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Seven best CFL bulbs

By Lori Bongiorno

Posted Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:25am PST

More from The Conscious Consumer blog

It's hardly a secret that switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs saves energy and money. A lesser-known fact is that their quality can vary greatly.

And, while more and more of us are willing to give them a try, it's not always easy to figure out which CFL to buy.

A new report by Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an excellent resource for consumers looking to make informed lighting decisions. The report rates CFLs based on three factors: mercury levels, energy efficiency, and average life span.

Here are EWG's top picks. The following bulbs have the lowest mercury levels on the market, are highly energy efficient, and last a long time:

Calculate your potential savings using EWG's lighting calculator. Simply plug in the number of incandescent bulbs you're replacing, whether they are 60 or 100 watts, hours used each day, and the state you live in to determine how much money you'll save each year.

In general, a single CFL can save you about $80 in operating costs over its lifetime. It will also prevent about 450 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Of course, there are other changes you can make at home that will have more of an impact, but every little bit helps.

In its lighting guide, EWG offers some valuable tips on how to wisely use CFLs. Here are some of the environmental non-profit's suggestions:

Considerstarting with the light fixtures you use most, but avoid in places where breakage is likely to occur. You're better off choosing CFLs for ceiling fixtures than for table lamps in high-traffic areas, for example.
Don't use CFL bulbs in places where mercury exposure would be especially problematic (in children's rooms) or clean-up would be difficult (near valuable rugs).
It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for CFLs reach their optimum light and energy efficiency so avoid using them in spots that you light for only a few minutes (such as closets) or in places that need to be well lit immediately for safety reasons (such as stairways).

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

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Posted by parasailsam Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:38pm PST
If you turn the cfls on and of frequently, the will fail more rapidly. Also, I belive there bargin basment brand versus the higher dollar brand fails more rapidly as well :-(
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Posted by johnthe Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:35am PST
Please!CFL manufacturers! PAY ATTENTION TO THE COLOR OF THE LIGHT! They make color balanced flourescent long tubes that are true beautiful light. Why can't they do it with the CFLs??? I bought some recently to replace light bulbs in my home, experimented with their different colors...warm, cool, daylight; all were sickening. When they outlaw incandescents I'll become an outlaw and stock up a lifetime supply!
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Posted by Michael Sat Feb 7, 2009 11:51am PST
I have been using CFL's for a long time, years infact! If there is an expert that is more knowledgeable then I, I'd like to meet him. Let me tell you what I did. Every lamp,keyless fixture,ceiling fan, any place I could put a CFL bulb, I did. However, Through trial and error I came up with an enginous idea. In all the closets in my house I have the 2 lamp 4 foot light fixtures, I didn't know it at the time but, Home Depot sells a low wattage "DayLight" lamp that takes the place of incandesents. But, I went a step furture and put an electronic ballast in before changing out the lamps. It's very easy and the wires are color coded so there will be no mistakes. I'm saving a ton of money with this conversion. Plus the daylight lamps are so bright you could probably get away with just one. But they're sold in twos and I hate holding on to one. Now back to the CFL bulbs. I put the same "DAYLIGHT" bulbs made by N:Vision (Home Depot)in everything, except I only put two in a 4 light ceiling fan and one in a ceiling light fixture and of course one in lamps on tables. BIG Difference! Daylights are so bright, that you now have to clean your whole house. They show everything, dust, dog hair, stains you couldn't see before. I was disgusted. I bought a Hand Held Steamer on line and disinfected my whole house. These bulbs are awesome !!! Now, n:Vision make three kinds, soft white, Natural white and DAYLIGHT. I never went with the wimpy ones, I stuck with DAYLIGHT. I put the 28 watt(100watt alternative) which puts out 100 watts but only uses 28 watt in the outside lighting around my house, BIG Difference. I tell people who visit my house at night "You Can't Miss IT" and they don't !!! I have 6 CFL 28 watters around my house and it's still less wattage than 3 regular bulbs and they put out way more light. Take it from me, you won't be disapointed !
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Posted by Michael Sat Feb 7, 2009 11:58am PST
Mams99 is way off basis, He said "People will either leave the light on to avoid this 'warm up' period (which totally is opposite of what behavior we are all trying to encourage" or people need an alternative that is better than an incandescent, but better the CFLs." First off the warm up period is not that long...What a few seconds? Besides these lights take less energy to run once they are completely on that you can save more by just leaving them on. You discourage people from leaving the lights on with incandescents, NOT CFL's. One more thing, if you want the quick light you were talking about buy the LED light bulbs, they have the same output as CFL's, use way less energy than the CFL's but for one 60 watt output bulb you'll be paying $60.00 (for one). I don't mind the wait, it let's your eyes adjust and that is kind of a god send, you don't have that blast of light like a camera flash to worry about.
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Posted by Michael Sat Feb 7, 2009 12:08pm PST
Solarsector, said "The majority of cfl bulbs I've bought have failed much faster than a normal light bulb ever did. I keep spending money on them, and not one has saved me anywhere near 80 bucks for using it, more like costing me 5 bucks instead of 50 cents. I want to use them, but I want them to WORK. Mfg's state they last 10 years, the reality is some of them don't last ten days." You need to buy, n:Vision bulbs at Home Depot, These start up in a few seconds not minutes, They last for years, and if not you call the 800 number on the bulb and tell the CS guy that it burned out and they'll send you a new one in less than 3 business days. I can't talk enough about this company, they are the BEST ! Stop buying bulbs, that's where you screw up ! Just buy from one company(n:Vision) and keep your bulb till the new one comes, keep the cardboard packaging and receipt and your good to go ! I bought 60 of these daylight bulbs and only 4 have gone bad in 5 years. Yes, I have a big house, but my electric bill went from 400 to 260 the next month after installing them. Huge Difference ! I had them pay for themselves in a month or two. Think about it !
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