Shopping for Energy Efficient Light Bulbs #GELighting #Cbias

When we first finished off our lower level, we outfitted all of the lighting fixtures with (then newly released) CFL bulbs.  We had heard that they were very energy efficient and would save us lots of money.  They were expensive, but we figured that they were an investment as we were told that they lasted about 7 years.


No sooner had we screwed the last one in when we began discovering a few things we didn’t like so much about them.  We found that they took a few minutes to “warm up” when we turned them on. Once they were on, the light was harsh and very “white”, which I didn’t like.  We also found that they did not work with the dimmer switches we had installed.  When they began burning out after just a few months of use (seems the seven years referred to a bulb that was constantly on, not one that was turned on and off frequently like ours were), we decided to go back to the traditional bulbs.


Many years later, I’m ready to give the new energy efficient bulbs a try.  GE has made lots of improvements on those bulbs we tried years ago. (I like to think of them as the beta batch!)  Today’s lights are much lower in price, have an instant on feature – no warming up, and come in a “soft white” light just like the incandescent bulbs.


I was invited to shop for some GE energy efficient bulbs to put around my house and see what kind of savings I might be able to rack up. LJ and I set off to my local Walmart to see what we could find.

Right away I saw a sign talking about special pricing for energy efficient bulbs!

It was kind of cool to see special displays around the store featuring the bulbs as well.

 I like the idea of these bulbs since they are a more traditional shape, give off the “soft white” light, and are only $5 and change each.

I was really interested in this LED bulb.  It claims to last over 22 years!! Plus I like the fact that it doesn’t have any mercury in it.  While we are careful to properly dispose of our CFL bulbs, not everyone is and I shutter to think of all that mercury getting into our drinking water.  LED bulbs solve that particular concern. The price is a bit higher at $39.88 per bulb, but I hope that will come down as these become more common.


We eventually decided to grab one LED bulb and several of the CFL soft white so we could compare the difference and see which we like better.  We figured out how much we would save using GE’s handy savings calculator (and you can too).  


Because the calculator only factors CFL bulbs, the numbers I will share with you do not reflect the added savings from our LED bulb. Just by replacing 3 bulbs in our family room with CFL bulbs, we will be saving over $23 a year and about $130 over the life of the bulbs. Not bad, huh?

So what are my thoughts?  The GE Soft White Halogen CFLs really do feel more like the traditional bulbs than any other I’ve tried. They dim without any problems and will work for me in most areas.  I could see myself using them all over the house. The “Bright From the Start” feature means no more lag time between flicking the switch and getting full light.  They really have come a long way!


I really like the LED light, but the price makes me hesitate to put them all over the house.  Now, if it really does last 22 years, it would be more than worth it for those need-a-ladder-to-change-the-bulb cathedral ceiling fixtures, wouldn’t it?!

Save even more!!!

   I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric