Made the switch this weekend.

[bigendian]

Switched out my IB's (incandescent bulbs) for CFL's. Noticed a quality difference between the Bright Effects brand and GE. It seems the latter, though more expensive, give a better light balance.
I have a 3-way GE bulb that works like a charm. Next up. The bathroom vanity!

[NMDemDist2]

1. well done! n/t

[orleans]

41. when you switch sign onto the democratic underground group

at:

http://onebillionbulbs.com/Group/DU

to date, there are only 16 of us but we have the equivalent of taking one car off the road!

we could do better!

[slackmaster]

2. I did seven years ago and have never looked back

Welcome to the club.

[crim son]

3. I'm doing it in this house as the bulbs wear out, and I'll do the same

when I move.

[rodeodance]

4. as my old ones go (and my stock), i will replace also.

[terip64]

5. What about lights on dimmer switches? CFL's don't seem to work well. nt

[TommyO]

7. There are dimmable CFLs available, but they're more expensive

and not generally available at the places where you're most likely to buy light bulbs - YET.

[terip64]

26. Thanks! I will look online! n/t

[bottomofthehill]

10. Also in Ceiling fans

I have been replacing them as bulbs go out around my house and when I put them in the ceiling fan, which was on a dimmer switch also, I has a humming/buzzing noise. Every place else they have worked great.

[TommyO]

6. I've been selectively replacing bulbs throughout my house

I took all of the ugly vanity globe bulbs out and replaced them with smaller, yet brighter, Philips vanity globes. In my master bath I replaced 6 25w bulbs with 6 9w CFLs, get more light, and one third the energy usage. I did the same for the four-bulb fixtures in my other bathrooms. A total of 14 bulbs replaced and 234 watts saved. I also replaced the bulbs in my home office and my guest room, I didn't do the master bedroom yet - that will have to wait until I can get some dimmable CFLs.

[Mira]

8. In Germany - I just observed- there are hardly any of the incandescent bulbs left anywhere

I was pleasntly surprised, really, that anywhere I went on my trip last month they had
CFLs.

[CabalPowered]

9. I add this to all CFL threads. Don't buy Commercial Electric brand

They are junk and are sold primarily at Home Depot. Failure rate is very high.

[napi21]

11. I bought mine at Costco last year. So far, I've been satisfied with

them, and they are now exactly 12 monts old. I bought them in a package of 4(I think) for $9.00. I don't recall the brand name.

You say don't buy Commercial Electric brand. What Brand do you suggest?

[CabalPowered]

24. I've had no problems with GE

I haven't tried too many others. I switched out my whole office building with Commercial Electrics about a year and half ago, and all except for two or three have failed.

[Solo_in_MD]

21. I beleive they also make N:vision as well

[chelaque liberal]

39. You just answered the question I was about to raise.

I have had 2 burn out in a very short time. Yes, they were from HD.

[Holly_Hobby]

12. Honest question.....

I was told by my brother in law the electrician that when CFL's break, they release the radiation inside the bulb into the air. Has anyone else heard this?

[Tesha]

17. Your BiL has no idea what he's talking about.

There is a small amount of mercury inside, but no
"radiation". The mercury is in metallic form (and,
as such, isn't terribly hazardous.)

Tesha

[Holly_Hobby]

28. LMAO

I could have told you THAT! :) Thanks.

[bigendian]

18. IRRC that is mercury.

But I checked with Home Depot and Lowe's; they both take old one's for disposal.

[Holly_Hobby]

29. Thanks. My BIL is a know it all, or so he thinks n/t

[elfin]

13. Just went to the hardware store to get the rest of my lights Gored - ALL OUT

of the new bulbs higher than the old 40 watts. A good sign.

[Warpy]

14. I started doing that when the suckers first came out

because I'm lazy and I hate changing lightbulbs every couple of months, especially when I have to get on a ladder or crawl behind furniture to do it.

I noticed the same quality issues that you did. I've also found that the foot candle ratings are bogus and go up one "size" to get the same power I'd get out of an incandescent.

