Defective

"Our sheepdog is defective. She falls over."
Reference: Dave and the Giant Pickle, Veggie Tales:
Junior Asparagus: Our sheep are different. They fall over.

Alarm defect

(Damitra gets home, opens the door, and comes inside. Sydney stands around, watching silently.)
Griffin: Where's the alarm? Sydney, you're supposed to bark when someone comes to the door.
Damitra: Defective!
Griffin: And she's past warranty!
Damitra: What are we going to do?
Griffin: See, Sydney, you're supposed --
Sydney: RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF
Griffin: Well, it's too late now. Look here, she's already inside the house.
Sydney: RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF
Griffin: Sydney!
Sydney: RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF
Griffin: Sydney, your alarm functionality does not meet requirements!
Damitra: I think she's barking at you because you're being weird, honey.

Sydney's compact fluorescent lightbulb review

Introduction

Griffin got on this strange kick a while back replacing all (well, not all) of our lightbulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). He said something about saving electricity. I don't know anything about that, but then he said that meant saving money and more money means more food, so I'm in. I'm doing my part with a review of all the different brands we've tried.

Brand Comparison

We've compared 60-watt-equivalent spiral bulbs from several different brands. Pictures are below. Miscellaneous other bulbs are discussed below that. We like n:vision and GE, Bright Effects is pretty good, and Sylvania is not so good. Your own preference will depend on what color of light you like. These are all labeled "soft white," but there's still some variation in color.

n:vision and Commercial Electric (Home Depot): I think these are the same manufacturer under two brand names -- they were the same price and seem identical. Warm light, and they turn on instantly.

GE (Target, Wal-mart): Warm light, quite good. They tend to use a bit more power and give a bit more light than other brands. One failed after only a couple of weeks (in the enclosed kitchen fixture, which I think should have been fine, but maybe not).

Bright Effects (Lowe's): Light slightly colder than the above, but still good. Two bulbs (but not the spiral) failed after a couple of weeks, see below (but they were both on photo-sensors, which the packaging recommends against).

Sylvania (Lowe's, grocery stores): Light noticeably colder and more blueish compared to the others, although they're still labeled "Soft White."

The light from each bulb is quite a bit brighter and whiter than it looks in the picture, but you can see the difference in color, especially with the Sylvania.

Brand (where found)	Picture
Sylvania incandescent, for comparison
n:vision (Home Depot) Commercial Electric (Home Depot)
GE (Target, Wal-mart)
Bright Effects (Lowe's)
Sylvania (Lowe's, grocery stores)

Specialized bulbs:

• Bright Effects 60w-equivalent enclosed bulbs: They look like normal lightbulbs, but a bit larger. Useful if you don't want a spiral bulb visible. These turn on instantly, but come on very dim at first, maybe 1/4 or 1/3 brightness. They reach full brightness after a minute or so. One of four failed after a couple of weeks, but it was on a photosensor, which the package says not to do.
  
• n:vision 60w-equivalent enclosed bulb: Much like the Bright Effects, maybe a bit brighter on startup.
  
• GE 50/100/150w-equivalent spiral: for our 3-setting floor lamp. Works great, nice light.
• Bright Effects 75w-equivalent outdoor floods: For the back patio. Good light, but start off rather dim. One failed after a couple of weeks, but it was on a photosensor, which the package says not to do. The second (also on a photosensor) is still fine.
• n:vision 90w-equivalent outdoor flood: Just got this one, seems good so far. Instant on.
  

Notes

The Energy Star web site has lots of good information about CFLs. You should probably buy only CFLs that have the Energy Star logo, because they have to meet certain standards to use it.

Most CFLs take half a second or so to turn on. All of the n:vision ones that we've tried come on instantly.

CFLs come on at somewhat less than full brightness and warm up to full brightness within a minute or so. It's hard to judge, but the spiral bulbs seem to come on pretty bright, maybe 3/4 brightness, and warm up quickly. It's noticeable if you pay attention, but not a big problem.

I should point out that CFLs contain a small amount of mercury. It's not enough to be dangerous even if a bulb breaks. However, you shouldn't throw them away in normal trash. Again, see Energy Star.

Kitchen help

We are helpful! (From preparations for the New Year's party.)

Happy New Year enchilada

There seem to be a lot of enchiladas left over from the Patels' New Year party. I hope they don't go to waste. Hint, hint, hint.