This is almost certainly a power issue. CFs are just more touchy when it comes to clean power than incandescent bulbs.

This is a shot in the dark, but are your light switches the illuminated "glow in the dark" type by any chance? If so, you need to replace your light switches with NORMAL (non-glowing) light switches (if you want to give CFs another try), or you will likely prematurely wear out your CFs (I speak from experience here). The reason for this, is that those "glowing" light switches, actually let a little power run through the "light bulb" to power the "glow" on the switch. And while incandescent bulbs handle this fine, this causes CFs to constantly cycle on and off (even if you can't see any on/off flicker), and this constant of/off cycling will pre-maturely wear out the CFs...

Learned that in a brown-out we had (before I bought the big batch of CFLs). Only one was on at the time, but it burned out when the electricity sagged.

MetroMPG -

Yes, I have seen that too. Power outages are bad for CFLs.

We converted some of our dimming lamps to non-dimming because the "dimmable" CFLs wear out fast and cost alot. Dimmable light switches are the arch-enemy of CFLs.

Thanks DracoFelis, I hadn't heard about the "lighted switches" before. I have one switch that I will have to "de-CFL" for now.

We have had a few CFLs go bad prematurely, but not enough to make us stop using them.

CarloSW2

Good information to know. We have a photocell-controlled light that I would like to put CFLs in, but I thought that they could not be used in that application... Glad to hear that they can...

I made the switch a few years back, and saw my power bill get cut in half. Even with the CFLs we don't turn the lights on a lot. The in-roof cannister spotlights take a long time to warm up, especially in the winter, it can take as long as 5 minutes to have them provide full light, but I see that as an advantage when I'm stumbling around in the kitchen at 5AM looking for a coffee cup. I get time for my eyes to get used to the light.

I'm really looking forward to mainstream housing LEDs to come on the market. The CFLs are nice, but they aren't forever bulbs, I have to replace one about once every 2-3 months. Better than the incandescents which normally required a replacement every week or two. LEDs use a tenth of the power of the CFLs, so my power bill will drop again.

On the flashlights, I have one LED light that I've had for about 4 years now, bought it when they first came out, whenever that was. I don't care for it as it casts a very blue light, in a hard disk, but it is enough for me to get around the house without disturbing anyone. And, it's still on the original AA cell batteries, so that's good. No sign that the battery is getting weak, and I use it for about 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

I'm surprised every time I hear this, my experience has been the exact opposite. I've been using CFL's for about 10 years, and don't think I've had more than one or two fail total. I *have* had fixtures that ate incandescents at the rate of 1 or 2 per month, and found that switching those fixtures to CFL fixed the problem.

I'm also really pleased with the latest bulbs we've been getting. The wife and I both really like the bright white ones from HD, and the slow warm up times seem to be a thing of the past. We are down to a couple fixtures that are on dimmers in this house that don't have CFL bulbs.

Yes, because flourescents don't burn a hole in the floor.

Screw efficiency, let's talk about safety for a second. I have rugs, and I like them.

But the mercury!

i have taken the plunge i think i got um all theres soooo many lights in here so its saveing a ton of money.

This is a good point. Don't just throw them in the trash when they burn out

I bought cf's at lowes. They had one broken in a pack of 4 and it was marked down from $7.50 to $2. I found another pack with one broken out of 6 usually marked $7.48 and went to the customer service desk, they marked that one down too. One pack had warnings about mercury, but the other didn't. I don't know if all of them contain it. Seems like they'd have to carry a warning. Anyway, 8 CFLs for 4 dollars didn't seem too bad. ;)

Want to make a new observation on the floodlight style CFL cannister lights. Had one go out today, made a bad electrical burn smell when it went. When I removed it, it was far hotter than it should have been. Replaced it with a regular coily-type CFL, along with another burned out one since that's what I have, and the coily-type CFLs are working far better than the floodlight-type CFLs do. I'm sure I'll miss the slow lightup time of the floods this winter when I have to pad into the kitchen at 0-dark-30, but I think it'll be safer having lightbulbs with exposed elements up there. Not to mention those 2 bulbs by themselves do a better job of lighting the kitchen than the 6 floods did. I'm going to pull the other 4 floods out and put back 1 coiler, and just run the 3 bulbs.

Yep, about 1985. Lots better selection now though and I have replaced some of my older gear.

Best thing for large fixtures is to install electronic ballasts, give you flicker free light thats almost instant on.

yea, ive got ALL fluorescent lights in my house. Ive even got those shop fluorescents in my room! My parents even had fluorescents when they were first available. We have one of those rectangle shaped bulbs that hooks back to the fixture (before spirals came out) that prob from the 1990s and a few desk lamps with the tube fluorescents from the 1980s has never been replaced so far!
We used to have a satellite-ring shaped fluorescent tube that screws into a socket with metal brackets to hold up the tube. That thing was WAY loud though and we still have it somewhere but it was too loud to use.
The rest, are all spiral CFs. We've had a few burn out, but never any of the OLD ones. I dont know how much ive saved, since my parents had fluorescents all the time, but prob alot.

I think ive read somewhere that any incandescent bigger than about 30 watts??? (brake lights) is more efficient than LEDs ? (might have been an ancient calculation, when white LEDs were just invented :P) I prob, nowhere in the future replace my Spotlights anytime soon with LEDs. Too expensive for now, but im working on everything else, custom LED mods! (flashlights, car etc..)

Since this thread came back up... 6 months since my last post in this thread -- not 1 bulb had died.... They are now at an age ranging from 1.5-2 years old :) I'm running 10-12 independent bulbs.

The operating conditions range from open air - enclosed - enclosed as part of a fan (extra fan vibration) - in my bathroom (humidity) - and even above my stove/range. And, we've had at least two brown outs in the past month or so (lightning strikes). They are 13W Sylvania bulbs.

A few years back my wife was insisting that a lamp only lasted a few months and I was thinking it was well over a year... So I started writing the install date on every bulb and its surprising how long they last. Some last just over a year, others over 5 years. The compact fluorescents do not last nearly as long as the old larger style bulbs do for me though.

I've had a few burns outs, and destroyed a few in dimmer switches, but at a quarter each, I ain't crying. A lot anyway.

We have started using some LEDs now that 120v AC LED bulbs are available for uder $30 (cheaper than CFLs were when they first came out). They are nice for certain locations where the light color and directed beam work well. Some warm white LEDs are really nice, but not as efficient. Actually, for the measured light output, CFLs may be more efficient. I need to do more measuring. I did find that the Kill-a-Watt meter actually appears to use more power than the LED bulbs that I have, so it is hard to check their power usage with it.

I have had a few CFLs burn out quickly (within a year), but also have had some last 7+ years. I have heard that a major cause of early failure is not having them tight in the socket. Incandescents can stand a poor connection, but it is damaging to the CFLs. Check them once in a while.

Mercury in CFLs: the mercury contained in CFLs is recycled when you recycle the bulb, and if your power is generated by coal burning power plants, the savings in mercury put into the air by using CFLs instead of incandescents is greater than the mercury contained in the bulb (for the life of the bulbs). Also, incandescents contain lead in the solder in the base which means that they should also be recycled properly, not just dumped in the trash.