For the past ten years or so, the lighting industry has been hard at work developing what are called "Compact Fluorescent Bulbs" or CFLs. Don't let the name fool you, these are not your grandfather's fluorescent lights. They use an "electronic ballast" to provide power to the bulb, which cycles power to the bulb some 30,000 times per second, eliminating the annoying just-visible flicker of some of the older fluorescent tube bulbs. Better bulb phosphors allow control of the "color temperature" of the bulbs, resulting in a warm color that is similar to regular incandescent bulbs. Other "colors" are also available, the range is from a warm yellowish to a bright blue-white (typical of the older tube bulbs).
What are the advantages of these bulbs? First of all, they consume 1/3 to 1/4 of the energy (Watts) used by their incandescent or halogen counterparts. This means that every hour of every day, you're saving energy costs. Secondly, they last 2x to 10x longer than their traditional equivalents, meaning fewer bulb replacements and the associated maintenance troubles and costs.
We highly recommend the Eco Home Center as a local Durango, Colorado source for energy efficient Compact Fluorescent light bulbs. As part of their full line of efficiency and green building products, they stock a complete selection of bulbs by Technical Consumer Products, Inc. (please contact TCP directly if you are a dealer in another city who would like to carry their bulbs). The Eco Home Center sells to businesses and households in the Durango area.
The following is a list of a few of the common TCP brand bulbs that we recommend for specific uses:
| Part # | Configuration | Watts | Lumens | Lumens/Watt | Lifetime | Length | Usage |
| 11314 | A-Shape | 14 | 800 | 57.1 | 8000 hr | 4.500 | 60W replacement |
| 11316 | A-Shape | 16 | 850 | 53.1 | 8000 hr | 5.900 | 60W replacement |
| 1R3014 | R30 Flood | 14 | 650 | 46.4 | 8000 hr | 5.450 | 65W flood |
| 1R3016 | R30 Flood | 16 | 750 | 46.9 | 8000 hr | 5.750 | 75W flood |
| 2P3819 | PAR38 Flood | 19 | 950 | 50.0 | 8000 hr | 5.900 | Outdoor use flood |
| 1R4023 | R40 Flood | 23 | 1250 | 54.3 | 6000 hr | 6.500 | 90W flood |
Click on any bulb's "Part #" to display a picture of the bulb. Pictures are not necessarily to scale, all bulbs are shown at a similar size so you can examine them more clearly.
Key:
Configurations: A-Shape is the familiar "bulb" shape
Lumens: a measure of lamp brightness, used for comparisons between different models
Lumens/Watt: a measure of lamp efficiency, how much light does it put out for the electrical power consumed.
Lifetime: measured in hours
Length: referred to in bulb catalogs as Maximum Overall Length (MOL), the length of the bulb from the tip of the base to the end of the bulb.
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