So here I sit looking at 11 CASES of CFLs. We nearly cleaned out CostCo

[DCKit]

Not 11 CFLs, almost 1,000 of 'em. We spent over $1,600 last night in an effort to show our neighbors how to help save some $$$ and do the right thing. Now I gotta give 'em out.

I'm not an 'issue" person, but we have issues.

[msongs]

1. what is a cfl? nt

[TommyO]

2. Compact Fluorescent lightbulbs

[Little Wing]

4. flourescent lightbulbs I think

[whistle]

3. CASES of CFLs???

[TommyO]

5. 1000 CFLs? YIKES!

You are a very good neighbor indeed.

I've begun the process of replacing most of my bulbs with CFLs. There are some fixtures that I can't use them in, those will have to wait for dimmable CFLs to become more prevalent, and a bit less expensive.

[bullwinkle428]

6. Just bought my first bulb at Menard's last night!

For use in my end table lamp in the living room - I'll be changing it out once the current one dies...

[terip64]

7. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone that could be was this generous. K&R n/t

[YDogg]

8. Wow! My hat's off to you!

We've been using flourescents for quite a while, and the first three we purchased for our living room are still going some 7-8 years later. I think we only use incandescents in ceiling fans and in a couple of fixtures on dimmers. I believe I've seen floursecents that fit in ceiling fans now, though, so we will make that change soon in the three ceiling fans we have with lights.

:bounce:

[Canuckistanian]

19. In Canada, we have CFL's for EVERY purpose now

We've got chandelier bulbs (two different kinds), three-ways, "fat alberts", dimmable, floodlights/spotlights, even some that work at -40 degrees.

We've converted our whole house over a period of 6 years. Something like 50 lights.

I don't know why you don't have these in the US.

[emmadoggy]

41. We do.

We just replaced 15 bulbs in our house a couple weeks ago - in our most used fixtures. We needed candelabra based chandelier style bulbs, dimmable floods, light bar style bulbs etc. I hadn't seen them in the stores before (though I hadn't been paying close attention) but I did find them on some online sites. However, during a trip to Walmart (yes, I know....it's a love/hate relationship) I was able to find most of the CFL styles I needed. I'm not sure how long some of the specialty style CFL bulbs have been readily available, but they definitely are now.

I find that the regular curly style 60W replacements are the nicest. The others all have a pretty long warmup time to come up to full strength. It's an annoyance, but I'm trying not to complain about it because I know it's a small price to pay for the sake of our planet.

I feel good about making the switch. We have several more light fixtures to do, but will get there in time. I'm curious to see how much of a difference it makes on our electric bill. :)

[lapfog_1]

9. I've had this secret dream

to buy a huge RV running completely on biodiesel, build a small super-computer in the "basement" and travel from school to school hosting climate model seminars and handing out copies of "An Inconvenient Truth" and a trailer full of CFLs (free to anyone that pulls me over and free to the kids to take home).

So now I'm working on getting the money to do this.

Good to see you didn't wait but just went ahead.

[ms liberty]

37. That's a great idea...good luck...n/t

[terip64]

10. kick

[Not Me]

11. C'mon over to my neighborhood...

I could use a Prius!!!

No, seriously, what a great thing to do.
We've already loaded up every light socket that will accomodate a cfl with one.
Unfortunately there are a couple that are on dimmers and they don't work so well.

Btw, they now have three-way cfl's on the market. No excuses.

[FloridaJudy]

28. They're also smaller and more reasonably priced

Used to be those puppies fit in very few light fixtures, and they cost over $10 a bulb. Now I use them everywhere in my apartment. Well, except for the fridge and the oven, and I expect CF's that fit those to be along any day now.

[Fresh_Start]

12. wow, you might want to contact an agency which helps

seniors or the poor. Not only can't they afford the bulbs, the energy savings would be helpful to them.

