Customer Reviews

ClearLite AB-CAM14BW-1N ArmorLite 14W/60W CFL Lightbulb, Daylight, 1 Pack

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I work in the lighting industry and was presented with a demo of this lamp. At first, I was very skeptical about the claim of a safer CFL. The first positive for me was that it was manufactured with Amalgam (the substance that Dentists use as fillings for your teeth) rather then liquid mercury. Then I noticed the strange silicone textured wrap that surrounded the lamp itself and was told that it would capture all of the glass, gasses, etc should it break. Then my concern regarding light output was resolved once the lamp was switched on. I figured the light output would be diminished due to the coating, but apparently the engineers thought of this and resolved it as well.

I must say that I was amazed when an associate threw the lamp across the conference room smashing it against the wall. Personally, as a consumer of CFL lamps and having a 4 year old daughter, this is the only CFL that will be found in my home.

At first, I was a little hesitant about spending a little extra for these bulbs but I'm glad I did. We seem to have more than our fair share of broken bulbs around our house and the peace of mind was worth it. Last week one of the kids tried to change a bulb in the kitchen and dropped the bulb when they went to put it in. Beyond providing assurance that there was no exposure to mercury, there was also no mess to clean up. It was great! I hate having to try to get up all of those little tiny fragments of glass. Instead I just picked it all up at once. It didn't seem to take any longer to warm up than any other CFL bulb I've used. I would like to see more varieties available but I'm sure that will come with time.

I purchased this along with GE 89082 Energy Smart 10-Watt Daylight Spiral Compact Fluorescent Bulb to compare the two. I was looking for something that would brighten up my house during the long, dark NW winter without making the area of the room it was in too bright to look at (as some higher-wattage daylight bulbs do). In short, I find the GE 89082 to be superior in every way, and doubly so given that I bought it for half the price of this Armorlite.

Brightness: The Armorlite claims to be a 60W equivalent, while the GE is a 40W equivalent. The GE is much brighter when side-by-side, perhaps 50% brighter.

Color: The Armorlite has a much cooler (yellower) color temerature than the GE. It's not incandescent cool, and if you find daylight bulbs too blue for your taste, you may like it, but it's not what I was going for.

Warm-up time: This bulb starts very dim, and seems to take updwards of sixty seconds to reach full brightness.

Durability: While the covering appears to be a great safety feature (that I have not tested), it took 3 tries to get a working bulb from Amazon.