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.
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
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
I did a bunch of research on CFLs as I am an insurance underwriter and received a potential product-liabilty account of a CFL manufacturer.
After reading tons and tons of data I came to the following conclusions:
1) The average CFL now has between 2-4mg of mercury, less than what would be emitted by coal plants
2) They are totally safe unless broken. You MUST recycle them at your local hazardous waste drop off. Never put them in the garbage
3) If one is broken, it is advised to remove children and pets. Then put large pieces into a plastic bag. Next use tape to pick up the smaller and invisible pieces. Put all of this in the plastic bag, and take to the hazardous waste facility.
4) Under NO circumstances should you vacuum over where one was broken, as this will blast the microscopic mercury all over your house.
That said, are they the perfect solution? No, LED’s and nuclear/wind/solar probably are. But they are a step in the right direction. The biggest concern I have regarding CFL’s is not them breaking in homes but in warehouses where 20-30 of them could be damaged at once by mishandling. There could be a serious mercury exposure there (why I didn’t write the account)
Also, as Evado said, the quality of your bulb makes a big difference. From reviews I read there is a big difference between varying bulbs so a little research is suggested before buying a bunch of them. (although his post seemed more like a commercial than an honest comment)
I have been using these bulbs for a while and they do not last 11 years, they last longer than incandescents but not 11 years.
How many average people are going to throw these things in the trash when they quit working? I would say most people will and they will be crushed in the landfill and spill the mercury.
What is the total energy burden of these light bulbs? Include the energy required to produce the materials and then recycle or dispose of the the waste when used. I doubt it is that much better, and please quit basing the calculations on the best case lifetime…I have had several quit after one year.
Ye gods, one hotly-contested and poorly-researched rant two years ago, blowing an EPA *guideline* (discussing how to clean up a broken *tube* — the long ones you find in ceiling fixtures in stores) out of proportion, and suddenly we have a pile of idiots screaming in terror in the shadow of the looming mercury demon lurking in our light fixtures.
Do you people grasp *how many* CFLs have to be broken to obtain enough mercury to actually go airborne and/or cause damage to the human body? Do you understand that a single watch battery contains five times as much mercury as a CFL? Do you monkeys realize most CFLs don’t actually end their lives in pieces?
You do not have a contamination emergency in your home if a CFL breaks. You get a broom and dustpan, sweep it up, and dispose of it. There’s more friggin’ mercury in your *thermostat* than in *six hundred* CFLs.
Just stop it. It’s an absolutely stupid and irrational argument.
Wow — what a bunch of snotty green whiners. If you’re convinced the puny amount of mercury in a CFL is worse that the amount of atmospheric mercury which will be saved by their use, feel free to light your low-impact homes with organic flax oil lamps or just sit in the dark and complain.
But kindly STFU with your hysterical fear-mongering. Nothing is good enough for you, is it? It’s your kind which regulated the holier-than-though environmental movement to a 30-year ghetto of hippy dippy cultural irrelevancy. GET OUT OF THE WAY and allow us to achieve energy independence before the oil runs out. ktnxbye
About a dozen years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Edison home in Fort Myers, Florida. At that time, and perhaps still today, there were a number of incandescent light bulbs burning that had been installed in the home by Edison himself. I cannot remember the exact lifetime that they had already achieved, but I do know that Thomas Edison died in 1931.
Those bulbs were low wattage DC bulbs, but they still worked after many decades of use.
My only point is that the relatively short lifetime of commercially available incandescent bulbs is not a limitation of the basic technology - it is a result of many decision made during the manufacturing process development that include such items as just how perfect to make the bulbs, and how frequently the company hopes that people will have to replace them.
As Evado said so eloquently, “cheap is cheap.”
BTW - if the electricity supplying incandescent bulbs comes from a nuclear reactor, there is no risk of mercury being released to the environment.
The life of the bulb will be significantly reduced by cycling it on and off. My off the cuff research based on the few facts the manufacturers would release indicates if you turn cfl’s off and on more than every 20 minutes or so you’ll pay more in bulb replacement cost than you save in energy cost. That doesn’t include any costs for disposal or energy cost to manufacture the bulbs.
Now if only somebody would make mini-cfl’s with chandelier bases!
I surprised that we have not seem more LED bulbs, LED bulbs could be designed to be compact and instant on.
These CFLs don’t last as long as advertised. I switched a bunch of bulbs in my house and half of them have died after 2 months. 10 year life? Yeah right. These are less reliable than conventional bulbs.
I am allergic to these bulbs. They are toxic:
http://www.emfsolutions.ca/compact_flourescent_bulbs_are_dangerous.htm