I finally, finally went to Canadian Tire to pick up some compact fluorescent lovin’, but ended up standing like a deer in LED headlights, staring blankly at the ginormous wall of bulbs, unable to determine which brand was best.
In the end, because I had four bulbs to change, I decided to buy two of the NOMA soft white bulbs and two of the General Electric “plus compacte!” ones, both 13 watts (equal to 60 watts). The advantage of the former was that the light would presumably be more romantic; the latter ones, on the other hand, were even more compact (and thus cuter) in form.
Well, as much as I appreciate mood lighting, I have to say I can’t really see a difference when it comes to the soft white bulbs — both brands give off a light that’s slightly harsher than my usual incandescent ones, though thankfully not as horrid as the fluorescent tubes at my office. Full points, however, go to General Electric for their stubby CFLs, which were the only ones that fit in my bedside lamps without hitting the shade at the top.
After I screwed them all in, I went to this website One Billion Bulbs, which is trying to get people to log in with how many bulbs they’ve changed to CFLs. Upon entering my info, I got this nice little message: “Thank you for taking the time to change 4 lightbulb(s). Your total annual savings are estimated to be $24.12. Your actions will help prevent approximately 491 lbs of greenhouse gases from being spewed into the atmosphere each year.” Aww — professional, and yet not afraid to use the word “spewed.” My kind of organization.
Well, I trucked it over to the Billion Bulbs site, entered my info, and then, when I went to the home page, I looked up in the “Recent Activity” box, and there was “Vanessa F. 4 bulbs”!
I think people’s objections to CFL’s are a little dumb and mostly unfounded. “They take too long to come on.” Are you kidding me? Is there really something so urgent that you have to do it in that ONE SECOND pause after you flip the switch? Quite silly, indeed…
Yay!!!! I like that CFL’s come in a range of white coloring – from the yellowish (like incandescent) 2600K to the daylight white 5000K (which to me really does feel sunny).
Awesome news Vanessa…very groovy! I started handing out compact florescent bulbs as little gifts at parties and other social events.
I agree, why are people in such a rush that they can’t wait a split second to see things in a room that they are probably lazily walking in to any way!
Cheers…
just make sure to recycle the used cfl bulbs whenever they are spent, mercury and all. i think ikea accepts them now.
Thanks Jak, I will — IKEA seems to be doing more and more green things these days, actually.
My only problem now is that I still have some bulbs that only fit halogens… what to do?
but look at the packaging they come in! doesn’t anyone pack them in cardboard?
I know, Lloyd, that killed me — so much plastic. At least they last forever so I won’t have to buy anymore for a few years. Still.
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