the surrounding area. The federal and state governments and GE say it is a tiny amount, so you shouldn't be worried. But they also say that the bulbs are considered unsafe to put in landfills, so you are supposed to double bag all broken CFL bulbs, store them away from children, and take them somewhere that can dispose of them properly. (There is only one store in my area that takes them.) So I guess they are not a health problem according to the government, but then again, they are.
Because of this, an inexpensive regular IC bulb or rough-service IC bulb is better than a CFL bulb for use in applications where the bulb could often break, like in a "trouble light" (a portable work light with a cord).
4. The electronic parts in a CFL bulb can get hot and fail prematurely in some applications. Inside the base of the CFL bulb are some electronic parts. If you mount the bulb with the base up inside a recessed lighting fixture or in any fully enclosed fixture with no ventilation, these electronic parts will get hotter than usual, and the bulb won't last as long.
5. The light from CFLs has a different hue than the light from IC bulbs and does not look as natural, meaning that the colors you see on objects in the room don't look quite right compared to natural solar light. This is particularly true when compared to the IC bulbs from GE and Sylvania that are advertised to produce natural-looking light. While older CFL bulbs looked noticeably blue, the light has improved significantly in the newest GE bulbs. However, most people can still notice a difference from IC bulbs.
6. In any case, politicians are going to force you to buy these bulbs whether you like them or not. The U.S. Congress passed legislation that will soon effectively outlaw IC bulbs, except for certain high and low wattage bulbs, and some other specialty IC bulbs.
IMPORTANT SIZE NOTE: Because of the plastic base which houses the electronic parts, these 26 Watt GE CFL bulbs are about one inch longer than the 100 Watt IC bulbs that they are supposed to replace (with about the same amont of light output). So if you are putting them in a small lamp or small light fixture, they may stick out too far and look odd. GE also makes smaller 13 Watt CFL bulbs (to replace 60 Watt IC bulbs) are about 3/4" longer than IC bulbs, so they would work better in small lamps or fixtures.
Customer Review: Cutting Back the Electric Bill
Summary: 5 Stars
I used these bulbs to replace 6 incandescent bulbs in my house about 4 months ago. The electric bill didn't plummet but I noticed a difference of a couple bucks a month. I'm sure you'd save more on lights you leave on more often. The bulbs are great. They have a multi-year warranty on them in case they go out for some odd reason. So far, I've got them installed in my bathroom, bedroom, garage, front porch, and kitchen. I'm working on replacing ALL the bulbs in my house with these.Customer Review: Direct From Your Congress ...
Summary: 1 Stars
...energy savings that will cost you a fortune and diminish your comfort. Good thing that your politician knows what's best for you!! Look at the price compared to standard incandescent. But, "they last so much longer" you say? Guess what: they only last long if you turn them on and leave them on. If you turn them on and off (as though you were living in a home), or use a timer, the life span is dramatically shortened (look it up), which is why you see all of the comments here about how they don't seem to last long. Congress was pushed into this by the lighting industry so that you would be forced to pay 3-4 times what you used to pay and get little in return.
These are marketed/legislated as being energy efficient. They are more efficient: it takes them 3-10 minutes to fully "warm up" (like every fluorescent light) and they don't waste as much energy in the form of heat, so your home will stay nice and cool during the winter (Don't worry; your heater will run more oil or gas to compensate for this). Greenhouse gas emissions are actually expected to INCREASE as a result of CFL usage. In the summer, you don't need as much light, so you won't miss the heat of an incandescent.
These things 1) give off less light (despite the lumens and wattage claims) than standard incandescent bulbs (compare them yourself) and this decays further as the bulbs are used, 2) don't work in dimmers or three-way lamps (unless you want to pay 30% more for special bulbs) and 3) flicker. Mine are going right back to the store.
CFL's (like all fluorescent bulbs) emit UV radiation. Over time, this will discolor/destroy things surrounding the bulb (pictures, paintings, lamp shades, skin, etc.) just as sun bleaching/bathing does, but to a lesser degree. When they break, you will be exposed to mercury - get used to it.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!! I think I'll write an email to my Congressional representatives to thank them for making us all feel so good about their pretending to address the energy issue. Can't wait to see the comments from the Greenies!
UPDATE: Look at all the Greenies that don't find my review "helpful"!!
Customer Review: GE 26 Watt Energy Smart CFL - 6 Pack - 100 Watt ouput
Summary: 5 Stars
These save you money that's not a joke they really do work. I have changed all mine to these in my house and can see a price drop on my electric bill and they last longer.