ABC's of CFL's Compact Fluorescent Lamps GET THE TRUTH

CFL "Compact Fluorescent Lamps" do they save me money? How?
Do they really last up to 9 years?
But you can’t use them if you want to dim the bulb, right?
I heard that motion sensor security or photo sensor controls and CFL’s don’t work together, right?

Well here it is, yes they save you money in more than one way. They use less power or watts than the standard bulb of the same wattage, for example the standard 60 watt lamp uses 60 watts of power and generates heat based on this power usage. The CFL which is rated equivalent to the standard 60 watt lamp only uses 14 watts of power and roughly 75 percent less heat too. We pay for the watts used "Kilo Watt Hours" Thousands of Watts Per Hour. Next the heat thing, the more lamps you have on the more heat you generate and the more your air conditioner will run to maintain a set temperature.

Well they will probably not last the 9 years that was set in a lab setting under prime conditions. We turn them on and off many times per day more then the test, we leave them on longer and off longer, we have power surges, and sags, we have kids. So will they last long enough to make the savings listed on the package, well we are reducing the carbon counts in the air and that has to be worth something.

You can dim many of the new CFL’s today, just check the package for the word DIMMABLE. Smile, and no you don’t need any special dimmer to dim the dimmable lamps. They come in a verity of sizes and shapes to fit most needs.

The truth is security motion sensor units do not work well with the standard CFL, how ever the dimmable lamps seem to just fine in these fixtures as well as with the photo or dusk to dawn sensors.

So if you have not been to the store and picked up a couple CFL’s to try out yet, well get off the pot. They come in three different color packages which tell you the color temperature of the lamp. RED is the Cool White (same as a halogen lamp WHITEISH) or 4100 Kelvin, GREEN is the Soft White (same as an incandescent lamp YELLOWISH) or 3500 Kelvin and the BLUE package is Day Light (same as outside on a clear day BLUEISH) or 6500 Kelvin. Be sure to decide if you wish to dim it or not and check the packages accordingly. The standard pig tale design is the cheapest and even cheaper when purchased in multi packs. The reason for the higher price on the nice shaped lamps like the Round Globe for the vanity, the BR30 flood lamp for recessed lighting, and lets us not forget the type A lamp we all grew up with. These all cost more because of the fancy glass we had them add to the package. Now it you want to dim them they will run you a little more again and the dimmable lamps according to the packages do not last as many hours and the non-dimmable. But again we are saving some money and doing a little for the environment too.

Any additional questions, feel free to contact me.
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Thank you,

Daryl Jernigan