by TakingITglobal
Replacing regular lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) is supposed to help you save money and energy. They're more expensive than conventional (incandescent) lightbulbs, however, and due to their mercury content you can't just throw them away when they break. According to the CFL makers, CFLs last 10 times as long as a conventional bulb, although many people think that's an overestimate.
In this writer's home we use mostly CFLs and we've had some quit working after only a couple of months; while others have been working as long as we've owned our house: 3 years. Apparently there are ways to extend the life of CFLs, like keeping them on at least 15 minutes at a time and only installing them in areas where the temperature will stay constant, but while it's possible to only install them inside at our house, keeping them on 15 minutes at a time is often impractical. Think about it: do you spend 15 or more minutes in the bathroom every time you go in there?
Another thing to remember about CFLs is that if you buy a bulb and it quits working earlier than it should, return it! This requires keeping your receipts, of course, and having an idea of which bulb goes with which receipt, which for many people (like me) is a pain, but if you are good at that sort of thing then you should be able to get your money back, or at least another bulb, depending on the place you bought it.
Do compact flourescent lightbulbs really save you money? Or is this a green gimmick? (pt. 2)
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