Damn You Al Gore!

In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore says that we everyone just replaced one lightbulb in their home with a compact fluorescent bulb, it would make a big difference. Most of the bulbs I would think of changing are flood lights, and the only place I can find compact fluorescent floods are online, so it took me a while, but I finally ordered one.

It sucks.

The light is bright (brighter than the incandescent it replaces, actually). It doesn't flicker or hum. The light is a little cold for what I would expect from a bulb labeled "2700K", but it's okay.

The reason the bulb sucks is because it takes a couple of minutes to warm up. When I first turn it on, it's no more than 25-30% of its rated brightness. Which, at in the darkness of 6 in the morning, is pretty damn depressing.

So now I have this bulb I hate. It's rated for outdoor use, so I'll probably use it to replace the flood over my front door, since I don't have to look at that when I turn it on. I may try to buy another brand, but I'm not sure that will make a difference.

The frustrating thing is that this warm-up probably is apparently a relatively new phenomenon. Only bulbs manufactured in the last 5-6 years have this issue.