Is it ok to use mini spiral cfl's in ceiling fan lights?

[89fan]

As per the question, my friend told me I should be using the candle/cahndalier type of cfl's instead. But those ligts are like $8.00 a piece and I have 3 ceiling fans, so I'd rather stick with the spirals.

Anything wrong with using mini spirals?

Thanks:)

[CompWizrd]

been using those for years, no issues.. sometimes they stick out a bit beyond the end of the housing depending on the length of the bulb/housing

There's more vibration from the fan operating, so the bulbs might not last as long.. but you'll still be saving money/energy

I was using a circlite (the round tube about 6 inches in diameter) until it burned out, I'll be replacing it the next time I'm in Home Depot and remember.

The Circlite in my mothers basement is at least 20 years old and still works.

[3weddings]

We just bought a new chandelier for our Foyer and were told anywhere regular bulbs worked, will accept both curly CFLs and Candelabra ones.

[mau108]

ya I use cfl's in my parents room, but I found 5 of the 13watt bulbs are just way too bright so I have only 3 screwed in all the way and other 2 are just sitting there for uniform looks.

My dad likes the new LED bulbs I got from dealextreme for the breakfest room focus lamps and wants me to pick up those to replace the cfls in his room.

Nice dim blueish light gives a nice soothing feeling :)

[Zero7]

CFLs can indeed be used almost anywhere.

Some people run into problems when using them outside if it's too cold though.

Also, though CFLs produce very little heat, I've heard some issues of there being "heat problems" when using them in enclosed flush mount fixtures. I've yet to verify this myself (as we don't use any enclosed flush mount fixtures in my house), but it's an issue I've seen raised at work by co-workers (I work at Home Depot... in the, surprise surprise, Electrical & Lighting department). What apparently happens is the base of the bulb (where the glass meets the ballast) cracks. I'm a bit skeptical of this, but just thought I'd bring it up anyways.

With that in mind, go for it, should be fine in a ceiling fan. Granted the ends might poke out a little and the vibration will affect the life of the bulb (which also translates to slightly less in savings overall, since instead of the CFL supposedly lasting "10x longer than an incandescent" it lasts... well.. less than that).

[mau108]

CFLs can indeed be used almost anywhere.

Some people run into problems when using them outside if it's too cold though.

Also, though CFLs produce very little heat, I've heard some issues of there being "heat problems" when using them in enclosed flush mount fixtures. I've yet to verify this myself (as we don't use any enclosed flush mount fixtures in my house), but it's an issue I've seen raised at work by co-workers (I work at Home Depot... in the, surprise surprise, Electrical & Lighting department). What apparently happens is the base of the bulb (where the glass meets the ballast) cracks. I'm a bit skeptical of this, but just thought I'd bring it up anyways.

With that in mind, go for it, should be fine in a ceiling fan. Granted the ends might poke out a little and the vibration will affect the life of the bulb (which also translates to slightly less in savings overall, since instead of the CFL supposedly lasting "10x longer than an incandescent" it lasts... well.. less than that).

I have cfl in a few enclosed fixtures, haven't run into any problems yet...knock on wood!

Also have 3 of them outside (one for the porch and 2 for the garage) no problems there too even with temps sometimes hitting -2 this past week.

The real test will be when it hits -20 lol