Today I got a question from a friend, Eric Pajari, who lives outside Minneapolis: “Most CFLs that I have installed in our house take a few minutes to reach full brightness, I purchased my CFLs from Home Depot and I am not sure of the brand. Are there any brands that reach full brightness quicker? Also, there are some rooms, like the living room and our bedroom that we have traditional bulbs in because we do not want the harsh light of a CFL or the lights need three-way bulbs. Any alternatives for that?”
Hey Eric! I can relate to the slow start when turning on CFLs. As far as I know, that is a factor with all of them, but I’ll let you know if I find some quick-starting brands.
Readers, do you know of any? Let me know if you do.
So far, the coolest thing I have learned about the new CFLs is that many are rated with a color temperature, measured in Kelvin or K. This was a totally new and fascinating concept to me when I did a story for The Herald back in July. Not all bulbs have the rating listed, but you can find bulbs that are less harsh using the numbers if they’re posted either on the package or the white base of the bulb. The 2,700K CFLs, in my opinion, produce the warmest light by far.
To help demonstrate the difference in color temperature, I’ve included a photo illustration by Jennifer Buchanan of The Herald, comparing two types of color temperature bulbs from the Lights of America brand.
Buchanan photographed the CFLs on an all-white background with exactly the same camera settings in a lamp I brought from home.
On the left is the 6,000K CFL, which produces a blue-gray light. On the right is a 2,700K CFL, which produces a warmer yellow-orange light similar to that of an incandescent or traditional light bulb.
Regarding your three-way bulb question, yes, some CFLs work with three-way switches and dimmers, including a variety of bulbs from GE, which has a handy bulb-replacement guide online here. That said, not all stores carry every type of bulb and the prices haven’t come down as far as those of standard CFLs.
Technology is still catching up, especially when it comes to dimmable CFLs, which seem to be available only for certain brands of floodlights.
However, if you have exposed bulbs that require a bit of ambience, you can easily find CFL bulbs in which the curly pig tail shape is covered by a dome for a more traditional, less industrial look.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for LED lights, aka light-emitting diodes. They’re energy efficient, bright and don’t come with the mercury hazard of CFLs.
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