SAve energy!!

I am talking about energy-saving bulbs here.Compact Fluorescent Lamps are designed to replace your regular incandescent lamps.

Utility : CFLs use less power and have longer rated life.Though its purchase price can be 3 to 10 times greater than that of equivalent incandescent lamp the lower energy use and extended lifetime will compensate for higher initial cost.The average rated life of a CFL is between 8 and 15 times than that of incandescents.

Drawbacks:
1.incandescents give light almost immediately upon the application of voltage. CFLs take a perceptible time to achieve full brightness, and can take much longer in very cold temperatures.

2.CFLs produce less light later in their life than they do at the start. depreciation is exponential, with the fastest losses being soon after the lamp was first used. By the end of their lives, CFLs can be expected to produce 70-80% of their original light output.

3.CFL contain small amount of mercury inside the glass tubing.This causes air and water pollution while disposal.Only 3% of CFl bulbs are properly disposed or recycled.

Interesting useful Fact:
Switching CFl bulb on for a few minutes at a time can shorten its lifespan substantially.Incase of a 5 minute on/off cycle,the lifespan of a CFL can be upto 85% shorter!
So keep it on for atleast 15 minutes at a time to mitigate this problem.

The problem is i hate reading under the CFL that i have at home,maybe coz u are used to brighter incandescent lamps.However,its a good substitute at twilight if u are not readin/writing/working.

[A similar interesting product is use of LEDs in your Diwali light strings (toran). These rice sized colourful tubes used in cluster to light up your home-fronts and balconies have become very popular in recent years.Get them before the stock gets over,diwali is around the corner! red-soft white(gloden) combo looks awesome!! :D ]