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I actually self tested a bunch of them one right next to the other (I have a whole shopping bag of these slightly different bulbs) and it is hard to pick a single brand. What you need to know are the specs you prefer. The same manufacturer makes many brands under different names in some cases. If you check out 1000bulbs.com or do a goggle search for CLF bulbs you will find a few other sites that sell them, some of them at very good prices. Some sites have lots of info about them. Home depot has the basic ones but they didn't have any dimmables or 3ways or some higher end floods or real powerful lights. Pick a few up and try them.
I was confused with the web site pricing and call them up and they said the less expensive ones (which have the exact specs as the more expensive ones) are exactly the same as the name brands except it comes without the name on them in a white box. I purchased both and that seems to be right. They look and work exactly the same.
They are still not perfect like an incandescent lighting and the incandescent give you more choices in lighting options but this CFL stuff has come a looong way. GE makes a good CFL bulb that is a soft white light and it is almost perfect and no one has noticed the difference in my house in the main bathroom and the bulb is exposed. IMO it is better looking then the IC that was in there. It is an excellent light but it is almost $8 for a 60-watt bulb. You can get a less expensive one in the $1.00 - $5.00 range. You need to pick bulbs with the specs and go with that. Again not perfect but worth it. I would seek out CFLs that have a 2700K temp (color) and produce the wattage you need. The dimmables and 3ways work but are costly, try the standard ones first.
The CFL floods come on instantly but take a minute to come up to full brightness when they are cold. For my office, it does not matter because they are on all day but when you walk into the home theater and hit the lights it seem a little dark for the first minute or so. The dimmables work but have some memory lag when they are on for a while. But I know the kids will have the lights on for hours this has savings all over it. That said they are not as responsive as the classic IC but IMO it is worth it the small hassle. The savings is huge and the bulbs more then pay for themselves (and then some) in the first year, no question. Not to mention the heat factor.... think about the heat 37 85-watt floodlights put out and the AC required removing the heat. These things have reduced my entire lower level lighting load from 2500watts to 620 and I have brighter light now then before, not to mention the reduced heat produced and the longevity of the bulb. It is not as soft as I would like it but after a week you don't even notice it, it is only when you compare next to each other that you pick up the differences.
The floods are not cheap but on the net I found some in the $4-5 range for the standard R30 and R40 fixtures but some of the dimmables can run upwards of 20 bucks depending on what you like.
I hope to have my entire house converted in the next year but right now I have about 40% or so with these.
The perfect applications for these are lights that are on most of the time...the savings will be dramatic. In our laundry/mud room, which seems to be active I replaced a fixture that had 2, 75 watt IC bulbs with 2 23 watt CFL curly bulbs that put out the same light as 100 watt bulbs. It is noticeably brighter and you cannot tell the difference by looking at the fixture (it has a glass dome on it) and saves me about: 20-30 bucks per year on this single light fixture. Count your light bulbs and it adds up fast. This does not count the heating from these either.
Long term I think these will take over the market until even lower power LCD lighting moves in and starts the process over. But for now having kids that leave the lights on and walk away (I swear all I do is walk around the house and turn off lights) at least I will not feel that bad.
I tell you who could really benefit from these is the Ernie Bock estate, in the summer he must have a 1000 lights on…it looks like a big hotel, you might have seen it while taking the Chappy Ferry at night.
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