I have been very interested in LED bulbs but todate they are difficult to find and very pricey compared to others. As they reach mass production, I will likely switch over to them. I am sure that you can get a truer white out of an LED light than a CFL.

I choose Sylvania for my CFL’s because they have been whiter than GE in my experience (I have some of both and my place is very dark so the same wattage in Sylvania and GE, the Sylvania produces a whiter light which ultimately feels like more light in the same room.

a 100W incandent ~equals~ 23W CFL or 3W LED

The light produced is equivalent in Lumens.
The colors differ slightly. If that is important, a person can shop for their preference.

The CFLs vary with the gas used in the bulb. There are versions designed to look like ‘natural’ light.

The LEDs are manufactured with different color DIODES- (THE ‘D’ in the name) and can be customized. We will be able to decorate with colors from our lighting, rather than needing to repaint when our mood changes!

The energy costs are strikingly different.

They are illegal to throw in the trash because the mercury is almost impossible to contain in a landfill. Eventually it WILL end up in water supplies & the food chain.

Do you really want to leave that mess to your children and grandchildren over a few cents?

We’ve finally established SOME resemblance of a habit to turn off lights, but the little ones still don’t do it all the time.

I’ve also used up some of the 5-yr-warranty bulbs to the point where they don’t even light up the room in less than 2 years. I think there’s definitely a difference in brands or something. I’m going to stop getting the cheap ones on sale and see if that helps.

Also, if the area is open – e.g. hallway, living room, how are you going to keep a cat away from the area? It’s not like you expect to break a bulb. By the time you get off the chair and prepare for the cleanup, your cat will sure come to investigate. The amount of mercury is small, less than in old thermometers, but for a small animal it may be more harmful.

I don’t know if it worth it to me. I have a few CFL bulbs in my home – mostly overhead, and I’be been generally pleased with them, but I am reluctant to buy more of them. I am all for saving energy, but my cat comes first.

If you’re really worried about breakage, reserve them for use only in overhead lights and as the Bradys used to say ‘Don’t play ball in the house.’

Just FYI, I have found GE’s to be the best of all I have tried. Some of the ones I have are now 10 years old, have survived moves, spills, and still work fine. The delay on the GE bulbs seems to be shorter than on other brands.

The worst I’ve found were the floodlight CFLs (these were Sylvanias)… they spot up badly after awhile and take quite a while to reach full brightness.

All in all, I’m happy with them, especially the GE (no, I don’t work for them) and fine the light quality to be quite good. My biggest complaint is the relative scarcity of dimmable CFLs. Some of the lights I use most often are dimmable….

Also, there are CFLs that claim to use lower levels of toxic materials that may be worth a look….

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

Not only does this entry from snopes.com debunk some myths about CFLs that people might be concerns about, but it helps to educate even more.

Best to you!!!!

As for the cost, a reader gave me a tip that Walmart has come out generic ones under the Great Value label (about 4 for $8.00).

As for your old bulbs, you can always sell them at a garage sale. I did that with ours, except for a few I kept around as emergency and to use for a few sockets where the CFLs wouldn’t fit.