IKEA Fluorescent Bulbs

Last Updated 7 Jan 01
Copyright 2001 by Stephen Vermeulen


IKEA sells a number of different sizes of compact fluorescent bulbs at prices that are in the range of 25% - 33% (about $5.95 to $7.95 depending on size and style) of what the other vendors of similar products are charging.

Here are some of them, photographed beside a standard 40W incandescent bulb for comparison.

The 5W bulb is a bit smaller than a standard lamp, so you can place it anywhere. Its about equivalent to a 25W bulb in output.

The 11W bulb is a little longer that the standard lamp, so may not fit in some fixtures.  It is a little narrower, so that usually not a problem. Its about a 60W bulb in brightness, so its quite a handy one to have.

The 20W bulb is a nice bright  unit, but it is quite long, which means you'll have to pick the fixtures you want to use it in with care. Still it has the equivalent brightness of a 100W bulb so it might be worth changing a fixture so that you can use it instead.

The 6W globe is a nice little one for fixtures where the bulb is visable, this particular one is fitted with a small base screw, but I think they also make a standard base unit.

The 11W globe is a little bigger than a standard bulb, but not too much.

Just by way of comparison here is the compact 15W unit that Philips makes, this is NOT available from IKEA, and can be found elsewhere for about CDN$30 a bulb.  Its a pretty good size match to the standard light bulb.
 

Reliability

The oldest IKEA bulb I have is just over a year old now, and the first one has just failed. I'm not too happy about it lasting only a year, as it was used in the kitchen it probably got about 2500 hours of use which is only 1/4 of its rated life. IKEA did replace it without any hassle. Here are some photos of the dead bulb - it appears to have died of ballast meltdown.


 

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