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Fixtures For Compact Fluorescent Lights

Until recently, high-quality attractive fixtures designed for compact fluorescent lighting were hard to find. That is quickly changing though. Major fixture manufacturers are adapting their products for compact fluorescent lighting. When using standard light fixtures, you'll have to use integral compact fluorescent lights or modular units with adapters to fit in standard light bulb sockets. Sometimes compact fluorescent lights are too tall or the bases too wide to fit into these fixtures.

There are many different shapes and sizes of compact fluorescent lights on the market, so finding the best product may take some looking. For standing lamps and table lamps with wire harps to support the lamp shades, you might need to buy larger harps to fit the taller compact fluorescent lights. Or, with some adapters, you can fit the harps into built-in slots on the adapters, raising the shade. Again, it may take a little trial and error to find what you need. Be aware that compact fluorescent lights (with ballasts) are substantially heavier than standard light bulbs. This added weight could make some floor or table lamps unstable and liable to tip over. For recessed down lights, spotlights, and track lights, the problem may be that the compact fluorescent lights are too wide at the base to fit into the can or cone. Some compact fluorescent lights are tapered at the base to solve this problem. Never use compact fluorescent lights in circuits that have dimmers. Currently available products cannot be dimmed. Doing so could lead to a fire hazard. Compact fluorescents can be used in three-way fixtures however.

Compact fluorescent lights save a lot of money compared to incandescent lights, but they also cost a lot more to buy initially. To figure out how much money they save, you have to look at both the purchase and operating cost. It may surprise you to learn that the light bulbs you currently use cost a lot more to operate than they cost to buy. When you spend 50¢ for a 75-watt light bulb, you're committing yourself to spending more than $5 for electricity (at 8¢/kWh) over that bulb's expected 750-hour life. With a compact fluorescent light, you spend $15-$20 to buy it (less if your utility company offers a rebate), but you save money in the long run, because it uses a lot less electricity and lasts a lot longer. Most compact fluorescent lights last about 10,000 hours. The longer you keep a particular light on each day, the faster a compact fluorescent replacement will pay for itself. If the light is on just two hours a day, it will pay for itself after the fifth year. If it's on eight hours a day, though, you'll come out ahead during the second year.

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