A few arguments were made against CFL light bulbs in a previous thread, including:
- 1) They're not dimmable.
- GE among others make dimmable CFLs in every wattage regular CFLs come in. In comparison to incandescent bulbs which can dim to 0%, dimmable CFLs can dim to 20%. They are a little pricier than the regular CFLs. They can be use in any dimmer socket.
Ace Hardware - Dimmable CFL
List of dimmable CFLs
- 2) They contain mercury.
- While the average amount of mercury in a CFL bulb was 5mg, Philips has cut the mercury content to below 3mg, and bulbs will use progressively less mercury as time goes on. If a CFL breaks in a room in your house, it is estimated with ventilation to the outside, the relatively low mercury levels in the air will be below the safety limit set by the federal government within an hour.
- 3) They don't provide the same quality of light of an incandescent.
- Modern CFLs match or exceed the light quality emitted by an incandescent. Light quality issues are a thing of the past.
- 4) They don't light up as quickly as an incandescent.
- Modern CFLs light up instantly fairly bright, and light up to full brightness within 30 seconds.
- 5) They buzz.
- CFLs on the market now produce no or a virtually inaudible amount of buzzing.