The good old Light Bulb

[Ron Ramirez]

While most of us went off on tangents, Brenda answered the OP's question about the relationship between the lightbulb and the vacuum tube.

Now, I'll give my take on Paul's other question:

I do not collect incandescents, nor am I stocking up on any. But I'm thinking that maybe I should. I seem to be in the minority here in that I converted 100% to CFLs and have not had any serious issues with them. When they have quit working, they just quit - no fires or anything serious (knocking wood). I have noticed on a couple CFLs that quit, the bases looked burnt. So I guess I've been lucky. No appreciable noise here from them, and yes, they do create a noticeable saving on the electric bill.

That having been said, however, I agree that the CFL or "squiggly" bulbs are lacking in quality, in many ways (fire hazard, generators of RFI in some homes, etc.). I don't leave a room and leave them on anymore, since I found burnt bases on two of the CFLs that have failed in my home.