CFL bulb smoldering (1 Viewer)

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Get up earlier to ride my exercise bike (Hi Otis). I go to the basement and throw on the light switch. Nothing. I stumble down the stairs and hit the basement lights figuring I would get a replacement bulb for the stairway later, when I finished.

I thought a few times during the next hour that I smelled something. Of course the basement has a lot of smells with everything down there including a cat box and the furnace.

On my way back up I reach to unscrew the bulb. The base of the thing is hot, smoldering, and discolored. Some of the plastic had melted away, not much, but some.

Are these damn things a known fire hazard? I have dozens installed around my home.

 

[Tiger Fan]

be careful, those are the ones with mercury in them, right?

 

[Dan Lambskin]

be careful, those are the ones with mercury in them, right?

 

[Fennis]

There's been some recalls on CFL bulbs that overheat after burning out. LEDs are pretty cheap these days, you should upgrade to LEDs

 

[lumpy19]

There's been some recalls on CFL bulbs that overheat after burning out. LEDs are pretty cheap these days, you should upgrade to LEDs

What!!?? My CFL's haven't paid for themselves in energy savings and now I have to replace them all!!??

 

[NutterButter]

CFLs blow. 7 year lifetime my ####.

 

[Das Boot]

CFLs are intentionally designed to fail that way, I read about that after I saw the a bulb in my basement detach from the base when it burned out and land in a pile of laundry. It caught fire... if I hadn't happened to be there to see it happen... :(

While that one was an exception, it certainly opened my eyes to the perils of CFLs.

I've been steadily replacing them with LEDs... I may have them all replaced before long.

Check Costco for good prices on LEDs, they often have them marked down to a special price.

 

[Tiger Fan]

I hate my CFLs, but I can't bring myself to drop the coin to replace them all with LEDs

 

[Fennis]

There's been some recalls on CFL bulbs that overheat after burning out. LEDs are pretty cheap these days, you should upgrade to LEDs

What!!?? My CFL's haven't paid for themselves in energy savings and now I have to replace them all!!??

Up to you. CFLs sucked from the start. LEDs performs better, last longer.

 

[Otis]

 

[3C's]

Must have been made in CHINA!

 

[Fat Nick]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

 

[heckmanm]

I've started switching over to LEDs, but have only done a handful so far as CFLs burn out.

Just did a rough count in my head - I think I'd need about 50 LEDs to convert all of the standard fixtures, plus maybe another dozen for specialty bulbs (ceiling fans and such)

 

[SecondCity34]

Are incandescent bulbs the only bulbs that are considered safe to use in outdoor enclosed fixtures?

 

[lumpy19]

Are incandescent bulbs the only bulbs that are considered safe to use in outdoor enclosed fixtures?

I have CFLs and LEDs in outdoor enclosed fixtures

 

[Fat Nick]

Are incandescent bulbs the only bulbs that are considered safe to use in outdoor enclosed fixtures?

I have CFLs and LEDs in outdoor enclosed fixtures

x2. I can't see why you couldn't use LED's wherever you use incandescent. Some LED's will get warm, but it's usually nowhere near as hot as the old incandescent ones.

The only drawback to LED's is that sometimes they react oddly to dimmers and will flicker at different voltages. I have LED front porch lights that I can't dim because they are..well...cheap, and use a crappy non-dimmable 12V transformer to convert the line voltage to 12V, then power the LED. Other than odd instances like that, I don't see any drawbacks.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

 

[Tiger Fan]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

you use a specific "color" light? I'm a fan of the warm white

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

you use a specific "color" light? I'm a fan of the warm white

Same. I won't buy the "pure" white or "daylight" ones.

 

[captain_amazing]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

you use a specific "color" light? I'm a fan of the warm white

Same. I won't buy the "pure" white or "daylight" ones.

I prefer pure white - gives off a more "clear" light, imo. Daylight bulbs are just awful, though, but I'm sure they are practical in certain settings.

 

[Fat Nick]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

Where do you live?

I've found that the absolute best ones for my 6" cans are the CREE CR6's. They work great with my Leviton dimmers. Even fade on/off nicely. Great warm color, even at lower levels. They used to be the same as the Home Depot Ecosmart ones, and you could get them for $30 or so at one point a few years ago. Then, HD changed their Eco Smart ones, and they're slightly different, and cheaper. The new ones don't dim quite as low, and they look slightly different.

I ask where you live because some states have subsidized LED prices. I live in NJ, and they have the New Jersey Clean Energy Online Store that sells stuff for pretty cheap. It doesn't look like the CR6 is on there right now though unfortunately. When I bought my CR6's, back in 2011, they were going for $49.95 at Home depot under the EcoSmart brand. They were $22.95 on the NJCE site. I have ~30 of these in my house so that savings was huge.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

HATE CFL's...this is just one more reason to add to the list of why.

I have 2 CFL's left in my house, and they're in the garage. I've been meaning to replace them for a few years now, and just haven't gotten to it.

We're LED's all the way. I spent $500 to replace every can light with 6" LED's. Not only are they easily dimmable, but the color is much better, energy usage is lower, and obviously they last longer. When I did the payback on my LED's (vs. incandescent), the pay back was ~3 years based on my usage estimates and our electricity costs. I'd guess vs. CFL's, it's a little longer, but even if you're just paying for the better light color, it's almost worth it.

We have a good sized house and have dozens of recessed floodlight cannisters. I haven't replaced all of them with LEDs yet, but I am well on my way.

Whenever I see a particularly good deal on LEDs at Costco or Home Depot I stock up.

Where do you live?

I've found that the absolute best ones for my 6" cans are the CREE CR6's. They work great with my Leviton dimmers. Even fade on/off nicely. Great warm color, even at lower levels. They used to be the same as the Home Depot Ecosmart ones, and you could get them for $30 or so at one point a few years ago. Then, HD changed their Eco Smart ones, and they're slightly different, and cheaper. The new ones don't dim quite as low, and they look slightly different.

I ask where you live because some states have subsidized LED prices. I live in NJ, and they have the New Jersey Clean Energy Online Store that sells stuff for pretty cheap. It doesn't look like the CR6 is on there right now though unfortunately. When I bought my CR6's, back in 2011, they were going for $49.95 at Home depot under the EcoSmart brand. They were $22.95 on the NJCE site. I have ~30 of these in my house so that savings was huge.

I live in Washington. There isn't set pricing, but there are periodic instant rebates sponsored by the local utility company. So I just keep my eye out for good deals and stock up when I can.

I generally buy the Cree bulbs, but have alos bought GE and some other brands.