Best Compect Fluorescent Bulb – Popular Mechanics Decides

I remember buying a bunch of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs for my college apartment and they looked like… well they looked horrible. It wasn’t the swirly shape of the tube, but the light they put out just looked wrong. If you used them in the bathroom you’d look like even more of a zombie when you looked in the mirror in the morning. I also didn’t like using them in the kitchen because the light made food look less appetizing. Well, that’s not an issue anymore. The light that comes out of CFLs now has a much better color, or color-rendering index (CRI), which means the color of the things they illuminate is better represented.

Popular Mechanics reviewed 7 CFLs against an incandescent Sylvania Double Life Soft White light bulb and according to their objective and subjective testing all of them scored higher than the incandescent light bulb.

I don’t want to ruin it for you but they decided the best bulb is the N: Vision Soft White. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s probably because it’s only available at home depot.

Picture courtesy of Popular Mechanics.