Fluorescent light bulbs in my house burn out quick. Maybe my house has old wiring? Should I keep using them or go back to the old kind?
Asked by Kim Walsh Stone, ’91, JD ’96, from Sacramento, Calif.
Given all the complexities of CFLs, it's easy to become wistful for the straightforward incandescents of old. But think twice before you head back to their 100-Watt embrace—incandescent bulbs are wildly inefficient, wasting 95 percent of the electricity they consume as heat, and often burning out in months rather than years. CFLs may cost you a little more in frustration while you figure them out, but in the long run, incandescents will still cost you more in electric bills and carbon emissions.
CFLs have two main components: a mercury and argon gas-filled tube and an electronic "ballast" at the base, which is like a starter for the lamp, feeding precise doses of electricity into the gassy innards of the light. After the mercury gas is excited, it emits ultraviolet light, which in turn hits a chemical coating on the inside of the tube, called the phosphor, which emits the light we see. The point is: these things are complicated, so it's not surprising that they don't always work perfectly.
As discussed in the Essential Answer, some compact fluorescent bulbs may fail prematurely or only provide marginally better results than the incandescent bulb. But don't despair. With just a little extra effort, CFLs can be part of a responsible energy-saving effort.
Other options
If you've tried everything and you're still ready to chuck the CFLs, that doesn't mean you have to go back to incandescents. The simplest alternative is probably halogen energy-saving bulbs. Compared to an ordinary incandescent bulb, a halogen light bulb is often 10 to 20 percent more efficient in terms of life expectancy and energy used. Unlike most CFLs, halogens can be used effectively with dimmers and motion detector switches, and they come on to full brightness immediately. Halogen bulbs contain special filter coatings inside the halogen envelope that "optimize the amount of light without using more energy." And they don't contain mercury gas, a relief to those concerned about the hassle of disposal or danger of breakage with CFLs.
Halogen bulbs may not even be sold under that name, but the packaging should mention something like, "25 to 30 percent more efficient" than incandescent bulbs." You can also tell by the price—halogen bulbs usually run at least $5 a piece in retail stores and supermarkets, but if you need to balance frustration and energy consumption, the extra cost may well be worth it.
If you're really frustrated, and more interested in saving carbon than cash, you may be ready to step up to LED lighting.
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are silicon chips that convert electricity to light at efficiencies even CFLs can't touch, and they are considered by many to be the future of commercial lighting. LED lights not only run on next-to-no electricity, they're tough enough to survive multiple drops (let alone a little fan reverberation), and contain no mercury. (Most silicon chips do contain small amounts of potentially toxic "doping agents," but the danger with these is in mining, production and recycling, not in the home.) LEDs emit almost no heat, and as the arrival of LED Christmas lights clearly displays, they are available in a wide variety of colors. And research is underway to improve brightness.
So why isn't everyone using them? LED "bulbs" (they're more like arrays than bulbs) can cost $20, $30, $40 or more each. That doesn't mean they aren't cost-effective: especially in high-use areas, they end up paying for themselves in energy savings and in reduced replacement costs. One Department of Energy report estimates high-power white LEDs have 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer. That's roughly 6 years of light!
At the end of the day, it's worth remembering that incandescent bulbs have a 100-year-plus head start on CFLs and LED lighting—and that Thomas Edison's first bulbs were considered a triumph when they lasted for a mere 40 hours. We're in the early days of high-efficiency lighting, and a brighter, more robust future is almost assured. In the meantime, replacing incandescents with CFLs is one of the simplest, most effective things you can do to make your home more energy efficient.
Susana Montes earned her master's in journalism in 2010.
