Will all these toys and gadgets sucking up power my electric bill has gone through the roof! So I've been looking for an easy way to save and I though that compact fluorescent light bulbs (you know, the spiral looking ones) would be an easy way to go. Turns out it's not that easy:
You have to choose which color temperature you want and you need to make sure that your fixtures can accomodate the often larger bulbs.
In my house, most of the fixtures are on dimmers and dimmable CFs are almost impossible to find.
I spent weeks hunting for dimmable CFs and specialty CFs that would fit the various fixtures I have. I had no luck at Home Depot, Lowes and other home improvements stores I finally found a place that sold me pretty much everything I needed but my experience with them was not very positive.
So I spent $150 on lights and I just got them today. For the most part I'm not disappointed. I did learn that compatibility of CFs with various dimmers is hard to predict and that they tend to buzz a lot more than incandescents.
One manufacturer, Greenlite, was actually kind enough to send me a couple of samples free of charge. Keep in mind that these aren't cheap at $9.95+ a pop so it's a very nice gesture.
