Actually, they do make dimmable CFL's now, they cost more of course, but they exist.

 

I bought a package of incandecent bulbs for some places that don't get a lot of use (a couple of closets and an attic crawl space.) I really didn't think I needed a $12 light bulb for those isolated areas.

 

When I had my energy audit, the guy from the electric company said it really only pays to use the CFLs in light fixtures that will be on for more than 2 hours daily.

I did do my closets though-only because a while back there was some freaky instant rebate at Home Depot and the CFL package of 6 was almost free....

 

If you look they have cfl lights that come on faster then others even at low temps. I have had cfl in the bath & kichen for a few years that took longer to come then the time I needed to need them. Switched to fast start and love them. The part about not putting them in the trash like old bulbs is the part that gets me. We have a day every 4m that they will pick up paint,cfls,cleaners ect. but we have to store the or take them to recycle ourself. I have seen savings in power bills, thats good

 

The LED bulbs I’ve bought so far are made up of a whole bunch of LED pads stuck to a form inside an enclosure.

There are a lot more sizes of LED bulbs in a real wide variety screw in and bayonet bases. Now

I put one in a ‘three speed’ touch lamp and it works fine with the three brightness levels. It will probably be the last light bulb I’ll ever need to put in that lamp

This looks just like what I bought but I got mine at Wallyworld

http://www.pureenergystore.com/servl...D-Night/Detail

My only real complaint is the light seems dimmer {on the highest setting} than when we were using the 15W incandescent night light bulb in it. It’s a very small lamp and never was good enough to really read by, its just a sort of an accent light. When its on in the low position, its just enough to keep you from stubbing your toes when you decide to roam around in otherwise total darkness.

The LED bulbs I put in the garage are rated at 1000 lumens which tells me very little. If I remember from high school science class, a 75 watt incandescent light bulb is rated at 1,100 lumens {there was a tremendous amount of math and the use of a photographic light meter involved with that} so the LED ‘bulb’ is dimmer than that. At least they seem pretty much impervious to the cold weather. A little slow starting maybe, but they do come to full luminance in short order much better than the regular 4’ fluorescent or the CFL bulbs but not as good as the incandescent bulbs ever did.

I can only hope that in time the LED bulbs will improve as much as the CFL bulbs did in such a short amount of time.

 

Finally! An honest guy at the electric company!

Most of the claims for savings, be it HVAC or CFL lightbulbs, is way over stated just like electric cars or hybrids....grossly overstated claims of savings!

On the political front, the ban remains I believe, but the Republicans took away the funding for enforcement of the ban. This ban only applied to 100 watt or more incandescent bulbs in the first place.