Rated 4 out of 5 by MisterCFL Be sure to check the packaging! 'Cause, when they work, they work great!
I ordered these bulbs in September of 2011. I ordered extras so that I would have replacements when they would burn out.
Well, I use these bulbs outdoors, they are on from sunset to sunup every day of the year, so I easily got over 5500 hours out of this bulb before it needed to be replaced, but not quite the 8000 hours claimed. Still, a great bulb in that it only draws 4 Watts, and give off the lumens of a 25 to 30 watt bulb.
The "check your packaging" I caution, is an outgrowth of today when I went to get another of the bulbs that arrived in 2011, when I went to screw it int he socket, it didn't work. I could hear the fluorescent element was loose inside the enclosure. Fortunately, I had another (the last one) from the original order, and it was fine. But since it was 15 months since my original purchase, shame on me for not checking all the bulbs before I stored them away on a shelf. So there's no way to get a replacement at this late date.
All in all, a great product!
January 20, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Webmaster56 Bathroom Bulb
Uses 4 watts, gives off 25 watts of cool white light and it don't blow my eyeballs out in the Bathroom.
July 10, 2011
Rated 2 out of 5 by Calny Hard to find 25W equivalent bulbs
These bulbs are nice because they are not as bright and harsh as the ones you find in Home Depot. If you have a fixture with 6 or more bulbs you really don't want 40W equivalents. The problem is that even though they are 2700K their color is inconsistent. They also burn out faster than incadescant bulbs so I have stopped buying them and converted to the 40W GE versions. They're a little too bright but at least you don't have to replace them every 3 months.
June 10, 2011
Rated 5 out of 5 by jrm4723 Excellent quality and great energy savings.
I purchased this bulb to replace a 40 watt bulb in my vanity mirror. It decreased the total wattage from 200 watts down to only a total of 40 watts. The energy savings was fantastic! The light quality is excellent and these bulbs definitely deliver the same or superior degree of light. I will and have re-purchased these bulbs again.
June 10, 2011
Rated 3 out of 5 by Borg32 Just OK
I've had 6 of these for about a year. They're not too bright, but adequate for where I use them, and the next power up in this style was double which was too bright for me. They take a little longer to reach full brightness than some other new CFL's, but not too bad. One out of six died within a year, and three others are noticeably dimmer than the others when you first turn them on. I'm hoping the rest will last long enough that there will be a better alternative available when I replace them all, but they are okay for now.
June 10, 2011
Rated 3 out of 5 by ChrisV Works well but doesn't last long
I have bought almost every kind of CFL imaginable, and almost anything that is not a plain uncovered spiral has not worked out - they just don't last. I don't know if it is because they are covered and therefore hotter, if the other designs are a generation behind, or what. It could be the usage pattern that globes have, with more frequent on off cycles in bathrooms, but I have had spirals do fine in those cases. I have 10 of these installed in my house, and in aprox 2.5 years I have replaced over 10 of them. So much for saving money. Plus with CFLs it is harder to match the color and the look, so you are stuck with the same brand even if you aren't happy with the performance. I now write down the install date on the base of each bulb so I know how long they last and would recommend the same for you.
June 7, 2011