Review by Dave:

This book is filled with practical advice and energy saving suggestions, with illustrations and instructions that explain the “hows and whys” of energy savings. The book takes you through the house from attic to appliances, from windows to CFL lights, with the Real Story on each. The advice is highly practical and much better than some books that simply point out the obvious. The book is FULL of practical projects you can do this weekend to make your home more efficient. This book will pay for itself the first weekend you own it.

Review by Midwest Book Review:

Written by Jennifer Thorne Amann (Senior Associate in the Buildings and Equipment Program at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings is a handy resource for homeowners, state utility companies, and anyone else interested in saving money and reducing environmental impact. Now in its ninth updated edition, Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings offers in-depth comparisons between available energy-saving technologies, cost-effective repair and replacement options, step-by-step instructions for finding the right equipment for one’s needs, and much more. “Try to install your clothes washer as close to the water heater as reasonably possible and insulate the hot water pipes leading to it to minimize heat loss through the pipes. Also, if possible, locate the washer and dryer in a heated space. This is particularly important with dryers, which depend on heat to dry.” Simple black-and-white illustrations help to clarify key points in this solid money-saving guide. Highly recommended.

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 A. Dent:

The 40W fluorescents (150-200W equivalent) are hard to find in most brick and mortar stores (they like to sell the smaller 40W and the 100W equivalents) so I was double-happy when I saw this one at Amazon. First, because Amazon carries it and second because it’s available under super-savers’ shipping.

Talking about the item itself:

- you WILL experience some delay when you turn it on but it’s hardly noticeable, like maybe 1/10 of a second

- once it’s on, unlike the ‘cheaper’ fluorescents that need to warm up, it shines at or close to full brightness immediately

- it’s a bulky, significantly wider and longer than the 150W incandescent equivalents and it may not fit all fixtures where a regular 150W bulb used to fit

- does not work well with a dimmer – it’s either on or off [I tried it with one and it did come on at full brightness but something is telling me that you may shorten its life when used this way]

- the light is bright, so bright, I would not stare at it directly – I did once and I saw ‘ghosts’ for the next 15-30 minutes

- the color of light is closer to ’solar’ than what our ‘incandescents’ deliver, less yellow, more blue

- unlike neon lights, there’s no flicker

- it consumes less power when compared to an incandescent

The above were my subjective comments. Here are the specs, as the manufacturer lists them:

- Light output: 2800 lumens

- Energy used: 42W

- Life: 8000 hrs.

- Color temperature: 6500K

- Electric charge: 610mA

The major issue I have with the fluorescents is their lifespan. Maybe I am unlucky but, after replacing nearly all my light bulbs in the house – a few dozen – they seem to burn out more often. My first couple 40W I bought a few years ago (a different brand), in fact, died after about one year, I hope this is not the case again because we are paying top dollar for these environmentally nice devices.

So far, I see no reason not to award this bulb 5 stars but, if it dies on me before 2-3 years, I promise to come back and update my review. For the record, the maker promises a 7-year lifespan and 2 (???) savings per bulb.

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March, 2010 update:

On their 10th month, they (I bought a 2-pack) are as bright and shiny as on ‘day one’ and they’ve been on for many hours because I telecommute most of the time and my office is in the basement. I haven’t done the math but it’s likely that they’ve paid for themselves already.

I bought 2 more in December, 2009 and no burnouts yet.

Review by iix:

I ordered these and some Alzo 45 watt CFL 5500K. The Feit bulbs came first so I used them first. They were very bright, in fact, too bright for me. I was hoping for a more pure white light so I was disappointed with the bluish light. The following day the Alzo bulbs came in. I changed the Feit bulbs out with the Alzo bulbs and they were just what I was looking for in a CFL. They turned on quickly (as did these Feit bulbs) but also were a pure white light like I’ve never seen in a CFL before. I’ve moved these Feit bulbs in the other room for kitchen duty. They are now in the fixture above my sink and they do a fine job there.