Q&A: Have CFLs been improved in any ways?

I've been disappointed by some of the compact fluorescent lightbulbs I installed a few years back. Have manufacturers made any improvements to CFLs, or are LEDs the way to go?

LED lighting is definitely gaining in prominence, but compact fluorescent lightbulbs continue to dominate the market for energy-efficient lighting. Today's Energy Star-qualified CFLs don't have the problems that some earlier models did, such as the flickering they generated and the harsh lighting they provided. These energy-saving bulbs continue to evolve, and much of the focus seems to be on making high-performance, long-lasting CFLs with less mercury.

A decade ago some CFLs had as much as 20 milligrams of mercury. The federal government has now capped the amount of mercury Energy Star-qualified bulbs can contain. As of December 2, 2008, CFLs that use less than 25 watts of electricity must have no more than 5 milligrams of mercury; the limit is 6 milligrams for 25- to 40-watt CFLs. A 13- or 14-watt is equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

"Several manufacturers are producing bulbs that only contain 2 to 3 mg per bulb," says Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental group. "We are hopeful that these levels can be reduced even further. We need to reduce these levels in a thoughtful, stepwise way to make sure we don't go so low that we've compromised the performance of the bulb and it stops working prematurely."

Mercury is traditionally put into CFLs as a liquid, but in recent years, manufacturers have increasingly used solid forms, or amalgam. It maintains the light output of a lamp much better over a range of temperatures, and dosing is much easier to control during manufacturing, according to Christina Kiehlich, an Energy Star spokeswoman. The downside is that using amalgam mercury results in CFLs with slightly longer run-up times.

Manufacturer BlueMax claims the amalgam fill prevents mercury from releasing when a CFL breaks. The experts at Energy Star say when a CFL breaks, the amount of mercury released wouldn't be significantly different whether it's liquid or amalgam.

Some CFLs are now marketed as shatterproof, which if true, would alleviate concerns over mercury being emitted when a CFL breaks. We haven't tested these yet.—Kimberly Janeway | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Find out which CFLs lasted longest (available to subscribers) and look for our new report on CFLs in the October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, online and on newsstands in September.

Comments

[E. Nowak]

I use compact fluorescent light bulbs, but there are some places where they just don't work, like in my porch lights outdoors, bathrooms (too dim), and reading lights, three way lights. Are manufacturers addressing those concerns?

Also, what about LEDs? Do they have the same energy savings and if so, what are the drawbacks? Also -- where do I buy them?

[BH]

If you have found that CFLs are not bright enough for certain applications, you haven't tried the latest bulbs. They can equal the brightness of an incandescent bulb easily. Your concern may be that they do not reach full brightness quickly enough; the latest bulbs have made great strides in this area as well. We use the 20W equivalent CFLs from Home Depot in our multi-bulb bathroom fixtures, and they work great. The 60W equivalent bulbs start very quickly as well.