inspectorD

This should be a good start. I use them in ALL my fixtures now. They are a little more expensive and do not throw as much light,however I can live with it. Even the swirls. If you have them you know what I mean.
I like the idea of if I leave a light on overnight they also stay cooler than the regular bulbs.

I have no spotlights on the exterior, I suppose this may create an issue for some.

Exterior is solar lighting, we actually have a few which are really bright for being solar.

__________________
Just My
Made in the

glennjanie

Janie and I have been switching all our bulbs to the swirls or changing light fixtrues and lamps to flourescent on an as needed basis.
We also replaced the refrigerator, washer and dryer with energy star appliances plus geothermal heat pump, and low-flow shower head. Our geothermal heats domestic hot water with latent heat from the compressor (2 birds with one stone). We have contracted for additional insulation and vinyl siding on our home.
Outside the home, we have parked the Fourrunner (21 mpg) for extended periods and bought a Prius (50 mpg). I have mounds of research on using chicken litter, swine manure and human sludge to make diesel fuel or ethanol.
Don't get me wrong now, I'm not an Al Gore fan; I am just saving my money and preparing for retirement.
Glenn

Square Eye

I use the Compact flourescents in part of my shop. They get dimmer as they go, I don't care for that. The light is different, but as you said, it is liveable.

We also use one on the back of the house. I've had to change it 3 times in the last 6 years. Not bad for a light that stays on all night every night. It's not bright enough to bother the neighbors, but is plenty for us in the back yard to see what's going on.

They seem to work better and last longer when they are turned upwards, I suppose it creates less heat on the ballast.
Also, you can't use dimmers with them. Limits the places where you can use them.

__________________
[URL="http://www.houserepairtalk.com/announcement.php?f=39&a=6"][size=3]The Ten Commandments of House Repair Talk[/size][/URL]



[URL="http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=289528&ck="]Square Eye's home page[/URL]

mechanicalmonster

I use cfls like crazy. During the summer time I use them in all my fixtures. They use less power and fight the ac less. During the winter I do switch back to incandescents because it does help some with the heat.(kerosene is expensive) I have also switched from crt monitors as they went out to lcd monitors that helps with the power bill and cooling also not to mention I have alot more space on my desks.

TxBuilder

Another CFL users when I can here. A lot of the fixtures in my 50 year old house won't accept them though. Slowly replacing and redoing the wiring to each. The previous electrician loved to leave bare wires for some reason.

Sven

I use them for just about everything, except for my spot lights which are halogen used for working in the shop.

bethany14

We use cfls wherever we can. We have a couple in our bathroom vanity fixture and I turned the entire fixture upside down. Initially I did it for looks, but now there's much less heat bearing down on the tops of our heads I made the switch here when I moved in, a little more than a year ago. So far, they're holding up fine. They sometimes take a moment to get up to full light, but that's fine by me, I prefer gradual lighting to instant blindness--especially in the mornings

green girl

In both our places we use T8 fixtures wherever we can and cfl's everywhere else. In the 60's home, we also use X10 switches.

Kerrylib

CFL's in as many places as practical. Pretty much all the lamps through the house, replacing bulbs in ceiling fixtures as necessary. Want to find dimmable CFLs so we can put them in places like the dining room.

Some low profile halogen ceiling fixtures that we can't do much with besides plan to replace them. These are HOT. The main kitchen light is right underneath the center of our guest room. You can walk barefoot upstairs and feel a warm spot on the floor right where the light fixture is located. THATS TOO HOT in my opinion.

Just blew a bulb in the master bath and planning to get some of the globe CFLs to fill that back up.

Quattro

Ditto on Kerrylib's post. CFL's just aren't practical everywhere in my opinion. Rooms where you need light for just 10 seconds or so...say to grab something from a shelf or box. The CFL's I have don't get fully bright until 20-30 seconds.

I do use them where I can. Desk and reading lamps, mostly. We just don't leave lights on usually. In the kitchen we have some 20W Xenon underlighting...which is also used sparingly.