I bought some of these eco friendly coil type CFL bulbs when they first came out. I tried to use them in several lamps but they would not fit. Years later I unearthed them again in my closet, so I tried one in my bathroom fixture over the sink hoping it would save me climbing up to replace the bulbs as often. I just did one of the three bulbs in the fixture which had a large one piece loose cover so the size did not matter. It has been in there at least over a year, It glowed pink, was quite dim, and hummed loudly, so I never used the rest of the bulbs in the pkg. (gave rest to goodwill in fact), but over time I got used to and forgot about the humming sound.

Tonite, at home alone, I went into the bathroom to wash my face and change to my nightgown. All the sudden I hear this extra loud metallic click noise (like a piece of metal falling on metal). I looked around thing thinking something had fallen, but saw nothing. A few minutes later, I heard a short loud vibrating type metallic buzz. I was freaking out - could not find the source Then a few minutes later another loud metallic click again. After searching the bathroom I found nothing, but did notice that the pink CFL bulb was dark. I am assuming that to be the source of the noises.

So is this normal (all these weird sounds) for these CFL bulbs when they just burn out? I am almost afraid to get up on a ladder tomorrow to change it. I have heard these CFL bulbs contain mercury and have to be cleaned and disposed properly if they break. I don't think I will try these again

I've been using them for years and never had any problems.

I second what freer said, we have been using them for years and have never had one burn out. I have also never had one make noise. They are dimmer when they're first turned on, but then get to be the standard brightness after a minute or so to warm up. It sounds like you just got a bad bulb.

BTW, Home Depot disposes of them for free. Just bag it up and take it to them and it's all taken care of for you.

Renee

I agree with the other posters. We use them. Never had a problem. They fit all the light fixtures and lamps. I've never had one hum or had a pink tone to them. Like another poster said, when you first turn them on, they're dim but then they get brighter. I like them, too, because they don't get hot like regular bulbs.

I have heard, though, that when they do go bad, they will make a noise, etc. So far I haven't had any of them go bad. If it did make a noise, it would probably scare me, too!!

Buy some new ones. You must have gotten a bad batch. Never heard of any acting like yours has.

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I really hate that whole 'dim' issue. We have them in our garage and our basement, and when I go to those places it's because I'm on a mission to get something. I hate that I can't just flip on the light and see my way around. I have to stand in the doorway and wait a minute until the bulbs will do what I need them to do. They never seem to get quite as bright as our incandescents.

We had to remove them from inside the house. They do hum very loudly and the dimness bothers me. We also had the "burning out" issues OP had. Not just one bulb but 4 over the course of 2 months in our kitchen (and they were less than 3 months old). My mom has some and has had to remove them from all lights except ones that are on all time (laundry room/mudroom area). They don't seem to work well/last long in rooms that you turn on the light and then turn it off a short time later (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc).

We tried a few different brands as well. All did the same thing. So I sympathize OP

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I've never had one hum and never heard anyone else say they have a problem with humming. My brother uses them in light fixtures that he leaves on all the time. That way he doesn't have to wait for the bulb to warm up to be it's brightest. As with any flourescent tube fixture, you're better off to leave it on rather than flipping it on and off as needed. It's harder on a flourescent tube fixture to flip it on and off as it shortens the life of the starter which is expensive to replace. A flourescent tube uses so little energy it's more economical to leave it on all the time.
I can't stand the CF bulbs. I don't want to wait for it to warm up. I thought the LED bulbs were going to take off and be the new lighting choice. However, I guess something happened to that bulb also.

I hate them. My son researched them and they aren't the safest things to have around if they break. We had a problem with one, I can't remember what happened, but I won't buy them anymore.

Im not too fond of them either. I havent noticed any humming, but they do seem to flicker on and off. We can not use them in our ceiling fan light nor in our light over the bathtub. After the bulb warms up it starts to flicker. I have had a couple of broken bulbs, cant be helped with cats and kids in the house. Im not real concerned about it. I would love to stop buying them, but DH thinks they help us save money....

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If they become the law and regular light bulbs are no longer made, I will be hoarding as many as I can! I have difficulty seeing in low light conditions. The CFL bulbs are just horrible for me. Seriously. We thought we would be all "eco" and changed out all the bulbs a few years ago. Within a few days, I had to replace them. I particularly had difficulty with the ones in the basement and garage and my study. I travel a lot and now I have to bring a few light bulbs because more hotels are using them and I have trouble reading in the room.

I've been hoarding the fluorescent bulbs whenever I find them on sale. They are also getting more difficult to find.

I've never had any problems with the new bulbs either except they don't fit in many of my light fixtures-the glass globes don't fit over them!

On a side note, no matter what type of bulb you're using, if you have problems with a light bulb flickering in a ceiling fan fixture, check the overall "tightness" of the fixture. I've had that problem and when I checked I found the screws for the fixture were loose and after a little screw tightening all was good. I guess the movement of the fan causes things to vibrate loose after a while.

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I haven't noticed the problems that you mention, but I have to say that I hate these lightbulbs. DH has been on a mission with these for years and I'm just sitting here noticed that he has put these in the ceiliing fan in the FR and they look ridiculous. The light is not good enough for my aging eyes. I think they're fine for places where lower light is advantageous, but not in the bathroom or a lamp used when reading, etc.

cj/

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We use them in all our outdoor lights, on the front/back porch and around the pool since they don't have to be changed so often, but I don't like them on the inside of the house since they are not as bright.

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We just bought CFL lightbulbs for everything in our house the other day.And now,according to the news we will be forced to pay every 3 years on our electric bill $21.45 for two-23 watt CFL bulbs that we can buy at Homedepot for $4.97 and even less on a sale.What a rip off ! There goes all our savings from replacing our bulbs right back into the electric companys pocket.We don't even NEED any bulbs as we are all stocked up , yet we will be forced to pay for these bulbs that they will be sending out to every household in Ohio whether they want or even need them.
What will they be forcing us to buy next?

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I have these throughout my house and love them. I don't have the dim problem, sound issues or size issues.

The dim problem is so quick that you don't even notice it in the ones that I have bought. (many brands)

The sound does not occur in mine

The sizes-they come in all sizes and even shapes like the old lightbulbs. They also come in different wattages. They have many kinds at Lowes.

HTH

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-Kristi