CFL Bulb Buying Tips
Posted by Ed Szajniak on Monday, March 16th, 2009
How do incandescent bulbs and CFLs compare?
Incandescent bulbs produce light by passing electricity through a small wire filament, heating it until it glows. Compact fluorescent lamps use an efficient chemical reaction to produce light, which requires 66%-75% less electricity to produce the same light output as a comparable incandescent bulb.
What are the different base types of compact fluorescent bulbs?
CFLs are available in three base types: screw base, pin base, and GU24.
- Screw base bulbs, which have the familiar Edison screw socket, are the type used to replace existing incandescent bulbs. Simply swap out the old incandescent bulb for your new CFL and save significant energy costs.
- Pin-base CFLs have small plastic bases with two or four pins and are designed to be used with separate ballasts mounted in fixtures designed for pin-base CFLs.
- The GU24 socket and base system is designed to replace the Edison socket and base in energy efficient lighting fixtures to match the newest ENERGY STAR requirements. Fixtures that use GU24 bulbs are designed to avoid backward compatibility with screw base bulbs, guaranteeing higher energy efficiency.
Read more about compact flourescent bulbs through Amazon’s CFL Buying Guide
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