Incandescent light bulbs are being phased out and replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL), halogens, and light-emitting diodes (LED) – and probably other things I haven’t come across yet. All of these bulbs are much more expensive to buy than the good old incandescents, but they theoretically last much longer, and save energy – and therefore money – over the life of the bulb.

My experience with CFLs so far has been patchy: some that I have bought didn’t last five months, let alone five years, leaving me wondering whether I need to keep all my receipts and a light bulb log: on November 22, I put such-and-such a light bulb, purchased at Canadian Tire, in the #1 socket of my dining room chandelier. Bah – that feels really obsessive to me. But, the alternative is to suffer the monetary loss of a poor quality $2 bulb that doesn’t last a fraction of the time a 50¢ incandescent would have. And, the manufacturers of poor quality CFLs get to keep the money and go on producing them.

I was pleased to see an article in the Feb2012 Consumer Reports Canada issue which rated CFLs equivalent to 100W incandescents (“New bulbs, new choices;” p.14-15). Utilitech, Feit, and EcoSmart came out on top, in that order, so that gives us some guidance for choosing CFLs. I’ve also learned some other things that can shorten the life of a CFL:

• Dimmer switches: unless the packaging specifically states otherwise, don’t use a CFL with a dimmer switch.
• Turning a CFL on and off a lot, with short on/off periods, is hard on the bulbs. Walk-in closets and pantries, motion sensor fixtures, etc. are not good locations for these bulbs.
• Recessed and/or enclosed fixtures: read the packaging and make sure you buy bulbs that are okay for this type of fixture.
• Vibration.

Although I bought exclusively CFLs for my new house, I'm no fan of them so far. I like LEDs. They appear tough and bright, but the price is still prohibitive and the selection is limited. I expect that LEDs will evolve and become more affordable over the next few years. If all my current CFLs – which are mostly, I think, EcoSmart – last as long as they’re supposed to, I may never have to buy any more.