These bulbs were a truly wonderful creation but they were often hard to install in fixtures due to their increased sizes. Over the years many manufacturers have improved upon that original design and created a magnificent product that allows the consumer to save money and reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing light output. Compact fluorescent light bulbs work by sending current into the spiral tube which is filled with argon gas and a trace of mercury gas, this process actually emits an invisible ultraviolet light, and only becomes visible due to the phosphor coating on the inside of the tube. A ballast is required to start the current flow and regulate the voltage throughout the process.
Electronic ballasts have replaced their bulkier magnetic cousins of old. Comparing compact fluorescent bulbs to incandescent light bulbs shows us the distinct advantages of using the compact fluorescent bulbs over the incandescent bulbs, for many reasons. CFLs are overall more efficient in their use of power. They use less electrical energy to provide the same amounts of light. This saves money and valuable environmental resources. They also operate at a lower temperature, which lowers the demand of your air conditioning equipment. That means they provide twice the savings. Modern compact fluorescent light bulbs are manufactured in more manageable sizes, and are quite comparable dimensionally to standard incandescent bulbs. Creating the ability to be used in the majority of fixtures made today.
The replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs can be as easy as screwing in a light bulb, and with the cost savings and energy conservation it’s an even easier decision. There are CFLs available to replace almost any standard bulb, with greater efficiency and reduced power consumption. Hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved every year if each American home replaced just one bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb. Imagine the reduction of resources used and the increase in savings if every house replaced two bulbs or even three bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. The amount of savings grows exponentially, and it doesn’t account for the added savings of the reduced air conditioning costs. We would be conserving our precious resources while being affected in no noticeable way.
The cost of compact fluorescent light bulbs is higher than standard incandescent bulbs, but that cost is quickly supplanted by the savings of reduced power use and longer life span. Compact fluorescent light bulbs can last between eight and fifteen times longer than standard incandescent bulbs, making their payback even more significant. CFL’s can pay for themselves in as little as a month. One drawback to using compact fluorescent light bulbs is that they generally require a longer ON cycle. By turning them ON and OFF repetitively you can reduce their life span by as much as 80%. It is recommended that Compact fluorescent light bulbs be left on for fifteen minutes or more at a time to increase their efficiency. This also means that using this type of bulb with motion activated lighting controls may not be the best choice.