locussolus - Compact fluorescence

January 2, 2007

To all the haters out there: Wal-Mart really is doing something for the environment! Like the General, they're doing it their way, but the impact on Americans' energy use will be profound. It's especially encouraging to see this as an attempt to "burnish the company's bruised image" -- perhaps the market's ability to deal with public goods problems is greater than I usually give it credit for.

Thanks to Wal-Mart, after reading an article about this initiative I too began using compact fluorescent bulbs (no, I didn't buy them at Wal-Mart, but this has to do more with convenience than anything else) recently, and the results have been pretty good. The main problems so far have been that

my wife finds them too bright to look at, which means they can't be placed in fixtures where the bulbs are in direct view (my marriage trumps the environment);
they don't work well with dimmer switches; and
I've developed an embarassing laziness when it comes to turning them off that's easier to rationalize now.

Interestingly enough, the light temperature (for white balance purposes) seems to be similar to that of regular incandescent light bulbs. According to this, compact fluorescents can be tuned to a range of different colors, so maybe the color temperature varies by brand -- although of course there are probably marketing advantages to tuning them like incandescents.

Comments

the wife {January 2, 2007}

Well, I suppose I could avert my eyes for the sake of the environment. But now that we have a little one who loves staring unflinchingly at lights, I'll hold the "no compact flourescents in direct view" stance for a little longer...

Sweth {January 2, 2007}

Did you remember to get CF bulbs with correspondingly lower wattages than the incandescents? (Silly question, I know, but I know someone who didn't realize it was a 4:1 ratio, and got a 45-watt CF bulb to replace a 60-watt incandescent, and didn't understand why everything was glowing white afterwards.)

Also, CFs get brighter as the warm up, especially the spiral kind; some manufacturers now make A-shape (i.e. traditional lightbulb shape) bulbs that give a more diffuse light when warm, so you may want to look at those.

paul {January 2, 2007}

yeah, i got the lower wattages, but i deliberately upped the brightness some (we generally have a dark house and not enough lamps around). i can attest to the warming-up effect; maybe i'll have to look into these A-shape ones, but not for a while, since the ones i have aren't going to be burning out anytime soon!

Ellen M {January 18, 2007}

There is a market for lampshades and light fixtures that help warm up the cold light of CFs, I think. In my apartment, the one I have behind a slightly-yellowed shade is much nicer than the ones I have in regular white/translucent fixtures. Of course, you hate to think of having to buy buy buy in order to be green!