Light Bulbs
 

Now that we are all saving energy and going green.Iam having trouble finding the right kind of CFL to put in my lamp when Iam doing my hand work.Some are blue some are yellow.They just aren't bright enough.Would love to have a OTT light,but not happening now.Going back to the old ones till I HAVE to change.Any suggestions?

Phillips Energy has a new line of longer lasting incandescent bulbs, Phillips EcoVantage Natural Light, that are energy saving. For my 60 watt fixtures, I buy a 53 watt bulb and get 75 watts of light. It has made a difference. Will it last as long as a flourescent? No. Will it give off a nice shade of light? Yes. Will it pollute the environment when it breaks like a flourescent will? NO! I don't want to have to buy a hazmat suit to clean up broken fl bulb because of the mercury. I have fl lighting in my kitchen because it came with the house, but I am not buying any fl bulbs for my lamps.

We've been testing out LED lights, but so far I'm not that impressed either...and SO much for saving money, they are expensive!

You can get Ott bulbs very reasonably priced at most stores and put them in any lamp.

The only bulb I know works for me for handwork is the OTT light. I'm sure there are other bulbs that are the same but I haven't found them locally.
FYI:
CFL bulbs that say will last for years? Only if you keep them on and never turn them off. Turning them off and on will shorten the life of the bulb by as much as 75%. You are not saving any more money then using the regular bulbs unless you never turn then off. As expensive as they are you are really wasting money. That's why most big businesses have them on a dimmer after closing hours or leave them on. They are toxic when broken, the regular bulbs are not. I put one GE CFL bulb in one side of a lamp and a regular 60 watt bulb in the other side. I turn the lamp off every night. The CFL bulb burned out and the regular bulb is still working. I don't see how these bulbs are considered to be so green when in fact it wastes resources making more bulbs that cost more money and is harmful to the environment when discarded. ?

I helped at a E-waste and the person running even said she would not put a CFL in her home because of the hazard of them breaking.When I googled how to clean one up it was scary.

Well...you might want to do what I did. Went to Home Depot and stocked up on incandescent bulbs. They're plenty bright. Maybe they'll last me until the laws are repealed.

Personally, for hand work I like a halogen bulb. Nice clean, bright light. I have a decorator-style halogen lamp next to my chair that I've had for probably 20 years. I MAY have replaced the bulb once in that period of time. Has 2 settings - high and low. Low is generally just fine for any quilting, cross-stitching, needlepoint I may be doing. I bought another one (different style at a later date) that was originally to replace the one I had as I thought it was finally dying. Not the case so I have the second one in my sewing room and move around as needed as the light that I have in that room is pathetic. I also have halogen under cabinet lights in my kitchen. I can actually see what I'm doing when I'm prepping food! They do get very warm but it's a small price to pay for the light they emit.

I've had the twisty light bulbs for so long now that I can't even remember what the're called.....is that CFL?
If so, I remind all that as they heat up after being turned on they do get brighter; just takes a few minutes. Mine is fine for my handwork even though I'm getting cataract surgery the end of this month.

Jan in VA

I went to Walmart right after christmas and they had all the regular light bulbs( I dont know what there called, just reg. lt. bulbs) 4 in a pkg. for 97cents, they were getting rid of them. I bought all they had. Then I went to Lowes to see if they were clearanceing them also. They told me that they would have 2 months to get rid of there stock, after that law went into effect. I do not like those new lt. bulbs and don't want them in my house.

I also like the halogen bulbs for brightness, the big drawback is they get hot, I mean you can heat up a small room with them! I do have some CFL's in the living room lamps and they are working out ok, they do get brighter after a few minutes. I have had the CFL's in the out door lights for 8 years, they are on every night so I do think they last longer. The LED's are expensive, I bought some at Sam's Club yesterday and plan on replacing my halogens with them. As far as breakage of the CFL's, I'm not concerned, I don't usually drop things. I also think we older ladies have been exposed to a lot more toxic things in our lives, including mercury thermometers we used on our kids. There is probably more toxic smog and junk in our air than ever before, not to mention all the chemicals in our fabrics and clothing we purchase.

I also like the halogen bulbs for brightness, the big drawback is they get hot, I mean you can heat up a small room with them! I do have some CFL's in the living room lamps and they are working out ok, they do get brighter after a few minutes. I have had the CFL's in the out door lights for 8 years, they are on every night so I do think they last longer. The LED's are expensive, I bought some at Sam's Club yesterday and plan on replacing my halogens with them. As far as breakage of the CFL's, I'm not concerned, I don't usually drop things. I also think we older ladies have been exposed to a lot more toxic things in our lives, including mercury thermometers we used on our kids. There is probably more toxic smog and junk in our air than ever before, not to mention all the chemicals in our fabrics and clothing we purchase.