The three or four regular MT.Net readers know of my long history of griping about CFL bulbs. I’m a greenie, don’t get me wrong, but aside from the handful of CFL bulbs I bought when they were first introduced in the market the CFLs I’ve had have fizzled depressingly quickly. The culprit? Cheap electronics.
Imagine my surprise today when I was wandering through Costco and saw an end-cap stacked with LED bulbs on sale. These bulbs are normally $15 apiece but a manufacturer’s instant rebate knocks them down to under $5! What’s more, this rebate runs through the rest of 2013!
I figured an LED bulb for five bucks is affordable enough to give it a shot, so I bought one and put it in our living room lamp. The light is just the slightest, tiniest bit dimmer than the CFL it replaced but most certainly casts a very acceptable light. I like the fact that it should last almost 23 years, too.
Does it use less energy than a CFL? No, it’s actually a half-watt more. That’s a pretty small difference for unmatched longevity and no hazardous mercury components. If the price on LEDs remains as low I’m thinking I may have bought my last CFL bulb.
The LEDs are probably dimmable, too, unlike the CFLs.