Established in 2003, West Ridge Bungalow Neighbors is a voluntary group of neighbors in Chicago who desire to assist each other in preserving and appreciating the homes in our neighborhood; educating each other and the broader public in the value and the story of our neighborhood; and providing resources to each other to improve the quality of our homes, enrich our lives and assure our neighborhood's future.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Finding the best CFL bulbs

I hate the light from CFL bulbs, and taking an informal poll at our WRBN holiday party last week tells me I'm not alone. The free one I got from the City casts an ugly green-grey pallor in our office. The ones I bought from Home Depot do the same for the basement, but who really cares what old paint cans and litter boxes look like.

A recent New York Times article gives me hope that one day I will be able to happily replace the rest of the bulbs in our home with something that I like. Click here for the full story.

2 comments:

Andy said...

I keep reading about how ugly the light from CFLs is, but maybe I'm lucky. Right now, I only have one CFL bulb installed, and that's in my little office lamp. It has a shade around it, so maybe that helps. But I don't have a grey/green pallor or anything like that...it's a nice, warm, yellowish glow, kind of like an incandescent. It's a GE energy smart 15-watt (60 equiv.) bulb, so maybe that's why. I've read in other places complaints about it too, though...maybe once I get more of them, I'll notice the difference...but this one seems fine.

Steve Knoebber said...

I found that the N:Vision brand of CFL that is avalaible at Home Depot has a very good color temp. chart on each package and these lights come in 3 different color ratings: Daylight, Bright White, and Soft White. The Soft White version is really close to an incandescent. I found that the bulbs that are bigger than the 15 watt(60 equiv.)are more practical as a work light. I have a 43 watt(150 equiv.) in my vintage kitchen fixture and now the kitchen is as bright as it's ever been.