Whats the best light bulb option these days?
Why not pick up one CFL and try it? Some do take a while to ‘warm up’ in terms of full output, though the ones I used in the past didn’t. (Someone else has the lamp now, so I can’t give you much info.) They do say that turning them on and off rapidly shortens their life, but my experience has been that CFLs usually last longer, so it might not be a big deal. (You could also simply leave the CFL on in the morning to avoid the rapid on-off thing, since you’d still be saving considerable electricity.) I had some 60W bulbs that got really hot. I replaced them with 19W bulbs, which had the same output as 100W bulbs, but stayed quite cool. The 19W bulbs were very bright, something I’d love in my bathroom. Do note that I’m biased, though, since I’m practically obsessed with CFLs these days. LEDs don’t seem practical, I agree. So I think the choice is between regular incandescent bulbs and CFLs, which have the same socket. Thus you can replace your light fixtures with spiffy new ones either wa
CFL’s, especially cheap ones, can lose up to 75% of their longevity by being turned on and then off again less than 5 minutes later. While that might still make them last 2x as long as a cheap incandescent, they cost 3-5x as much and there’s always the mercury issue. Any CFL these days will snap on—not sure what a lot of people are talking about. I use them exclusively in a 10,000 square foot warehouse that doesn’t get above 30 degrees on any given day in the winter time, which is WELL below recommended operating temperature, and they still snap right on. In fact, assuming that every socket had a bulb (they don’t, it’s every other one) we’d have 120 bulbs. Don’t ask why we don’t use tubes…long story. Moral is that I flip the breaker, the CFL’s pop to life. The issue here is that you’re installing bulbs in a vanity, which is for…well, vanity. You want to see those little prickly hairs and blackheads and make sure there’s no smeared mascara. (I assume.) Incandescent or (gasp!) halo
I need to replace the bulbs in my bathroom (9, 40 watt bulbs currently). […] I may want to buy a new place in a year or so and either sell my condo or rent it out. At that point, I’d probably need to replace the fixture in some way anyway because it’s got this weird metal block around it that’s all rusted and nasty looking. In my country at least, there are fairly specific regulations about bathroom lights – specifically, if they’re near the bath or shower they have to be waterproof to IP44. These fixtures almost always use fluorescent fittings because they don’t get as hot as incandescent bulbs. You can skimp on complying with safety regulations in your own home, as there’s no inspections and only you there to see it; but if you’re renting it out you really need to comply with relevant laws in your area. So if you decide to go with a new fixture, it would
I agree with jet_silver’s analysis. Your current lights, assuming all nine, are costing you less than a dollar a month. Nine CFLs simply won’t pay back their expense if you are going to replace the fixture in less than a couple of years. CFLs should be used first on the lights that you keep on for the longest time each day, not just 20 minutes. As jet_silver said, just replace half or all of the 40W bulbs with 25W bulbs. Right there you can cut your power consumption by 25%. I have a similar fixture where I use half 25W and half 40W.
