Comments for Good Bad Bulbs - Fluorescent Lighting & LED Lighting

Comment on CFL Bulb Reviews by Elizabeth Allison

Elizabeth Allison — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:05:02 +0000

I was suckered into the advertizing that cfo bulbs were the way to go so I bought one in March for a 3-way lamp. This morning, July 16th is was dead. I checked it my changing it to another 3-way lamp, still dead. A further check using another bulb in the original lamp. It lit. Even if I had used the dead bulb during all of the dark hours for the 16 week interval, the usage would not come close to what was advertized on the package.
On a fixed retirement income, I cannot afford to pay over $ 6.00 for a bulb which will last such a short length of time (much shorter than with a conventional three-way bulb) and which in its limited use time will not save me that much in electricity. So there is now, a regular three-way bulb in that lamp and its replace.

Comment on ecosmart Dimmable Flourescent R30 Flood by Jack Garner

Jack Garner — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:05:07 +0000

Bought 2 soft white R30 flood(15 watt- 65 watt equivalent) bulbs today. Supposed to be dimmer compatible.
After approximately 10 minutes on dim, the bulbs go out.
Replaced with old bulbs with no problems with dimmer switch.

Comment on ecosmart Dimmable Flourescent R30 Flood by Larry

Larry — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:35:58 +0000

I am so sick of these light bulbs. I haven’t had one last longer than six months so far. I tried to call the 800 number on the bulb today and it’s disconnected. I’m starting to feel like this is nothing but a big scam.

Comment on GTC Compact Flourescent bulb – 13 watt by Lorri

Lorri — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:59:06 +0000

My bulb lasted for 2 weeks. What a waste!

Comment on ecosmart Dimmable Flourescent R30 Flood by Texas Homeowner

Texas Homeowner — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:09:30 +0000

Bought a “120 watt equivalent” Ecosmart floodlight bulb to replace a regular 120 watt GE Reveal bulb. Used the Ecosmart bulb for 5 minutes and am now throwing it in the trash. It puts out less than a regular 65 watt bulb. Thanks US Congress.

Comment on GTC Compact Flourescent bulb – 13 watt by Ronald Hicks

Ronald Hicks — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:44:29 +0000

I bought 4 GTC 13 watt bulbs. The first one lasted a few weeks, the 2nd one lasted even less. These bulbs are a rip off in my opinion. I’ve read that when a bulb says it will last 9 years, that means it will be used about 4 hours per day (that computes to over 13,000 hours). Well, these bulbs, so far, have lasted a total of 50 to 300 hours total. I change these bulbs far more often than the old fashioned kind, and because they are more costly to begin with, I don’t see how I’m saving money. There are other fluorescent bulbs that I have had great success with.

Comment on Review of OttLite HD 100 watt replacement CFL by Dirk Trelevan

Dirk Trelevan — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:28:22 +0000

OTT lite is a brand of spectrally pure lighting. It is typically sold for use in areas where color reproduction is important. Art and graphics work areas, photograhy etc.

Comment on GTC Compact Flourescent bulb – 13 watt by Liz

Liz — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:12:19 +0000

Don’t buy GTC brand bulbs! I bought 2 of the compact fluorescent ceiling fan bulbs. In each package only 2 out of 3 bulbs works. There is no customer service phone number or website. Huge waste of money. Very disappointed. Also alarming- as I was searching the package for a phone number or web address, I noticed there is a gramatical error on the mercury warning label. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in their safety practices. I’ll never buy from them again.

Comment on GTC Compact Flourescent bulb – 13 watt by Doug Breaux

Doug Breaux — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:48:37 +0000

I bought the same lamp in a box which states 9 years is based on 3 hours of use per day. The box also states for use outside it must be in an enclosed fixture so I would assume inside enclosed fixtures would be OK. We have not used it yet so I can’t comment on actual life.

Comment on Review of OttLite HD 100 watt replacement CFL by Tim Lookingbill

Tim Lookingbill — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:42:35 +0000

I’ve got four of these and use them for digital color photography and imaging research and have to say they aren’t instant on from my experience.

Mine I bought from Lowe’s hardware all start out a bit dim and noticeably bluegreen. However, after about a minute they reach there full brightness with another 5 minutes to shake the bluegreen tinge making my white walls look quite neutral with just a tinge of off white.

One concern I have about this particular Ottlite model is after it’s been on for several minutes all four emit a kind of scorched electrical chemical smell similar to overheated computer and LCD circuits that irritate my sinuses to the point I get this metalic taste in the back of my mouth. I can only smell this installed in clip on utility lamps tilted down so their back vents point upward for when I use them for photography. I can’t detect this odor when installed in regular upright living room lamps.

Turning them off and letting them cool down to handle I noticed the same odor smelling the bottom plastic housing near the screw-in post on all of them.

Just FYI,

Tim Lookingbill