I Officially Hate CFL's.

Ok, I'm a hater. Even worse, I'm a non-green hater. I used to just have a preference for those old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs we've used our whole lives, but also had an open mind. I try not to do things just because that what we've always done, I like to have a reason.

First: there's price. The 60 watt full spectrum bulbs run about $.80 each. The 13 watt (60 watt replacement) CFL's range from $6. to $8. each - that's up to ten times as much.

Then there's ease of use: We have two identical lamps in our bedroom, and another set in our upstairs living space. Just so happens that sometime last spring, in a fit of greenness Harry (NOT ME) bought some CFL's and replaced one bulb in each set. In the bedroom, the light on my side is the incandescent. I flip the switch and it comes on - a nice warm 60 watt glow that I read by every night. The light on Harry's side is the CFL. You flip the switch, and wait to see if you have the right setting for a second or two - then you reach up and fiddle with the bulb, then it flickers for a few seconds, then you get a feeble glow that strengthens to about the 60 watt equivalent in about two or three minutes. In the living room the 60 watter acts as it always has - flip the switch - fiat lux! but again the CFL is always flickering and weak.

Then there's all those promises about longevity: as of this morning, I have replaced BOTH of those original bulbs installed last spring. The living-room one was defective from the get-go and was replaced within the first two weeks, and the bedroom one refused to shine even with the kindest of ministrations this morning.

THEN there's this little warning on the CFL - DO NOT THROW IN THE TRASH CONTAINS MURCURY DISPOSE OF AS HAZARDOUS WASTE never saw that on the ol' GE soft-whites.

Finally, the patriotic angle - the CFL's I have are all made in mainland China. The old-fashioned bulbs I have in the house are made either in Canada, or in the good old US of A.

Until the government decides I can't have them any more, I'm sticking with the incandescents. I'll just turn them off when I don't need them to save the planet. Thank you.

~M.E.