At a little over 10 bucks for 8 of these, you can't go wrong.
These are just your basic CFLs, at the 2700 kelvin temperature range. That means they're about the same shade as your basic ordinary 60W incandescent bulb. A pale yellow white, not pure white (5100 Kelvin), or daylight (around 6300 Kelvin).
Pure white or daylight CFLS cost more because the phosphors in them are more expensive, but they do have the advantage of being more natural light, rather than imitating the poor quality light of an ordinary light bulb.
So if you're thinking of upgrading to CFLs these bulbs are a great deal to start from. But do take advantage of the technology & get a higher quality light at a higher color temperature for some of your areas, & enjoy better quality light, rather than just using CFLs that imitate the poor quality light of old fashioned light bulbs.
Winter depression can be triggered by lack of natural light because of less hours of daylight, & more cloudy, overcast days in winters. In northern climates when it's cold, people stay inside more, use heavy insulating window curtains, further reducing their exposure to natural light. 5100K-6700k CFLs help with winter depression by exposing you to more natural light. Colors look more rich & vivid. Things look more cheery. It's even easier to read under natural light.
I find I can read just as easy under a 4-watt 5100k CFL than a 13 watt 2700k CFL.
The backlight in your LCD display that you're probably reading this from is probably a 5100k-6700K bulb.
Look at the white areas on the screen & then look at your lighting in the room. Doesn't that ordinary light bulb or 2700K CFL look a lot more yellow by comparison? GE 13-Watt Energy SmartTM - 8 Pack - 60 watt replacement
Things to look on the package:
1. Kelvin temperature (K): The only accurate measurement for the kind of light or "color" of light you'll get. 2700K is pretty close to the "warm" incandescent we are all used to, 4100/4200K is known as "Cool White" (you might look "ghostly under that) and 5,000+ is the daylight/sunlight. If the lamps do not have the K designation, do not buy them - they are the cheaper variety since establishing the K temp. costs more.
2. Lamp Life (Hrs): The life of a light bulb is the MEAN life, that is at the stated hours HALF of them will be dead and HALF of them will still be working. Life can be affected by many factors, one being how many times a day you turn them on and how long they stay on. As a rule, the more on/off's, the less they last.
3. Initial lumens: If it is not listed try another brand. For the typical 60W equivalent it ranges between 700 and 900 lumens. Try for 800+ In general the highest the K temp. (see #1 above) the higher the lumens.
4. Make sure you read what they say about DIMMERS, as well as photocells, timers, etc. Avoid costly surprises.
5. Make sure they are rated for outdoor use - if that's where you want to install them. The environment's temperature has a lot to do with the CFL performance.
6. Buy as few as you can first and redo, say one room. See how YOU like it (allow 90 seconds warm-up time). If you are a male, have your female with you...she might have some objections you can't even think about!
HAPPY HUNTING!
I bought two 8-packs at my shopping club a couple of years ago. I needed them to replace 8 incandescent bulbs in the basement where, with the exception of the area where my home office is located, I didn't need very bright lights. The second carton was bought for 'spares' and because they were on sale at the time I made the purchase. Two years later, the spares carton has 3 bulbs left, indicating that 5 out of 8 have burned out. This tells me that the 5-years/8000 hours life expectancy claim is wildly optimistic, to use a mild term.
My personal experience with these bulbs is as follows:
- the light they produce - yellow, not very bright is more or less on par with what you get of a 60W incandescent, maybe a little less than a traditional 60W.
- they do save energy for as long as they last - given their short lifespan in my basement, not sure if they pay for themselves
- quality seems to be an issue - 5 out of 8 burned out before 2 years - all 8 subjected to about the same conditions (they all go on/off at the same time
- the claim of 8000 hours or 5 years life expectancy is clearly way off-base - perhaps GE should make their test data available
- the Amazon price at the time I am writing this review is competitive with what I saw at my shopping club.
This may come close to comparing apples to oranges but I must say that I am very happy with the Feit Electric ESL40TN/D 42-Watt Compact Fluorescent High-Wattage Bulb, Daylight of which I am using 2 in the same basement, in my 'office' area and I bought 2 more a few months ago for the study. I paid a premium for them and I've only used them for a little less than one year at the time I write this (Feb. 2010) so the fact that none has burned out yet is not 'proof' but... time with tell.
I hesitate between 2 and 3 stars - 2 Amazon stars means 'I don't like it' vs. 3 stars meaning 'it's okay'. My generous nature wins this time and it's 3 stars but GE needs to seriously look into the 'quality' thing or these CFL may discourage some people from adopting replacing their incandescent bulbs with the more efficient fluorescents.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL bulbs) do use significantly less energy than incandescent bulbs (IC bulbs), so if you eventually replace all your burned out IC bulbs with CFL bulbs, you will see a decrease in your electric bill. However, CFL bulbs are more expensive, so it will take a while to recover their higher cost with your savings in electricity. And there are some other problems:
1. These GE CFL bulbs do NOT last five years in normal use like GE claims, so their long-term cost advantage over IC bulbs is not as great as advertised. The five years is a dubious GE advertising claim which is apparently based on continuous usage, that is, never turning the light off. I have bought a few packages of spiral GE CFL bulbs over the last few years, and at least half of them have burned out - well before the five year claim.
2. CFL bulbs need to warm up. When you first turn the bulb on there is a slight delay before any light is produced (less than one second). Also, there is a short time before it comes up to full light output, although this has improved in the latest bulbs. However, if you are using them outside or in a garage, this warm up period can be a few minutes if it is cold.
3. If you break the bulbs, they release a small amount of mercury vapor into the surrounding area. The federal and state governments and GE say it is a tiny amount, so you shouldn't be worried. But they also say that the bulbs are considered unsafe to put in landfills, so you are supposed to double bag all broken CFL bulbs, store them away from children, and take them somewhere that can dispose of them properly. (There is only one store in my area that takes them.) So I guess they are not a health problem according to the government, but then again, they are.
Because of this, an inexpensive regular IC bulb or rough-service IC bulb is better than a CFL bulb for use in applications where the bulb could often break, like in a "trouble light" (a portable work light with a cord).
4. The electronic parts in a CFL bulb can get hot and fail prematurely in some applications. Inside the base of the CFL bulb are some electronic parts. If you mount the bulb with the base up inside a recessed lighting fixture or in any fully enclosed fixture with no ventilation, these electronic parts will get hotter than usual, and the bulb won't last as long.
5. The light from CFLs has a different hue than the light from IC bulbs and does not look as natural, meaning that the colors you see on objects in the room don't look quite right compared to natural solar light. This is particularly true when compared to the IC bulbs from GE and Sylvania that are advertised to produce natural-looking light. While older CFL bulbs looked noticeably blue, the light has improved significantly in the newest GE bulbs. However, most people can still notice a difference from IC bulbs.
6. In any case, politicians are going to force you to buy these bulbs whether you like them or not. The U.S. Congress passed legislation that will soon effectively outlaw IC bulbs, except for certain high and low wattage bulbs, and some other specialty IC bulbs.
IMPORTANT SIZE NOTE: Because of the plastic base which houses the electronic parts, these 13 Watt GE CFL bulbs are about 3/4 inch longer than the 60 Watt IC bulbs that they are supposed to replace (with about the same amont of light output). So if you are putting them in a very small lamp or light fixture, they may stick out slightly and look a little odd. Also, GE also makes larger 26 Watt CFL bulbs (to replace 100 Watt IC bulbs). These are about one inch longer than 100 Watt IC bulbs.'
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