Honey, I Shrunk the CFLs: Crazy-Small New Bulb from SYLVANIA
The micro mini Twist CFL: Big light, small package.
When it comes to the advent of the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), I am proud to say that I was an early adopter. And while I instantly noticed a reduction in my monthly electric bill, I also noticed that the compact fluorescent was not without its flaws. I found that the early compact fluorescents were often too bulky, preventing their use in certain fixtures; that they took a while to ‘warm up’ to full their full brightness; and that the light they put off could be a little harsh, especially as compared to the warm glow of the Edison-era incandescent light bulb. But times have changed, and the new micro-mini Twist from SYLVANIA is evidence that CFLs don’t need to be big, slow, and bright to be effective.
>>See also: European Union Bans Incandescent Light Bulbs
The micro-mini’s size is one of its biggest appeals and is what jumped out at me right away. Featuring an ultra-small ¼ inch tube diameter and a compact integral electronic ballast, the 13W micro-mini is the smallest CFL on today’s market.
- » See also: Group Buying = Lowest Price for Solar. Ever.
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The bulb measures 3.7 inches long or over half an inch shorter than a standard incandescent lamp, a mere 4.4 inches. As you can see by the picture, the Twist is significantly smaller than the other 13W CFL I had in my home-lighting arsenal. The bulbs compact size makes it usable in virtually any lamp fixture, large or small - not a claim that can me bade about all CFLs.
The Soft White micro-mini compact fluorescent light bulb features a warm color temperature of 3000 Kelvin (K) and it boasts instant-on capabilities. The micro-mini Twist compact fluorescent lamps are available in 13-watt (W), 20W and 23W models. The mini CFL is designed to replace 60, 75 or 100W incandescent lamps and boasts an average rated lamp life of 12,000 hours.
Finally, I really enjoyed the ‘instant-on’ capabilities of the Twist. I often find that when I go to the bathroom and flip on the light, a CFL won’t reach its full luminescence by the time I am done with my business (thus cutting into valuable crossword puzzle and magazine time). This bulb, however, had no delay and was instantly bright as soon as I flipped the switch.
The only downside I found to the bulbs were how they were packaged. For a bulb that is claiming to be an energy saver, it seems that printing a picture of a tree on a useless cardboard tab is not exactly the best way to show consumers real concern for saving energy. I hope SYLVANIA will recognize this inconsistency and adjust the packaging accordingly.
Considering that changing just one 60W incandescent bulb to a 13W CFL will save the average American about $56 dollars over the life of the bulb. And that changing out all thirty-six bulbs (the number in the average American home), will amount to a savings of more than $2,000** over the life of the bulbs, it seems that an investment of $4.99 is a small price to pay for substantial energy savings.
**Based on 11 years at 10 cents/KwH.
Related posts:
Compact Fluorescent Backlash Strikes
60,000 CFLs and Counting
Images: Tim Hurst
Popular Mechanics crunched the numbers on mercury as well:
Approximately 0.0234 mg of mercury—plus carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide—releases into the air per 1 kwh of electricity that a coal-fired power plant generates. Over the 7500-hour average range of one CFL, then, a plant will emit 13.16 mg of mercury to sustain a 75-watt incandescent bulb but only 3.51 mg of mercury to sustain a 20-watt CFL (the lightning equivalent of a 75-watt traditional bulb). Even if the mercury contained in a CFL was directly released into the atmosphere, an incandescent would still contribute 4.65 more milligrams of mercury into the environment over its lifetime.
Yeah, but does it blend?
@Eric
I believe those little 3Watt bulbs are Cold Cathode…
is that the same as CFLs???
I have something very similar to these in the entertainment center ( I think I got them at HomeDepot )
http://www.goodmart.com/products/715572.htm
23w for 100watt equivalent, they seem a bit less efficient than the usual 20w for 100watts
so smaller ones lose about 15percent of efficiency.
@Eric
I believe the author was referring to the physical size of the bulb (not the wattage) when he said the 13W micro-mini was the smallest on the market.
Skip the CFL bulbs.
If you want safe bulbs that uses even less electricity
check out Earthled bulbs. Earthled makes led light
bulbs that use as little as 3 watts yet produce the
light output of a 40 watt bulb. They also have a bulb
that replaces a 100 watt incandescent and uses only
13 watts. Oh, and the best part they look like regular
light bulbs!
It sure would be a waste for me to buy all these new cool instant on bulbs and throw away all the long-lasting existing CFL bulbs. Maybe in 8 years when my CFL bulbs die LED bulbs will be cheaper and easier to find.
quit w/ the crying about mercury… what do you want less energy usage & recycling of bulbs or inefficient incandescent? seriously if it is that big of a deal to you then use a candle… oh wait that probably emits too much carbon for you. but back to the mercury… its not like they are making it up out of thin air. it was here long before we were here & i’m sure it will last longer than we will.
This is a good way of reducing your co2 emmissions. But buyer beware. The old saying applies, ” You get what you pay for!!” those 8 packs of cfls you see at Sams club and Ikea. Total crap!!! They are made in china by the train load. No quality control. Cheap is cheap. Look into american made cfls like TCP. a great company.. check out the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t10D6Ud4RuU
Incandescent + Nuclear power = No mercury.
Incandescent + Wind power = No mercury.
Incandescent + Solar power = No mercury.
Incandescent + Geothermal power = No mercury.
CCFL + anything = MERCURY.