Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and Women
Posted in Environment by George
An article in the Washington Post gave a unique perspective on why compact fluorescent bulb sales make up only 6% of the US bulb market: they don’t always pass “the wife test.”
”I have heard time and again that a husband goes out and puts the bulb into the house, thinking he is doing a good thing,” Reed said. “Then, the CFL bulb is changed back out by the women. It seems that women are much more concerned with how things look.”
I still can’t tell the difference between light produced by a CFL and light produced by an incandescent bulb. Nor do I care that they take a second to turn on. But I guess some people notice (or there is a placebo effect). But even if there is a subtle difference in light quality - come on - the tradeoff is sooooo worth it!
Of course, it isn’t always the wife preventing the husband from putting the bulb in. Sometimes men won’t use them because they think the bulbs look bad, and women are the ones trying to put them into the sockets. One of my professors says she’s been having a very hard time getting her fiance to switch over to CFLs.
