Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks100-Watt Replacement Bulbs

  Regular incandescent 100-watt light bulbs are the first to be phased out
under new government regulations.  Starting January 1st...no more are being imported or produced. Consumer Reports just finished testing energy-efficient alternatives.

  People are buying up the last regular incandescent 100-watt light bulbs.

  Consumer Reports tested your replacement options — C-F-Ls and halogens,
as well as a combination halogen-C-F-L bulb from GE.

  That bulb had trouble in the rapid-cycle test, where the light is turned on and
off every two minutes.

  Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman/Consumer Reports: "With the six we tested, the CFL part burned out after only about around three thousand cycles — that's much faster than any other bulb."

  Consumer Reports also evaluated seven regular C-F-Ls. They promise to last
10 to 12-thousand hours. And they say they produce 16-hundred lumens, the
equivalent of a 100-watt incandescent.

   Testers use this equipment to measure a bulb's brightness after it's been
burning three-thousand hours.

  Celia Lehrman:  "With all the CFLs we tested, the brightness dropped — down to between
1,280 lumens and about 14-hundred lumens."

  Among 100-watt equivalent C-F-Ls, Consumer Reports says your best
choices are the ECObulb Plus from Feit Electric for around $2. And
for even less, the Utilitech Soft White from Lowe's, and the EcoSmart Soft
White from Home Depot.

  Celia Lehrman: "Halogen bulbs don't last anywhere near as long and they won't save you
very much money, but they did keep their full brightness in our tests."

  Consumer Reports recommends the 100-watt equivalent Philips Halogena
Energy Saver for $5.50.

  A plus — halogens can be dimmed, unlike many C-F-Ls, and they reach
full brightness immediately.

  Consumer Reports calculates that C-F-Ls can save you $100 or more over the lifetime of the bulb. Halogens will only save you about $3.