Compact flourescent lightbulbs

Has anyone else had trouble w/ these? We have never had them last in our home more than a couple of months. There are only I think 3 or 4 that have lasted for years. In addition to that, the house almost caught fire twice last week b/c of these lightbulbs! Our ceiling fan light fixture and dining room fixture was literally on fire. The compacts had caught fire.

Now, during one of our Christmas gatherings it came up that you are never supposed to hang these upside down. Nowhere on the package can I see that it says "may catch fire if hung in a celing fan fixture or something of that nature. My cousin told me that she heard you are never supposed to put them in hanging upside down for fire hazzard reasons. Anyone else hear this or know about this topic? Needless to say, we are going back to regular bulbs. BTW, we have notice NO difference in energy savings. And my kids leave every dog gone light in the house on no matter how many times you yell at them for it. urghh.

I am going to write some of the companies. We've used a few different brands. Bought them at places like Lowes, Walmart, Target, etc. New in package. If you pay that much for a stupid lightbulb, it should 1) last awhile & 2) NOT catch fire! Just my two cents. Really want to hear what you all have heard on this topic. Thanks.

Stephanie--mom to 7

 

This site might explain some of your problems; I have also seen problems where folks use dimmers that are not designed for fluorescents.

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/ask/cfl

 

Haven't tried them yet, but not being able to hang them upside down severely limit's use.

 

Since the bulb is a sealed gas and electricity flows through them I doubt that gravity has much impact. The only issues I have seen with a light being upside down is how the bulb is constructed resulting in the distribution of light (most designed for maximum side way dispersion).

 

Not that I have done a great deal of reading on the subject (10 min.) it does appear that their is a melting problem with the base. Haven't run across anything that states a direction, but have run across statements saying not to use on track, recessed, or dimmer lighting.

Did run across that Canada is investingating the potential for fire. And a statement that said that they may be a fire hazard if used in the wrong place (no explaination).

One disadvantage is that since they contain mercury you should dispose of properly.

 

We have had a couple that didn't last long. We have been using some in a couple lamps and one ceiling fan. Have not had problems other than the ones that didn't last long. I have questioned their worth.

 

We bought our first set to try in our bathroom, which has two glass dome lights on both sides of the lavatory/mirror. We put (2) 40 watts in there several months ago and they practically burn day in/day out and are yet to blow.

I'm not really sure how I'm going to like these bulbs in everything though once incandecents are gone. These newer lights put out too much white light and I don't think I want that kind of light in every corner of the house. Plus, when we first put them in our bathroom, it looked like some sort of mad scientist's lab from down the hall.

As for me, I'm starting to stockpile the old-fashioned bulbs so when their history, we'll have some to carry us through for awhile.

 

Anyone have issue w/ how bright the light is? I can barely look at them. The reason I bring this up is I have one son who is going blind and we are to keep him away from the bright lights as the RP may progress faster. This includes alot of direct sunlight as well. Does anyone know how harmful if at all these lights are to the eye? Just curious as my situation to know is a little different.

Learning alot on here. Keep the thoughts, ideas, opinion, etc. coming. I'm w/ Jester on stockpiling those "old" bulbs--LOL.

Take care,

Stephanie--mom to 7

 

Holy Cow!

Thats really scary. I have them everywhere. on my ceiling fans and I always use on my porch lights, yes upside down. Is this for real? I use 100 watt ones and 60 watt ones. That's scary!

 

It was real as day for us as we were trying to put out the fire in the ceiling! Thought the first time was just a coincidence, something that could happen at any time to anyone. But to have it happen twice in one week...well, you have to wonder. I can't take any chances. Too much at stake. We too used the 100 watt and 60 watt ones. Now, we haven't had any trouble w/ the ones outside at all. They seem to have lasted and do well out there.

I too have heard of others having some problems but wanted to see just how widespread it was. Got to be a better way to go green w/out losing a house to fire--LOL. I did talk w/ my uncle who works w/ the EPA who had also heard about not hanging them upside down. I told him to find out more please. So, we'll see what happens. He obviously knows more people who know more stuff than I do. I'll let you know what he finds out.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Stephanie--mom to 7

 

We have started using them in some of the lamps and one ceiling fan. There are a couple of different types and we tried to find one that came close to the same light as the old bulbs. The brighter light, I don't care for. We got ours at Lowes and the guy told us when theirs break they just toss in the trash. NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!!!!! It can be dangerous when they break. You are supposed to leave the room for a while, do not vacuum the glass, dispose of in plastic bags. Scary!!! There is a section on these bulbs at the Progress Energy site and it tells you what to do. Have not heard anything about fire but I do know they do not last 7 years. More like 7 weeks. They will need to come up with something more attractive before I use them in the chandalier. I have some friends in Canada, think I will give them a call.

