Those Harsh, Twisty CFL Lightbulbs Are On Their Way Out
Goodbye, totally harsh lighting that makes all our selfies look like they were taken in a dentist’s office. The good news came out today that General Electric will stop production and sales of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), AKA those curly energy-efficient lightbulbs that are good for the earth but SO BAD for ambience. From now on, the company will put the spotlight on halogen incandescents and on high-efficiency LEDs.
Basically, CFLs are really just not great at being lights. Even though they do use less energy than LEDs, they aren’t great at dimming, can be slow to warm up, have an ugly coil, and just don’t provide a great quality of light. Oh, and sometimes they have traces of mercury and other toxic substances in them! Plus, now the costs of LEDs have gone down and are on par with CFLs in terms of price (now you can get a bulb for less than $5), and the design has become more sophisticated.
LEDs have also worked on their color temperature abilities (basically how yellow or blue the light shines.) Plus, LEDs use less energy than CFLs, which makes them much better for the environment and because they emit less heat, they alre also better for your electricity bills! “All the reasons why consumers didn’t like CFLs, LEDs solve; for all the reasons consumers loved CFLs, LEDs do better,” Daraius Patell, North America Consumer Lighting Leader at GE, said in a company statement.
CFLs are literally going to fade away from stores. IKEA’s lighting department hasn’t been selling them since last year and soon Sam’s Club and Walmart will have fewer CFL options.
But GE will continue to sell its many other types of bulbs, like incandescent and halogen. The only technology it’s phasing out is CFL. “Now is the right time to transition from CFL to LED,” said John Strainic, chief operating officer of consumer and conventional lighting at GE Lighting. “There are so many choices that a consumer has for one socket in their home that it’s overwhelming. This will help simplify that.”
No complaints here!
Are you SO EXCITED to kiss CFLs goodbye? Tell us @britandco!
(Photos via Getty)