Alternatively, talk to boy/girl scouts. You might be able to enlist them in the effort.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

30. That's a wonderful idea!! ...I think I'm going to buy my mom some. ...n/t

[The2ndWheel]

13. So the right thing to do is

wait for your neighbor to buy you something and give it to you? That can save money.

You're crazy. In the cool way, but crazy.

I don't know, it would seem easier if people just turned off a light every now and again.

[Merlot]

14. You are so cool!

What a great thing to do. And I liked what someone else said about contacting seniors/low income people who could use the savings.

I put CFL's in the three lights I use the most, and my energy bill dropped by 20% in the first month. They really do pay for themselves.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

15. Now that's generous.

I replaced about half of our lightbulbs (the ones we use the most) with CFLs a little over a month ago -- and our electric bill this month is about 40% less than the previous month.

Your neighbors, hopefully, will learn how fortunate they are to have you in the neighborhood.

[DKRC]

16. Walgreen's has CFL sales - 19¢ each with the coupon

I stock up then, but I think I'll take a cue from you & begin handing them out to the neighbors.

:yourock:

[lildreamer316]

46. IS that coupon in the reg flyer or the savings book usually?

Thanks for the heads up; I will def. follow up on that..I'm a coupon freak.

[DKRC]

53. It's not in the flyer at all

The clerk keeps the coupon next to her cash drawer and simply scans it to reflect the number of bulbs I've picked up to take the $2 off for each. Ask the manager if you don't see the bin of bulbs on display. One of our stores runs this almost nonstop while the other has sale days for the bulbs.

Well, was that vague enough for you ... sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.

[Shoelace]

57. off to Walgreens - Thanks

they are so expensive now at other stores. I even ventured into Walltowallmart the other day - phew, high prices there. Thanks again for the tip.

[chrisbur]

17. I've been using all cf l's for a while.

My electric bill is literally half what most people tell me they pay. Although we also heat our hot water with a tankless coil in our oil boiler so that helps. My favorite conservation technique though... clotheslines. And everything smells so fresh too.

[TheModernTerrorist]

18. you wouldn't happen

to live in Lansing, MI, would you?

...just saying :)

[DCKit]

52. DC, hating life, but here I am

[ThomCat]

20. That's great. Good for you!

:applause:

[RedEarth]

21. Way to go........ hopefully, they will be receptive...

at the very least give them a try........

[GliderGuider]

22. Way to go! What a great gesture!

If that doesn't get their attention, nothing will. do you have a brochure or flyer on GW to hand out with them?

[Robbien]

23. Being active deserves at the very least

an attaboy

:thumbsup:

:yourock:

[formercia]

24. Be careful if you break one

They release a toxic level of Mercury vapor. Do not remain in an enclosed area where one has been broken until it has been ventilated.

Disposal presents the same problem. DO NOT THROW THEM IN THE TRASH!!!

[NickB79]

26. All mercury is toxic, but the amount in a CFL is not hazardous

All the mercury in a CFL bulb is about the size of a pinhead. When broken, most of the mercury doesn't get into your body either. I'd be more concerned about eating tuna than breaking a CFL bulb or two a year.

[formercia]

29. That may not be so much of a problem for adults

young children is another issue. Their nervous systems are growing and thus sensitive to much lower levels of Mercury.

[terisan]

49. Would disposal of thousands and millions in a landfill be hazardous ? nt

[kestrel91316]

35. I've never thrown a single one away yet. They're all still in use after 6-7 years.

[formercia]

44. When they do fail

CFL's are a good idea and we use them as well but there will come a day when, like every other technological marvel, it will be time for disposal. Like all fluorescent bulbs, CFL's contain mercury vapor, so check with your town waste disposal authority to see how they should be handled.

If your town or city doesn't have a protocol for their proper disposal, it might be a good time to ask why not.

[kestrel91316]

50. My "town" is the City of Los Angeles, and yes, we do have someplace

that will take dead CFLs. Have to DRIVE quite a ways to get there, so I will probably save them up in a box for years before disposal.

[seemunkee]

47. I had one burn out this week

Kind of surprised since it is 2 years old at the oldest.

