I went up to our bedroom last night to find it unexpectedly dark: my bedside lamp wouldn’t turn on. After a moment of troubleshooting, I determined that its compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb had finally given up the ghost.

Thinking back a bit, I figured that the bulb was over 7 years old. In fact, having been purchased in 1999, it was nearly as old as my marriage! When it first fired up, there was no Sept 11 attacks, no Iraq war, no such thing as the dot-bomb bust. That’s a lot for a bulb to live through.

I became interested in CFLs because I got annoyed at all the heat that incandescent bulbs produced. Our old home’s thermostat was right next to a floor lamp, so its bulb would frequently throw off the temperature readings. Once I’d begun with one bulb, the rest were soon to follow.

I have to say the technology has improved considerably in 7 years, notably the quality of light CFLs, produce. When the box says 3000 Kelvin that’s what you get: a nice warm light. Add in the electricity savings and you have a deal.

CFLs still face hurdles to their adoption, such as a press sometimes hostile to them. This Washington Post article that ran last month is one example.

The article states:

The current market share of CFL bulbs in the United States is about 6 percent, up from less than 1 percent before 2001.

…and then follows it up with this:

The relatively glacial adoption rate of CFLs in most of the United States suggests continued stiff resistance on the home front, despite dramatically lower prices for the bulbs and impressive improvements in their quality.

Another way of describing CFLs growth would be to trumpet their 600% growth in the past six years, yet the reporter calls 600% growth “glacial?”

As for the “dramatically lower prices” the article mentioned, the accompanying sidebar listed the price of a single CFL bulb to be eleven dollars! Maybe CFL bulbs were $11 back in, oh, 1992 or something. In modern times, one can buy a CFL bulb for less than two bucks.

CFLs do wonders for the environment, beginning with your own indoor one. They don’t create excess heat for your air conditioner to battle. They also last incredibly long, as my seven year bulb attests. Sure they have mercury in them but the amount is miniscule and no cause for alarm. A trip to the landfill’s special handling section is not a burden if the trip happens only once every 7 years.

The wife in the WaPo story complained that the light from CFLs wasn’t as bright. Its been my experience that the opposite is true. I’ve replaced four, 60-watt incandescent bulbs in our bathroom with just two CFLs – because four CFLs made the room blindingly bright! Because of their lower heat output, you can place CFL bulbs with higher light equivalents in sockets designed for lower light incandescents. For instance, a lamp designed for a 60-watt maximum incandescent can handle a 23-watt CFL that produces the equivalent light of a 90-watt incandescent. You save energy and get more light!

What’s slow to catch on is the hip nature of CFLs, but they’re getting there. My friends are catching on. My relatives are catching on. Pretty soon CFLs will be the norm rather than the exception. Then the 1870s-era incandescent bulb can take its rightful place: in a museum!