Energy saving lightbulbs. Can't see a darn thing.

[AmyZ]

Ok, so we are trying to be more green in my house, and I switched all my spot lights in the kitchen and family room to the energy saving ones.

I cannot see. It is driving me crazy. DH quipped "They last for 7 years!"

Ugh. So what is a girl to do? I know they have mercury in them, so proper recycling/disposal is necessary. I can save some of them and move them to another room, but I still have a bunch left over.

Any advice?

[ShanaMama]

Do you have the same ones we do? The swirly ones? They are like 15 watts instead of 60? (Don't hold me to the numbers, something like that.)
Because ours are so bright we had to unscrew one or two of the living room spotlights. They give off a nice, soft white light- not typical fluorescent (sp?) lighting. I'm sorry you're disappointed in yours. Can they be deffective? Or maybe an inferior brand.

[lizajane]

ditto PP. my swirly ones are SUPER bright. so bright that my kitchen looks like a completely different color! i just turned around and looked at the ones in the ceiling fan over my head and saw that the two swirly ones are WAY brighter than the one regular one that is left in there. (BTW, NOT a good idea to look directly at light bulb! i am nearly blind right now... lol!)

[LD92599]

They take time to power up (they aren't 100% brightness when you flip the switch on) but once they are on WATCH OUT! They are bright!

It took me a few days to get used to it but now I'm used to it!

Give it a few days - or maybe you need to up the wattage on the spotlights? they also seem to let off less heat than the traditional spots.

[AmyZ]

Hmmmm.... no I don't have the swirly ones. I have ones that look like a covered spotlight, since they were the same style as our old ones.

I guess I need to throw asthetics out the window and get the swirlies?

[LD92599]

Hmmmm.... no I don't have the swirly ones. I have ones that look like a covered spotlight, since they were the same style as our old ones.

I guess I need to throw asthetics out the window and get the swirlies?

Yup! Though honestly you can barely "see" the swirlies especially when they are on!

[elizabethkott]

Disclaimer: I have had 2 glasses of wine.

RE: Swirlies...

This is what we call it when J-man sticks his pudgy finger in our bellybuttons and twists it around.
The term just makes me giggle!
:)

[tylersmama]

My disclaimer: I just got done playing drinking games with my sister, BIL, and parents! :47:

"Swirlies" is what we called it when either: a) you held someone's head in the toilet and flushed it. or b) you licked your finger and swirled it around somebody's ear. Can you tell I have an older sister who tortured me as a child?? :p

[AmyZ]

You ladies are so funny! Completely.crack.me.up. :21:

[kristenk]

I don't have any "swirly" stories to share, but I do have some of the same bulbs as you!

There are big differences between brands and types. There's one kind that DH purchased that I really disliked. It gave off an ugly bluish light that made me feel like I was constantly in some back office storage room. Ugh. The others had a nice white light. Both kinds, however, did take a while to reach full brightness when you first turn them on. Like, several minutes at least.

On the bright side, if it turns out your lights just aren't the best for you, they might be like ours. Our 7-year bulbs lasted approx. 6 months. You might get to legitimately get rid of them much sooner than you think.

Now that I think of it, I really like swirl margaritas. Haven't had one of those in a long time. Maybe I'll have one this weekend in honor of the swirly thread!

[SheriRae]

I know the brand we buy has three different choices of "brightness." You can buy either soft white, bright white or day light. It could be you have the soft white and it's just not bright enough for you. Next time you buy check your the package and maybe try the next level of brightness.

[ShanaMama]

Who woulda thunk my lightbulb description would bring out so many funny and traumatizing memories? LOL
I just went to get the package so you can get the ones I love. They are Sylvania soft white mini -? the package is cut in half, so I can't see the full name. They are 13W 120V 60Hz. And the shape? Swirly! ;)
Hope that helps.
I just noticed that the package says they do contain mercury. I never thought about disposing them properly. What's the proper way to dispose?

[khm]

Are you talking about flood lights in a recessed fixture? The swirly part is INSIDE of our flood lights, they look the same on the outside though. A cone shaped bulb, a slight curve to the bottom? I don't think you can put a regular swirly in a recessed can fixture.

They do take at least a few minutes to warm up. In our 1/2 bath, I mixed one regular bulb and two swirlies. Maybe mix in a few old regular bulbs, or buy and mix in some of the other "temperature" colors?

We've been pretty happy with ours, but they do take a bit to get used to!

ETA - We got ours at Costco. I have no idea if they are white, yellow or whatever. But, they were a GREAT price and you could return them with Costco's great return policy. :) The floods work fine with the normal "60 watt equivalent", but the regular lights over the table had to use a much lower equivalent. We initially replaced them with the 60 watt equivalent and they were way way too glaringly bright.

[AmyZ]

[QUOTE=khm]Are you talking about flood lights in a recessed fixture? The swirly part is INSIDE of our flood lights, they look the same on the outside though. A cone shaped bulb, a slight curve to the bottom? I don't think you can put a regular swirly in a recessed can fixture.

Yes!! We have recessed lighting and the lights I have match your description... so you don't think I can put a regular swirly into a recessed fixture, eh?

[ShanaMama]

I actually have the true swirlies in recessed lighting as well as regular light fixtures. I have recessed spots in my living room. We just put in the swirlies although they don't look the same as the standard spotlights.


Are you talking about flood lights in a recessed fixture? The swirly part is INSIDE of our flood lights, they look the same on the outside though. A cone shaped bulb, a slight curve to the bottom? I don't think you can put a regular swirly in a recessed can fixture.


From this description, I don't think we're looking at the same lightbulbs. My swirlies look nothing like floodlights, but the shape doesn't bother me. Unless you look up at the lightbulbs you wouldn't really notice them.
IIRC mine don't take time to warm up either. I remember that more from traditional fluorescents.