 

Wow, that is scary. I have replaced about 42 light bulbs in the house about 5 months ago with all those new energy saving bulbs. Got them all at Lowe's. Just about every single one of them hangs upside down. And they stay on constantly. I hope I don't have a fire. I wonder if I should just go back to the regular ones which I saved? and return these.

 

As Hugh stated earlier, I have not read anything about not using the bulbs when they hang upside down.

Our bulbs seem to work just fine, I have checked to see if we have any sign of burning and we do not. We have noticed that they are slow to start up but are now getting used to that. I am a lamp nut. I am very particular about my lamps and we only have glass shades on each lamp. To me, the glass is easier to clean, prettier than fabric and the stained glass shades make for an awesome pattern of the ceiling and wall.

I have not replaced the bulbs in our ceiling fans or outside yet but when our bulbs blow I will go with the energy efficient ones. I have yet to do research, but wonder if they have the bug proof bulbs for outside. Anyone know?

Grace

 

Yikes! We replaced all of ours about 6 months ago as well. None of them have burned out, tho. Stephanie, were the ones that caught fire made for ceiling fans? That is what we bought for our living rooms, and they are the only ones that take a few minutes to warm up and get bright. We put regular ones in the ceiling fan in the bedroom.

 

The ones in your regular lamps don't take a few seconds to light up? I wouldn't worry about whether they are in the ceiling fan vs. lamp if it is a defective bulb it is going to be bad either way. If it is not defective you will have saved money and energy.

Grace

 

This is too funny. I left here, and went to Yahoo graoups, and found this posted, what a funny coincidence!

How many list members does it take to change a lightbulb?

One to change the light bulb and to post that the lightbulb has been
changed.

Fourteen to share similar experiences of changing lightbulbs and how
the light bulb could have been changed differently.

Seven to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

Seven more to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about
changing light bulbs.

Five to flame the spell checkers.

Three to correct spelling/grammar flames.

Six to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ...

Another six to condemn those six as stupid.

Fifteen to claim experience in the lighting industry and give the
correct spelling.

Nineteen to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to
please take this discussion to a lightbulb (or light bulb) forum.

Eleven to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use
light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this group.

Thirty six to debate which method of changing light bulbs is
superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light
bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty.

Seven to post URLs where one can see examples of different light
bulbs.

Four to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the
corrected URL.

Three to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant
to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

Thirteen to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety
including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"

Five to post to the group that they will no longer post because they
cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

Four to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

Thirteen to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting
questions about light bulbs."

Three to tell a funny story about their cat and a light bulb.

AND

One group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now
with something unrelated they found at snopes.com and start it all over
again!

 

LOVE IT!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

Softballmom,

Thanks for that Post. I laughed, my family laughed and it is so true. We just don't have a life, do we? I do so enjoy all of this and some just don't understand why we even belong to Forums and why we discuss/debate things. Thanks for the belly laugh.

Grace

 

Before I add my 2 cents worth, let me say, softballmom, that was too funny, and too true!

I have replaced most of my light bulbs with CFL's, and have not had any problems. I have recessed spotlights in the dining room, and found CFL's made for that purpose. Those do take a few moments to brighten up. I have noticed that they all take a few moments if it's especially cold in the house.

They do make yellow ones for outside.

I think there will be better choices for energy efficient light bulbs in the future. Some states are banning the sale of incandescent bulbs after a certain date, and I think that will motivate the industry to develop better alternatives.

 

We had some Sylvania 23w CFs in our living room lamps. When one burned out one night a couple of months ago it smoked really bad (left an awful smell) and made this very scary noise. When my husband tried to take it out of the lamp he found out that it had melted the piece of the lamp where you screw the bulb in! Ruined that lamp. :-( Anyway, I started looking online for reasons the bulb did this and to see if there was a recall of any kind on them. I found out that the bulbs have a flame retardant in the base because catching on fire is considered NORMAL for the way they burn out. :shock: Needless to say, we no longer use that kind of bulb in our house.