Get a Great New Light Bulb

New compact fluorescent light bulbs are dimmable, and come in handy and attractive shapes and sizes.

Standard shell CFL from Sylvania, has a top like a regular light bulb.

Photo: Sylvania

By Brian Clark Howard

It used to be that those swirly compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) came in only one or two inconvenient, and some say odd-looking, shapes; but these days you can get standard-topped CFLs, mini sizes, dimmable versions, and even candelabra styles and more.

Check out our recent roundup of the top new CFLs now available, from models that easily fit your vintage sconces to ones that allow you to slip on those old lamp shades, directly over a bulb. There are globe bulbs for vanity mirrors, CFL flood lights, and even yellow-tinted CFLs to deter insects.

According to Energy Star, if every American home replaced just one incandescent bulb with a standard CFL, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. That's because CFLs are around 75% more efficient than incandescents (they also last for several years!).

To learn more about how the bright-idea bulbs work, and save energy, read here.

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