Customer Reviews

BlueMax Sunset 14w CFL

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

 

 

I compared these to GE Lighting 75406 13-Watt CFL Spiral Reveal Light Bulb, 60-Watt Output, 1-Pack. Bluemax Sunset came out the winner with a much more incandesent-like look. The only downside is the cost.

I bought 10 of these bulbs some time ago based on the good reviews here and elsewhere. They certainly weren't cheap, but if they had the impact they claimed it would be worth it, right?

Unfortunately within a week of use, four of the ten bulbs developed an intermittent whistling noise that was far too annoying to put up with. Upset that nearly half of my expensive full spectrum bulbs were no good basically as soon as I got them, I decided I'd rather have a refund than risk getting 4 replacements and have half of those die as well, so I contacted customer support and asked politely. They declined, saying that they'd charge me a huge restocking fee to return the defective bulbs they had sold me. But they could send me replacements -- IF I was OK with paying the shipping cost to send all the defective bulbs back!

Fine, so I shipped them back, and at this point after shipping costs I was out well over $100 for 10 light bulbs.

Six weeks pass, and they start dieing on me again. This time it isn't noise, but the darn things are just getting really dim. As in, the bulbs are barely glowing and not bright enough to even read a book under.

I'm going to ask for a refund again, but I don't have high hopes. These bulbs were a disaster and a huge waste of money. They claim 10x the life of an incandescent bulb but I haven't seen anywhere close to that. They also claim the same brightness as a 60w bulb, which also I haven't seen. And they also make no mention of the high pitch whistling noise that so many of the bulbs I received have produced.

As they're dropping like flies, I am replacing them with cheap, generic GE CFL bulbs that have never failed me, produce a bright brilliant white light, and don't make annoying noises. And you know what else? They are pleasantly surprising me with great light that has none of the color problems of CFLs of old -- the quality of light from my cheap grocery-store CFL bulbs is turning out to be just as good (and half the time better) than these pricey, flakey snake oil bulbs.

Pros:

-Blue-ish light that should be a good task light (I ended up not being a fan, but that's personal preference. The light feels a bit too "sterile" for me)

Cons:

-Expensive

-Average lifetime significantly shorter than an incandescent bulb -- of 10 bulbs, 4 lasted <10 hours and the rest are significantly dimmer after ~100 hours

-Annoying whistling noise

-Much dimmer than a 60w bulb of generic 60w-equivalent CFL bulb

Don't buy the hype, don't waste your money.

These Bulbs are just awesome, the light they give off is actually sort of pinkish - and the best part of the deal is that you can actually wear them... that is if you have only one foot and enjoy women's shoes.