On 3/20/07, Jim Sharkey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Charlene and I swapped out a majority of our incandescents for those > double helix-looking flourescents several months ago, and I really > can't tell the difference in the lighting. I'll have to ask her if > our electrical bill's gone down in a noticeable way, though.
I have found that some of them didn't last nearly as long as advertised. I had 'seven year' bulbs fail in less than a year. I know that the older ones will die faster if they're turned on and off often, but I'm not sure about those with electronic ballasts. California already has fairly strict rules about using low energy luminaires (the fancy word for lights these days). I'm having to learn this as we remodel. A bathroom has to have at least one fluorescent fixture. You can have incandescents also. Kitchens need to use mostly low-energy lights. No more of those halogen under-counter lights. Other main lighting needs to either be fluorescent, have a dimmer or a motion sensor that turns them off automatically. In some areas, where I'm likely to turn on a light at night when my eyes are adjusted to darkness, I like the fluorescents that are fairly dim when they come on and slowly brighten (over a minute or two). However, I've never figured out how to tell from the label if a bulb will behave that way. And then there's the mercury... all fluorescents have some, I believe. I noticed that the bulb that came with our new bathroom light is rated as having minimal mercury. But it still requires special disposal and I don't even know where I'm supposed to get rid of the old ones. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
