This web page pays a respect to a faithful servant, the Osram/Sylvania CF23EL compact fluorescent lamp.

I would like to compliment Sylvania on the especially good service I have obtained from this compact fluorescent lamp which I bought in July 2000.

The lamp has been faithfully burning 16 hours a day, 365 days a year since it was installed.

Today October 22, 2004, I came home to find that the lamp has, after 24,816 hours of service, finally gone out.

In 2000, this sort of lamp design was relatively new, and I had considered it to be quite expensive at $13 (They are much less expensive now).

I see now that it has saved me approximately $186 in electicity over the four years of its life. This does not include the cost of having to replace perhaps 8 incandescent lamps over the same time period.

The reason for the savings is that these lamps give three times as much light as a regular incandescent light bulb for the same wattage. This lamp consumed 23 watts, but made as much light as a 75 watt lamp.

The lamp in question is a CF23EL/830 model. It is representative of most compact flourescent lamps. I reccommend to anyone that using these kind of flourescent lamps, which screw right into any lamp socket which would normally take a regular 'light bulb', is a wise investment and will save many times the higher initial price of the lamp.

As the regular light bulbs in my home have failed, I have replaced all of them with compact flourescent lamps except in certain places where an incandescent lamp is better. I estimate that over the last four years, I have saved $2047 in direct electric cost.

I am no ecologist and certainly not one to cowtow to the shrill demands of the green movement, nor do I set the thermostat to 78 when I am home during the 100-degree summertime just because someone says I should (They can do so for themselves, I won't talk them out of it). I am, however, compelled to point out that using less electricity is less costly and good for the environment preserving natural resources.


A final note is that the very cheaply made compact flourescent lamps made in China do not last as long as a quality product and have been widely known to ignite and cause fires, so it is worthwhile to purchase a quality brand. Even the cheap ones, however, will net a sizeable savings, so in any case, when it is time to re-lamp, go for flourescent!

Update - it seems that almost all of the darn things are Chinese products now with costs driven to nothing in sacrifice of quality and safety. Buyer beware and don't try to save every last cent or you will get a real piece of junk. "you get what you pay for" is most likely.