LED lightbulbs

I don’t often talk about lightbulbs. But when I do, I do it on this blog.

Nearly eight years ago I posted about Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). At the time, CFLs were relatively new, or at least had only recently become available and were beginning to grow in popularity. When I wrote the post, I was in the process of replacing the majority of my incandescent lightbulbs with CFLs to save money and energy.

Well, since then, I’ve had a change of heart, and I’m no longer a fan of CFLs. Why? Well, the main reason is the trace amounts of mercury. The other day, the light above our shower went out, and so I went to replace it. I found that the CFL in the fixture had cracked and broken, through no fault of my own. So even though I am a careful person, I still had to deal with cleaning up a broken CFL with its trace amounts of mercury. I wasn’t so pleased.

Another reason I’m not a fan of CFLs is that I’m not fond of the fluorescent light they put out. I also don’t like the spiral look; unless you get CFLs with casing, CFLs don’t look great in decorative light fixtures. So there’s that as well.

So what am I on to now? Now I’m going around the house replacing all of the CFLs with LEDs!

LED (Light-Emitting Diode) lightbulbs are even more energy efficient than CFLs. They put out even less heat. And they last a lot longer to boot. And I like the brand of light they produce… some of the lightbulbs I’ve purchased put out a warm, soft light; not the harsh sort of light put out by fluorescent bulbs.

LED lightbulbs cost significantly more than the other lightbulbs on the market, but they seem to be gradually coming down in price, and you can often get them on sale. If you haven’t tried them out yet, I recommend doing so.

Maybe in another eight years I’ll be on to yet another type of lightbulb? Who knows…