High Efficiency Incandescent

If have serious issue with compact florescent light because…

• No one looks good in florescent light
• CF bulbs contains mercury
• Only select models dim
• They burn out a lot sooner than advertised
• They dont work with all light switches, especially the high tech ones
• Or they will flicker, even when off, if you are using a high tech light switch.

Though mostly they just make my eyes hurt and give me headaches. Philips has come out with a line of High Efficiency Incandescent (HEI) light bulbs called Halogena. They work like normal bulbs but produce twice the amount of light for the energy consumed. Making them very close to CF in efficiency.

I have slowly started to replace all my dim-able lights in my house with these:
Philips 40-Watt R20 Halogena Energy Saver Reflector Flood Light

They work great. No hum or flicker while dimmed. The color of the light is white with a slight warmth to it. Overall I think it is a great find.

You can buy them at Amazon.com or in stores at Home Depot. The only bummer is that few other companies are doing this. GE stopped their research into this technology in 2008 probably due to the fear that incandescent lights will be banned like what is happening in Europe. I hope that is not our future too.