Good Bad Bulbs – Fluorescent Lighting & LED Lighting
Including energy efficient LED light bulbs, CFL bulbs, and future technologies.
CFL Lighting, LED Lighting, LED Flashlights, and Future Technologies

An excellent design for over the garage or a back porch, the Utilitech 13 watt flourescent fixture is great, but the bulb that came with it was very very blue-white.  Almost the color of mercury vapor, or the new car headlights.

I replaced the bulb with a 2700K 4-pin bulb from Home Depot for a few dollars. Good now.

The box makes no mention of bulb color except to say ‘white’, and this paints the whole company in a bad light.

Wife hated the original bulb. Noticed it immediately. New bulb makes it acceptable.

Finally – a dimmable fluorescent bulb that works.

Sorry to report that has failed after a few weeks. No good reason.  I cut it apart, and did not find anything specific. I’m not an electrical engineer, but I didn’t see a burned wire or component.

RIP January 2010

The Phillips Marathon Classic 65 is a 65 watt equivalent, with nice warm tone, and in addition to working in a dimmer (at least mine), it dims. It is rated to pull 16 watts. I’ll let it work for a while, and post temperature and wattage once it’s been in use a for a while. It’s claim is for 6 years, so it should last a while in the kitchen.

Dimming is not quite as smooth as incandescent, but it’s fine.  All the others I’ve tested go out as it dims.

A nice very small CFL. It claims 2700K, and is nice and warm. Should fit in most fixtures. Does not mention enclosed spaces, so I would probably not use it inside a closed space.

OK, it looks like a lightbulb, and is totally enclosed in glass. No more dusting bugs out of your spiral bulb.

The good – nice clean design, good color (it’s warm, and 2700K, and has good color. You won’t notice it in a lamp. It claims a 5-yr or 8000 hr life. Seems to pull about 13 watts.

The slow – the package says it starts slowly, and it does.  For a light that goes on and off alot, like a closet, you won’t like it. You can watch the tube slowly brighten from the base up.

As you can see, it is very small, and will probably fit in just about any fixture.

I did not see reference to use in enclosed fixtures, so I’d probably avoid that.

Great bulb. Good color. Use it in a place that stays lit for a while at a time.