Edison’s Dimming Bulbs

I tried these CFL bulbs in my outside lights and they pulsed all night long. I tried a different brand and the same thing happened. I do not have a dimmer circuit but they are on an electronic timer. Also I didn't change the candelabra incandescent lamps in my porch lite on the same circuit. Would that be why they pulse?

I've noticed that many of the comments were about the mercury in the CFL's and what we're to do with them when they expire. My question would then be; what are people doing with their old cell phones, monitors, computers, printers, batteries, etc now? These items also contain hazardous waste and should not be placed in the trash. If someone were concerned about the environment and the potential hazards, wouldn't they already know where they drop these items off? If they didn't know what to do with them, where have they been disposing of those products? As we already have products we can't throw in the trash, it should be no more of an inconvenience to add one more item.
These bulbs do contain some mercury but they last a long time; therefore, there should be less of them to dispose of. I can't remember the last time I broke an incandescent bulb. But, bulbs are fragile and could break. If they do break, mercury could enter our households. We wouldn't contact a "hazardous waste specialist" to clean it up any more than we would for a battery that has burst.
Personally, I don't believe that the government should regulate the use of incandescent bulbs. Keep raising the electric costs and the free market will do it on their own. Peer pressure will do the rest. Eventually, companies will not have enough of a profit incentive to even produce those bulbs. They will be imported from China and be just as hazardous to the household, from lead.

The CFLs I recently got, in some cases, did not fit the fixtures. The problem is the coil exceeds the shape envelope of the bulb it replaces out farthest from the base. That's a design flaw for a retrofit product, and it will slow acceptance. I want to see these CFL bulb shapes "tucked in" to fit every light fixture where an incandescent can be replaced. The ability to cut down the electricity consumed by 75% is a rare breakthrough. CFL bulb engineers....get it right mechanically!

I just tried installing some CFL substitutes for incandescent bulbs. In some instances, they don't fit in the space alloted for the old-style bulb. I looked carefully at the difference, and the CFL's coil protrudes beyond the spatial extent of the incadescent it replaces, farthest from the screw-base. Bottom line, the new bulbs are not mechanically interchangeable as replacements. It strikes me as incompent to have overlooked this requirement for a retrofit product, as it will hold back acceptance. The shape of the glass coil needs to be pulled in to fit the old-style bulb envelope. But still, we use them everywhere we can.

the idea that the govt should regulate these is ludicrous...one commenter pointed out just why: "they make the regulations and then don't provide a disposal center in order to allow you to comply"

the federal govt can't do these things efficiently, they can't look out for your every little need, and they can't make stupid people do smart things. if you think they must, you will be their slave.

"This is how any further improvement of the world will be done: by individuals making Quality decisions and that's all. I don't want to have any more enthusiasm for big programs full of social planning for big masses of people that leave individual Quality out" -author Robert Pirsig.

if you think CFL bulbs are better (I use them), you find a way to convince others yourself. not through government force. sooner or later you'll be forced to do things that are wrong, because someone else believes they're right. and you'll be paying for it too.

Stop being a good Democrat! Stop being a good Republican! Start being a good American! Ron Paul '08!

Don't these bulbs contain mercury? I heard on the news that they should not be thrown out in the trash (which most people do and will continue to do) but need to be taken to specific and out of the way drop off sites. How many people are going to save the bulbs (containing harmful toxins) in their homes until they are ready and willing to go out of their way to dispose of these things properly? Mercury is a hazaardous waste that affects our health and the environment. Where's the tradeoff in that? Is it worth it? It doesn't seem very GREEN to me.

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The fluorescent light is now the same as incandecent. It seems bright enough and warm enough.

But the thing that nobody talks about is that the fluorescent bulbs take a noticable amount of time to come on. And then they take even longer to come up to full brightness.

I thing the future is LEDs if we can get the costs down to the fluorescent levels. The energy savings, even over fluorescent is huge.

Jeez,most of you wack jobs must live out west,Cali maybe? Well,i dont like the bulbs,and i WONT buy them,and the Gov Wont make me. All this is ,is another attempt by the enviromental idiots,to put more regulation in our lives. Al Gore started this bs, and everyday his theory falls apart. I wonder how he and some of you are going to respond in 10 yrs when scientist announce that the earth is going thru a cooling period. i reckon then you will suggest we all just use blankets to keep warm,instead of a heater? This is insane

We tried a couple of these bulbs and they just don't give off pleasing light. I don't want the same kind of light I work under all day in the office in my home. It sounds trivial, but it isn't, I want warm light in my home. Also, the CFLs base is quite wide and some light fixtures with glass covers won't close with them installed. I do use CFLs in light fixtures outside and in the garage since light quality is not as important. If they ban incandescent bulbs, I will stock up to make sure I have a few years supply.

Worldwide a number of the big incandescent light bulb factories have shut down with no plans to open new ones. Like it or not, their sub-optimal product along with the shipping materials and transportation and pollution are gone forever already. Mercury pollution from discarded light bulbs is tiny compared to that from electricity production. Don't forget that coal mining and burning also is a significant source of radioactive pollution too.

those new cfls are terrible. they give off this annoying white light that will make any room in your house look about as bright as a high school classroom; they don't give off that warm natural light that the traditional bulbs do. Once they find out a way to fix that problem, i'd consider giving them another chance.

What are you 'greenies' (chicken littles) gonna do about the methyl mercury that comes from the white powder inside the flourescent tube/light bulb? eh? Is this another information cascade like 'man-made global warming'. We are alletter in this contry, uS of A, because of our Costitution and the Bill of Rights. Do something about our corrupt, criminal so called reps (politicians). Stop being a good Democrat! Stop being a good Republican! Start being a good American! Ron Paul '08!

In my own shopping I found the initial price of the CFLs are only a wee bit more but last longer and as the article says do not generate so much heat. The government needs to ban the production of the incandescents.

I like these CFLs, the light is good and the bulbs life is great. However, I do have a question about them. I noticed that printed on the bulbs is a little warning that they contain Mercury. If we are trying to help our environment by using these bulbs, what are we going to do about the Mercury? I am sure people have already started throwing them out in the trash and they are going into landfills. Are there ways to recycle them? If so, where do we take them? Are there going to any regulations on the disposal of them?