what brand?
i have found a few brands ae junk, max lite ans white westinghouse are 2 that don't last. I have found GE seems to have a long life and good lite, I heard sylvana is good. Remember don't throw in the garbge, take them for recycling

generally the cheaper the bulb, the shorter the life. i have a box that i put the receipt and original bulb box in every time i install a CFL. if it blows before the 1 year warranty, i take it back. i had a batch of Phillips bulbs that 4 out of the 6 went bad in under 2 weeks, 2 of them were bad straight out of the box. never buying them again!

I found this post searching for an answer to why my cfl's burn out. I've tried different brands and just recently bought Feit from costco. What burns out for me are the hi hat flood type lights. I'm still going to use them but I think this claim of 7 to 10 years is baloney.

Maybe we have an electrical issue?

Make sure the ceiling fan lights are rated for fans. I think CFL's are like vcrs and flat screen tv's, only two or three people actually make them. I have been using Lights of America from Wally ($1.92/two-pack) making them free with the two-dollar instant coupon. California has an Energy Star program now I believe.

I'm surprised to hear people have been having so many problems with these bulbs. Almost every bulb in our house is now a CFL, we have a selection of different type and brands and all have been very reliable. The bulb in my desk lamp that I'm using right now is about 5-6 years old and has been used for hours every evening. We still have all but one of our very first bulbs from around 1993.

Only explanation I can think of is that I bought the moderately to expensively priced bulbs. Philips, Megaman and some Osram. Mostly for the better quality light and faster starting, but I now believe they last much longer too.

I date most of them when installing and the HomeDepot sale twisty's have been good for around 8+ thousand hours outdoors/enclosed fixt, on a photocell.
Right around 2 years before they start blinking driving you or the neighbor crazy at 3am or so.

The CFL technology is getting better, and yes, I have the same problem with burnouts as the one you describe above.

Keep in mind, the CFLs work best for lighted areas that are on the most. The more they are used the longer they last. Lack of usage, can cause burnout faster.

Look for LED technology to get less expensive. It is a superior product with better light tones.

I came to this forum just to see if others are having ther fluorescent bulbs burn out, too. I had several burn out after only months.

Most CFL will not work with a dimmer and this may effect the life of the bulb. There are specialty CFL bulbs for dimmer circuit.

The assumption that is made in predicting CFL lifespan of several years is that the bulb is used for 2 or 3 hours continuously a day, turned on once a day and then turned off after a few hours, and that it is installed in free air in the "upright" position, where the electronics are not subjected to the heat of the bulb. A "textbook" application that meets these requirements would be a table lamp. I have two table lamps that I leave on 24/7 for security purposes, and these bulbs last longer than the specs say they should. One has been going for over 2 years solid, which would be approaching 20,000 hours. The lifespan spec on the package says 8,000 hours. This is a GE twist-style CFL.

Anytime you run them "upside down" (electronics above the bulb), that shortens their life, and if they are in a fixture that traps the heat, that shortens it a little more.

im running 10W 12V CFL bulbs and 3W LED in my home. it's been working fine for 2 years.

We put these CFL mini-s in the recessed lights in my daughters bedroom (who keeps the lights on for hours at end :-) ) and they work fine. The lights are from TCPI (sold all over the place, including HD) and these are on anon-dimmable light switch.

I did notice that more than other CFL's we have used they seem to take around 5 minutes to achieve full brightness. I don't know if that is by design or just the way these work.

Anyone else experience this?

Avonb....
Where did you get your LED lights? Have you found a source with reasonable prices?

I was googling about CFL's burning out and found this.

We moved into our current condo 5 years ago next month, bringing new lamps with us. We put CFL's into everything we could. We're extremely diligent about turning lights off if we aren't in a room, the only room in the place that always has it's lights on after dusk is our living room, with 3 lamps. One of our lamps just burned out, and we calculated how many hours it burned for and got a whopping 12,775. These are GE bulbs, we'll definitely use that brand again, providing they still sell them.

I have never had a CFL burn out. I've had some in for almost 10 years.

Switch them on someday, see if they still light up.

The vast majority of retrofit CFs sold today are somewhere between outright junk and 2 baby steps above. It's just not possible to make a CF with high quality, long-lived electronic components and sell it for $1.50 or $2.

Philips SLS CFs (triple U-tube, squarish base) have given me outstanding service. I have one next to me right now that's been operating for about 20,000 hours. You're not likely to find one for two bucks, though.

From my experience any CFL mounted upside down will not last much over a year. I have had them in redneck chandeliers in the garage and over the basement stairs with poor luck along with any recessed lights. I have had mediocre luck with the ones that are in a flood style bulb but they take forever to brighten up.

Generally CFs mounted base up do have shorter lives. But the better quality ones still last quite well. I have several fitted base up that have been in use 4 to 5 years.

The key is to purchase high quality CFs, as I mentioned above, rather than the $1.50 cheapies.

i grow under cfl's inside.....2 -26 watt 6500 kelvin- 1650 lumens each--16 hr on a day...

in 15 square inch footprint---thats 1 and 1/2 square feet.........

cilantro-mint-basil and parsley grow vigarously...

THIS AREA serves my needs as its just me and my gal........