[formercia]

55. Wally World had bad lots

when they first came out. There were some poor quality products. Hopefully, the MTBF will improve as manufacturers tweak their process.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. Our college is giving them out. They estimate the money they save on

electicity in offices and dorms exceeds the cost of the bulbs, so they're just handing them out free.

[DCKit]

27. You guys freaking ROCK. I think I love you,, ALL of youens. DU is the coolest nt

[Just-plain-Kathy]

31. It's nice when the "haves" help the "have nots"...Peace...n/t

[robinlynne]

39. youens? Are you from the Burgh? I mean the Pittsburgh?

[DCKit]

51. Johnstown

[NNadir]

32. That is really, really, really cool.

A law to ban incandescents would be great!

[undergroundpanther]

33. Wish I could use them

But flourecsent lights give me a nasty headache. Is there any way around that? filters shades or something? I have tried mixing incandescent and fouresent light,the headache was delayed but it still came.

[hunter]

34. I'm okay with modern compact fluorescents.

But old fashioned magnetic ballast fluorescents are intensely irritating to me.

I think I have more sensitive "flicker detectors" than most people. I always see wild animals before anyone else does too.

I used an HGC amber computer monitor with a slow phosphor for the longest time because the old color computer monitors, which were basically modified televisions, drove me crazy with their flickering high pitched whine. My favorite archaic monitor ever was a black and white VGA with a slow phosphor. Animations sort of "swooshed" across the screen rather than flickering.

My wife is very sensitive to the color of light. Some brands of compact fluorescents especially bother her. Okay, I'll confess, the light she reads by in bed is a 40 watt quartz halogen -- I'm not an absolute CF purist. Often a couple has to compromise on things...

[DKRC]

40. I put one "sunlight" bulb in each room

which helped us with that. It also helps with the blues of rainy Seattle winters.

Hope this works for you.

:hi:

[ms liberty]

36. You know what?

YOU RULE!!!

K&R

[dweller]

38. there ought to be an award here on DU

for people like you...seriously. From this point on, you are the torch bearer in my mind.

:thumbsup:

:kick: & R!

dp

[FredStembottom]

42. "Instant on" bulbs. A question for anyone who might know.....

I converted most of my house to CFL's starting almost 15 years ago - when they were all long with huge bases and greenish light. I even "converted" (cut, bent, gutted) some fixtures to get them to fit.

All along, I have, at times, been able to buy "instant on" CFL's - but not consistently. These are Compact Fluorescents that turn on immediately at (nearly) full brightness - just like incandescents. I first found these many, many years ago.

Why didn't this feature take off and make brown-warmup, wait-forever CFL's a thing of the past????? There are places - like stairwells - where these old-fart warm-up bulbs are unsafe as people just won't wait the full 30 minutes for the darn things to brighten up.

Is there some awful drawback to instant on bulbs? In my experience they don't even cost more..... you just can't find them regularly.

Why? Why? Why?:think:

[Anywho6]

43. Awesome idea!

I was planning on doing something similar for my entire family for Christmas! Thank you for the added inspiration!

Peace...

[HamdenRice]

45. I switched back from CFLs to regular bulbs because of mercury

I realize that the amount of mercury in one CFL is negligible. But we do not have in place a system for recycling burned out bulbs. Even the CFL companies tell you NOT to put a burned out bulb in the trash, because they will leach mercury into the landfill where they end up.

I will return to using CFLs when Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, Pathmark and other retailers have in place an efficient system for collecting the used bulbs.

Till then, this is a technology that is not ready for prime time.

[jillan]

54. I didn't know that.

I wish you would send an email to Barbara Boxer about that.

I saw her on C-Span today. She is the chairwoman of the Environmental committee. She was urging everyone to buy those lightbulbs. If she knew then she might just be the kind of person to do something about it.

Just a thought.

[BrklynLiberal]

48. Kudos. Lead by example.

:yourock:

[wtmusic]

56. You rock

and have the "right" issues. :thumbsup: