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Can't decide between a CFL and halogen? The GE Energy Smart Hybrid Halogen-CFL, $5.50, claims to offer the best of both. Unlike most CFLs, the hybrid comes on instantly, thanks to the halogen capsule inside the swirl of the CFL. The halogen turns off when the CFL reaches full brightness, saving energy by allowing the CFL to do most of the work.
Based on Consumer Reports lightbulb tests, you can save about $54 in energy over the bulb's lifetime, which is more than you'd save with a halogen bulb but slightly less than a CFL. But after 3,000 hours of testing we found the hybrid also combines the worst of both technologies.
This 75-watt replacement GE was the only bulb that struggled in Consumer Reports rapid cycling test where we turn a bulb on for two minutes and then off. The test shows how well a bulb will work in a fixture you frequently switch on and off. The halogen part of the bulb continued to work, but the CFL part failed nearly three times sooner than the other CFLs in our tests. So when the halogen capsule turned off, the bulb went dark—well before its 8,000 hour claimed life. The bulb was fine when we left other samples of it on for more than five minutes at a time.
—Kimberly Janeway
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