Customer Reviews

Evolution 25 Watt CF Full Spectrum Fluorescent Bulb

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These bulbs produce nice clean full-spectrum light. At first, the difference between the light of the conventional bulbs I replaced with these was strange. But I quickly became accustomed to it; it is much better for doing things in, whether it be brushing your teeth, using a computer or reading. But that wasn't my motivation for purchasing them. I wanted energy efficient bulbs which are long-lived. The bulbs give off much less heat than a regular one. I am able to use the equivalent of a 75 watt conventional bulb in lamps with paper covers. How much more energy efficient and long-lived they are, I do not know yet. They were recommended by Coop America for energy efficient lighting. So for now, I'm taking their word these truly are long-lived, energy efficient bulbs.

Consider this though, as should the distributor if they want to successfully retain customers. The bulb itself is very fragile compared to a conventional bulb. When screwing these ones in, you *must* do it carefully manipulating only the base. Otherwise the bulb will break. I ruined one bulb this way. Also these bulbs are not compatible with dimmer switches. I ruined another using it with a dimmer switch. The distributor sells some that are compatible with dimmer switches.

The main problem, which resulted in the ruin of two expensive bulbs, is these bulbs came arrived with no documentation. This led me to expect they could be handled and used like regular bulbs. As I've mentioned, they can't. As for not being compatible with dimming switches, there was a warning on the bases of the bulbs in lettering so small I didn't notice it until after I had ruined the bulb and looked at it more closely. These bulbs are relatively expensive. Although the seller kindly offered to replace the ruined bulbs with the implicit condition I retract my negative review, I felt ethically bound to refuse their offer. So here is the result. Hopefully the seller will learn from this, so they don't have to offer to replace bulbs.

My Evolution 25 Watt CF Full Spectrum Fluorescent Bulb work just fine, in all my in-door sockets, but my outside motion detector sockets are not a fit. The ad does not say "should not be placed in a recesed socket", but the package does. If this is true I would like the Amazon ad to reflect this as a friend of mine bought nine of them and cannot use them. He did give them to people as gifts. I have two of them here in my radio/computer/reading room/bedroom and they are just fine.

Your customer service was great as out of the four I bought two were broken and they were replaced right then on the phone w/o a return. My friend had one broken out of nine.

Thank you,
Cleve in Oregon

To me, these are a little blue-er than other incandescent "full spectrum" lights I have used. For years I have been using the incandescent bulbs that claim to be "full spectrum". But then I read that to really get "full spectrum" you need to use the flourescent ones.

So I bought these because they are supposed to be more full spectrum and because they are said to last longer. I am just saying that they give a very different color of light as compared to "normal incandescent" bulbs AND as compared to incandescent "full spectrum" bulbs that I have used before.

Right now I do not know if this is a bad thing or a good thing. I am just stating it so you may be aware of it. To me, these are blue-er than the incandescent full spectrums and they take some "getting used to". Maybe they are closer to sunlight, I don't know. I do not dislike them, nor like them at this point, I just note that they are different.

One thing I do like is that I can use them in a fixture that says "Use 60 watts maximum". This was a problem in our overhead kitchen lamp because 60 watts of incandescent is just not enough. With this we can use the 25watt which is equivalent to I think 100 watts and get much more light.

UPDATE:
I have now been using these bulbs for about a year or so and I really like them. So far we have not had to replace ANY of them and so they are well worth the extra money. We use them in our living room/ kitchen where they are basically on ALL day (about 14 hours a day on most days, maybe an average of 10-12 hours per day).

I have gotten used to the "color" of the light and now really hate "regular" light bulbs. As to the older incandescent types I was using before, the color difference does not bother me at all and I find these to last much longer.

All in all I will continue to buy these Evolution CF Full Spectrum bulbs!

It's now Wednesday, October 19, 2011 and we've not replaced one of these bulbs yet! I really like them and now if I put in a "regular" incandescent bulb, I hate the way it makes me feel. It just doesn't seem "right". We love these bulbs and highly recommend them!

p.s. I went to the local drugstore the other day to buy a cheap incandescent bulb for an area we don't spend a lot of time in and they did not even have many of those. All are fluorescent type like these but not full spectrum, yet cost almost as much as these. These are a MUCH BETTER DEAL!

We are using these bulbs in an interior townhouse room, and the difference from incandescent bulbs is striking. Saving money over the long haul with these long life bulbs is a plus, and if you suffer from the "winter blues" as I do, the advantage of a more natural light would be worth having, even if they were more costly. Good product -- shipped quickly and the bulbs were well protected by their packaging.

Bulb works as advertised. I bought it to use with my tomato plants until I can put them outside in May. The full spectrum light has allowed my plant to grow (albeit a bit slowly) and prosper. The best thing about this bulb is it fits in any standard light socket (like I found an old desk lamp) and works well. I set a timer so it is on for about l6 hours a day (that's what is recommended for fruiting plants). Anyway, it serves the purpose I bought it for and it was so much cheaper than buying a full spectrum lamp. It only uses 25 watts, so it hasn't caused my electrical bill to rise (at least I have not noticed an increase).

I live in a house that's naturally very dark: the walls and ceiling are made of dark wood. I've been struggling for a year trying to find a way to light up my room, without employing thousands of watts to do so. I was ecstatic when I installed my first Evolution bulb and saw how bright and vivid the light was. Now I've replaced all the lights in the room with these bulbs, and the result is a (finally!) well-lit room, with about half the energy consumption as before. You can't go wrong with these bulbs!

Excellent product, is as advertised, but a bit expensive. Some bulbs are delivered broken, but mfgr replaces them quickly. Suggest better packaging.

Amazing. It's clearly bright as day I think. Just got it today. I just hope the whiteness doesn't discolor in the long run. I've been using flourescent light bulbs for well over 10 years and this model is perhaps the best I've seen. I never bothered to look for full spectrum before and didn't relaize the importance of the term Kelvin. I had been using 4100 Kelvin. To get the ful spectrum, uou have to get, and so I understand it, 5000 Kelvin bulbs. This one I believe is 5500. I believe this is what makes it so white like. I think I will be buying more. Although I'm not sure I want to buy online since one of the 14 watt bulbs was broken when I got it. Yes I bought 3 75 watt bulbs but I also purchased 2 14 watts for my office lamps. It's sad that I got one broke. Not happy about that. But I am happy about the others that aren't broken. I penalize it 1 star for being fragile but I give it back for the cool design. :P.