I have a few fixtures that won't accept the CFLs. I don't use them often. One of them has been there for eleven years.

[Tyler Durden]

20. Try IKEA.

We got minis, candelabras, ALL of the sizes we needed.

[Warpy]

31. IKEA ships from bloody New Jersey

and the freight to New Mexico kills me.

No thanks.

[Tyler Durden]

35. No local one?

I feel your pain: I drove 1 1/2 hours to get to one but I bought a ton of stuff.

[Warpy]

36. I think there's one in Phoenix

but they still insist on shipping from New Jersey.

If they ever decide to ship from the closest store, I may consider ordering some things.

If not, they can whistle for my business.

[catmandu57]

15. We're replacing a room at a time

What i don't like is we didn't buy the soft white variety and the light is yellow, so i'll have to replace those first, eventually the entire house will be converted.

[MistressOverdone]

16. Flourescents at work

give me such a headache that I wear a baseball cap when I use the computer.

Would I be likely to have the same problem with lamps, or do you think it is just the overhead nature of the bulbs in my office?

[bigendian]

19. I don't know.

Do you work on a computer all day? That gives me a headache.

[MistressOverdone]

23. About half the day

I hate fake light.

[Solo_in_MD]

22. There are different "colors" with flourescents, we had some changed in the office to help people

not get headaches

[AndyTiedye]

25. Did That 10 Years Ago. Now Looking at LEDs.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1796498

[soothsayer]

27. aaack! this will be hard for me to do. they give off such less light

imho. icky. maybe someone will vastly improve upon them sometime soon.

[SheilaT]

30. Several years ago

I bought one of the CFL's and replaced an incandescent bulb with it. I then stared at the extremely dim CFL for a few minutes, looked at the package again -- Yep, supposed to be 60watts -- and switched it back out. I was getting maybe 25 watts of light. A couple of weeks ago I broke down and bought a new CFL, replaced a burned out bulb and to my amazement and delight the 60 watt CFL is noticeably brighter than the nearby IB's. So I guess I'll be gradually replacing bulbs as they burn out.

When we moved into our house nearly 17 years ago, the previous owners left a light bulb in one closet that is STILL burning. I've since moved it to the garage, since replacing those bulbs is a nuisance. It's an incandescent bulb and from one of those pyramid sales things -- I'm spacing out on the name but they market laundry detergent and household cleaning supplies and, apparently, extremely long lasting incandescent bulbs.

[kath]

32. Anyone know a good source for indoor floodlights (R40 size, 60W) -

We have 6 of them in our high kitchen ceiling, and I've been wanting for a long time to convert them over to CFLs. I've seen some of the smaller floodlights at Target, but not these.

[Tesha]

33. We've got some R40-style CFLs...

We've got some R40-style CFLs. IIRC, they're 29W claiming to
be "90 W" equivalent and I'd say that's a pretty fair claim.
We bought them in the "cool white" color.

The big disadvantage of these particular lamps is that they're
quite slow to warm up to full brightness; I'd say one or two
minutes to full brightness. But we have them installed in all
of the downlights in our basement (the family room and my
sewing room). We also have two more of them installed
outdoors (in the New Hampshire cold weather).

Tesha

[kath]

34. Do you know the brand name?

Thanks.

[Tesha]

37. I think they're probably the "Commercial Electric"...

I think they're probably the "Commercial Electric"
brand that someone up above in the thread hates
so much. But the only failure we've had among about
a dozen of these is the one I dropped where the outer
reflector/lens broke. But the lamp inside is still
soldiering on...

I'll try to remember to look and report back...

Tesha

[Tesha]

38. Yes, Commercial Electric.

Yes, Commercial Electric.

But I was wrong about the wattage; they're 19 watts
(and not 29 watts as I had earlier claimed).

Tesha

[kath]

40. Thanks much!

[orleans]

42. see my post #41 for the du group at onebillionbulbs.com

k&r!

on edit:
(too late to r but i tried!)