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
I just replaced 6-100w & 8-60w incandescents with CFLs I bought at SAMS CLUB. The reason I decided to buy them was the cost, approximately $12 for ea. set respectively ($25 total for 14 bulbs). They were Sylvania bulbs but I did not notice where they were made. I replaced them at the first of the month so I plan to see how much I actually save using them. I’m not an enviro freak… I could care less whether somebody thinks we’re saving the earth with these bulbs. The only thing I and most people care about is saving money because if it is not cost efficient people will not spend their hard earned money for the “feel good save the earth green mantra” that is constantly being chanted. Plus, wake up people the time frame for money savings is limited… Oil, Gas, Electric companies may be in essence “public utilities” but they will not lose out due to the green movement… and you’ll see them adjust consumer prices to make sure they continue to earn money. We can see this with hybrid cars and gas prices. It will happen with our electric bills too. Prices will inflate… people will be taxed… all to “save the world”. You’ll see the millions and millions of CFL bulbs ending up in landfills will make the news one day and in part this CFL thing will backfire, I think. The important thing is to be moderately conservative and balanced in your approach to energy consumption and be a good steward of your money and our resources because there is no such thing as pure energy without harmful byproducts and most likely will never be. Just realism and good perspective… not pessimism.
The micro mini Twist CFL is a delight! The price is right for the new extended life too. For folks that are concerned about Hg contamination, some of the new LED lights are very realistically priced considering their life-expectancy, and won’t shatter easily. Battery cars are next and then we are on our way to a benzine molecule free world and you can put a pink ribbon on that! America the future is yours if only you would embrace it enthusiastically!
Home Depot just announced that they would be accepting old CFLs for recycling, no purchase necessary. Starting Tuesday.
Soon other chain stores will be accepting them.
As for the mercury, as others pointed out above, incandescents put many times more mercury into our air that CFLs ever could, even if every CFL is thrown out. And with proper recycling, the mercury pollution from CFLS will plummet.
Ian said it best.
People. Please stop believing LED will be the wave of the future. The efficiency of LED isn’t there yet. The real issue is the fact that the LED chip melts at a faily low temperature. When you start getting LED chips that are over 7-8 watts, they need to be used with a heat sink. This is very difficult to achieve in even a 15w screw in bulb. Normally, you would make a dedicated fixture for each LED chip with power supply and heat sink. But we’re talking 40 lpw at best. cfl’s do at least 60, most good ones are doing 70 now. Now GE and maybe Sylania are talking about using nanotechnology on incandescent bulbs that GE plans to have about 30 lpw bulbs on the market by 2010, and later 60 lpw bulbs. This will surely render LED to a small neich market.
Mercury: you get about 450mg when you get a filling at the dentists office. Typical CFL contains about 6mg. The problem with CFL mercury is that most people don’t recycle them and the mercury among other nasties pile up in landfills, water, etc. in large numbers that cases a problem.
Sylvania CFL “Instant-On” … Give Me A Break
Just measured relative brightness versus time (every 10 seconds for 3 minutes from initial turn-on) of a New Sylvania CF23EL/MicroMini using a simple light brightness meter. Test performed at 70 degrees F, lamp mounted upright in table lamp fixture in dark room. Light sensor located 2 feet from lamp.
Results: Maximum brightness is achieved at 60 seconds from initial start..
Maximum brightness is 72% brighter than initial start brightness. (Very noticeable with naked-eye) “They don’t get bright until warmed up”
Also: The (2) new bulbs I tested stabilized in brightness after 3 minutes but had dropped off 8% from the maximum brightness achieved at 60 seconds.
“Instant-On” does not equal “Instant Bright”
Does anyone have access to Sylvania/Osram’s Performance and Life-Test data on these blubs?
@Robert Harding
So, they were 72% of peak brightness right when they were turned on? That’s less than 3db difference from full brightness. The human eye would have trouble telling the difference in that amount of brightness change over a 60 second period–unless you had some sort of reference. Say, you had one bulb on and warm and a second bulb turn on next to it. Then you would be able to tell the difference, but anything less than about a factor of 2 is hard to tell *by eye*.
This is vastly better than the old folded type which could take several minutes to come up and often started with <5% of full brightness.
And, regarding the mercury discussion. The mercury in these bulbs is metalic mercury which has very low bio-availability. If you want to be worried about the toxicity of mercury, worry about the use of organic mercury compounds used in the agrabusiness world.
The best benefit of these bulbs is due to their size allowing them to be used in applications where other CFLs will not fit. I just bought a new set of light fixtures for my bathroom and regular CFLs would not fit without sticking out above the assembly. These mini-twist type fit in there.
I’m looking forward to the end of low efficiency lighting so that fixtures can be cost reduced because they no longer have to withstand the high temps of incandescent bulbs.
The Sylvania micro mini CFL is a great idea as standard-sized compact flurescents are too tall for my wall sconces. But they are VERY VERY dim. The 100-watt- equivalent produces less light than the regular 60-watt- equivalent CFL it replaced! I’m going to return the Sylvanias because I’m better off with the much cheaper, lower-watt larger CFL.