TCP 14-Watt Soft White Compact Fluorescent Flood Light Bulb (6 Pack)

 (42 customer reviews)

I have been using these TCP compact fluorescent floods for one year now. I originally bought a CARTON/BOX full of them, which (if I recall) is something like 48 bulbs. I installed them in our new 6,000 sq.ft. home, which has around 40 ceiling cans. After a year of use, I can honestly report the following:

1) The bulbs are very dim when first energized, and require a minute or more to reach a usable brightness level.
2) Many of these bulbs fail prematurely (6 out of 40, so far) due to their cheap electronic ballast. I've given up on contacting TCP and getting replacement bulbs - after two calls (and two dead bulbs), the gal thought I was lying and trying to get free bulbs.
3) As they age, these bulbs assume an ugly yellow color while "warming up" (remember... it takes a minute or more for them to actually reach a usable light output and a white color). If you replace one in an area with several, it is very noticeable! The old ones will light up "yellow" and...Read more

Coming from years of lighting sales I know to "burn in" fluorescent bulbs by leaving them on for 12hrs the first time, that's supposed to fix the slow-start issue. These take at least 2 - 3 minutes to go from dim to bright. Once bright they look really good, but they take too long for our bathroom, people are done in there before the lights come on

I would say to use these for lights that are on all the time, but if you turn them off and on regularly, they are no good at all.

Pros:
-All 18 are still working after 8 weeks
-Price

Cons:
-Hard to believe these are 2700
-Regardless of how they rank to others of the same type, the room is still very dark when I flip the switch. Have had times when I will just turn the lights on early in anticipation of needing the room which, of course, defeats some of the energy savings. All 18 behave the same so this is by design.