Over on Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds has been talking about his search for a good compact fluorescent lightbulb. I’ve been trying to convince my family to switch over, with mixed success, and in the process we’ve worked our way through a significant lists of the energy efficient bulbs.

In the press packet we received when we registered at the International Builder’s Show, there was an n:vision 100w (equivalent) bulb. You can’t get it at Amazon, but you can find it at Home Depot, and you can find a similar bulb at the Home Depot web site. I’ve installed the n:vision next to my favorite chair in the living room. The good news is that it has a fairly short warmup time and is warmer in color temperature than the CF bulbs I’ve installed in the overhead tracks here. The overhead bulbs make me feel virtuous, but they take the better part of two minutes to come to full brightness, and when they do they give the living room the warm glow of a steel-fab shop. Needless to say, my lovely wife is less than thrilled.

I think that compact fluorescent bulbs (and the more-expensive LED fixtures) are important for energy conservation. They represent small steps that, if taken by enough people, could add up to significant savings. Before they are widely adopted, though, manufacturers have got to solve the warmup time issue and the color balance. Until the color balance warms up considerably, compact fluorescents are going to remain niche products. Me? I life the n:vision but I’m going to keep looking. There have to be better bulbs out there…

Categories: Consumer