Review by Chris Paul:

These PureSpectum CFLs dim perfectly and they instantly turn on when you flip the switch. No flicker, no buzzing sound, and no waiting to warm up! These are the real deal. I replaced all of my incandescent lightbulbs on dimmer switches with these PureSpectrum CFLs. They emit a soft white/yellow glow.

Review by Wayne Meagher:

I’ve had these bulbs in my house for a few months

they light right away no waiting like most CFL’S

and they dim fairly well

unlike most dimmable bulbs I have tried and throw away

I just wished they sold in a larger pack 6 to 8 per pack

but their still worth the price paid

Review by Gary Minnaert:

Overall, these bulbs are good replacements for typical incandescent flood lights. The amount of light they put out is comparable.

These are also the first fluorescent flood lights I have found which work with dimmer switches. So a couple plusses in their favor.

There are a couple important differences between these bulbs and a typical incandescent bulbs:

1) they are more expensive

2) they have about a 1/2 second ‘pause’ when turning on. When hooked up to the same switch, an incandescent bulb will come on first, by maybe a half second. More of a small annoyance than anything, but the expectation is immediate light when you flip the switch

3) there is a ‘warm up’ time before these bulbs emit their full light output. Probably 90 seconds before they are 100%. They start at probably 70%.

4) these bulbs work with a dimmer switch, but the levels are different than a typical bulb. They probably range between 20% and 100%, whereas a typical bulb would go from 1% – 100%.

Overall, I am satisfied. They use less energy, put out the same light and work with dimmers.

Review by J. Siepmann:

Dimmable CFLs only dim about 20% (Sylvania 10%, Philips 20%, GE20%) so don’t buy expecting them to dim like incandescent bulbs. Also the way they dim is by producing harmonic distortion (changing the waveform to one where less light is produced) which can cause flickering and even without noticable flickering possibly even headaches or eye strain in some people. So go with the nondimmable CFLs instead.

Review by T. Higgins:

I was impressed with the price of these bulbs, and the reviews were mostly favorable. However, I have not been impressed with these bulbs–several have died. Specifically, one was DOA and had to be replaced by the seller. Furthermore, after precisely 8 months of use 3 bulbs in different fixtures all died separately over the course of one week. I have also not been impressed with the consistency of brightness and color temperature–there is marked differences in both among bulbs. In addition, the bulbs do buzz when dimmed, but I have not had problems with flickering bulbs. I would suggest passing on these.

Review by smoothblues:

These dimmable CFLs work very well with Insteon dimmers. They start up at very low brightness (5-10%) and dim all the way down to the lowest level. Insteon dimmers use high quality electronics that create a clean output signal. Alot of people who complain about buzzing/flickering are likely using cheapo dimmers which use triacs. Triacs and similar circuits do terrible things to the AC waveform, chopping it to pieces instead of reducing the amplitude and retaining a sine wave. Incandescents tend to absorb the noisy output of triacs better, so people don’t realize they’ve bought crappy quality dimmers until they use non-incandescent lights.

Color temperature is good, leaning towards the warm side and not the colder bluish temperatures that some people dislike. I’ve noticed a pinkish bias as the lights dim down. Under a shade or cover it’s not noticeable at all. If you are lighting with the bare bulb it may be more noticeable.

Excellent value @ prices from Amazon sellers. You’d easily pay 4-8x as much per bulb at Lowes or Home Depot which have very limited selection of dimmable CFLs.

Review by J. Pawlowski:

At a little over 10 bucks for 8 of these, you can’t go wrong.

These are just your basic CFLs, at the 2700 kelvin temperature range. That means they’re about the same shade as your basic ordinary 60W incandescent bulb. A pale yellow white, not pure white (5100 Kelvin), or daylight (around 6300 Kelvin).

Pure white or daylight CFLS cost more because the phosphors in them are more expensive, but they do have the advantage of being more natural light, rather than imitating the poor quality light of an ordinary light bulb.

So if you’re thinking of upgrading to CFLs these bulbs are a great deal to start from. But do take advantage of the technology & get a higher quality light at a higher color temperature for some of your areas, & enjoy better quality light, rather than just using CFLs that imitate the poor quality light of old fashioned light bulbs.

Winter depression can be triggered by lack of natural light because of less hours of daylight, & more cloudy, overcast days in winters. In northern climates when it’s cold, people stay inside more, use heavy insulating window curtains, further reducing their exposure to natural light. 5100K-6700k CFLs help with winter depression by exposing you to more natural light. Colors look more rich & vivid. Things look more cheery. It’s even easier to read under natural light.

I find I can read just as easy under a 4-watt 5100k CFL than a 13 watt 2700k CFL.

The backlight in your LCD display that you’re probably reading this from is probably a 5100k-6700K bulb.

Look at the white areas on the screen & then look at your lighting in the room. Doesn’t that ordinary light bulb or 2700K CFL look a lot more yellow by comparison?

Review by George B.:

Things to look on the package:

1. Kelvin temperature (K): The only accurate measurement for the kind of light or “color” of light you’ll get. 2700K is pretty close to the “warm” incandescent we are all used to, 4100/4200K is known as “Cool White” (you might look “ghostly under that) and 5,000+ is the daylight/sunlight. If the lamps do not have the K designation, do not buy them – they are the cheaper variety since establishing the K temp. costs more.

2. Lamp Life (Hrs): The life of a light bulb is the MEAN life, that is at the stated hours HALF of them will be dead and HALF of them will still be working. Life can be affected by many factors, one being how many times a day you turn them on and how long they stay on. As a rule, the more on/off’s, the less they last.

3. Initial lumens: If it is not listed try another brand. For the typical 60W equivalent it ranges between 700 and 900 lumens. Try for 800+ In general the highest the K temp. (see #1 above) the higher the lumens.

4. Make sure you read what they say about DIMMERS, as well as photocells, timers, etc. Avoid costly surprises.

5. Make sure they are rated for outdoor use – if that’s where you want to install them. The environment’s temperature has a lot to do with the CFL performance.

6. Buy as few as you can first and redo, say one room. See how YOU like it (allow 90 seconds warm-up time). If you are a male, have your female with you…she might have some objections you can’t even think about!

HAPPY HUNTING!

Review by R. Blauvelt:

I bought four of these to use in wall sconces operated from a dimmer switch. Unfortunately, the one I opened buzzed loudly and flickered wildly, no matter how the dimmer was adjusted. WattBuster’s customer service was quick to authorize a return. They indicated that these bulbs don’t work well with all dimmer switches.

Review by Rod Begbie:

I bought these for the dimmer in our bedroom in September 2006. They made a horrible buzzing sound, even when at full brightness, and flickered distractingly when dimmed.

I’ve since found the “Harmony Dimmable Spiral” DS-20W lightbulb which works a treat in all my dimmer-switch sockets. I highly recommend that over this model.