Kathy Ireland Furniture: Earthmate EP05129 5-Watt Dimmable Candle 2700K Bulb, 6 Pack Review

There are legitimate "earth friendly" products out there... and then there's a lot of "hippy fluff". Unfortunately these bulbs fall into the "fluff" category.

Sadly, this review could have been totally different, as ONE bulb... OUT OF 12 ordered (2 packs)... met my expectations! ONE bulb looks pretty good... ironically, it was the first bulb I screwed in... and I thought "yeah, that guy who said these are dim is right, but this is acceptable"... and then I proceeded to add a second bulb to the fixture (ceiling fan)... and that bulb was almost pink in comparison to the first, much brighter, more yellow bulb. Well... to my disappointment... EVERY ONE of the remaining 11 bulbs was that same color (any early adopters to CFL know the color I'm referring to... it's a slightly depressing CFL color that makes you want to RUN, not walk, to the store as fast as you can to buy 40w incandescent Reveal bulbs.)

To say that you couldn't read by the light from these bulbs (as another reviewer said) is no understatement... they are about twice as bright as a night-light! There is a less-vocal, yet common "green is a fad" attitude... and products like this fuel that view. These are functional for MOOD LIGHTING ONLY... They won't light up a small room (unless you have 6+ of them in a fixture and then it will still be HALF as bright as a 2 x 13w CFL fixture... to clarify 2 x 13 = 26 and 6 x 5 = 30... yet 6 of these will be HALF as bright as 26w of Lowe's Bright Effects CFL) These can barely light up a person sitting at the bottom of a hanging pendant light! (which is what I'll do with the 6 I don't return). Quality dimming CFL is something I've been chasing for years... but it's almost comical to think you'd want to dim these down from their maximum brightness.

Just so I can leave you with a positive consideration about this product, if you have hanging pendant lights with artistic glass that you want to light up, but NOT really light up the bar/table under them... (to repeat and emphasize... MOOD LIGHTING ONLY then these will actually work out well... and for THAT use, at about $25 for 6) I could ALMOST recommend these, but if you're buying these because you want significantly usable LIGHT... hmm... I'd have to say "look elsewhere".

A helpful note to Earthmate... notice where I said "met my expectations" about the one bulb... overall... the real problem here is that the product doesn't meet my expectations! Expectations based on claims right on the package. I highly suggest that products like this have wording on the packaging which directs consumers to the most likely REAL use of the product. For starters, these bulbs do NOT replace a 25w incandescent lumen for lumen... probably more like a 13w incandescent... and again, this bulb should work out well for a pendant light, like in a bar... where low lighting is desirable (and further dimming is useful)... and there are several pendants using power (when people have pendant lights they usually have many/several)... and the desire is to maintain MOOD over outright lumens. Claiming an "18w-20w" replacement on the box would go a long way to ensuring the bulb in the package meets the expectations created by the package. (I still say these are closer to a 13w incandescent, but having a number in the teens satisfies... meaning "lowers"... expectations... while having a number in the twenties satisfies the need to "sell" the product.)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Earthmate EP05129 5-Watt Dimmable Candle 2700K Bulb, 6 Pack

Get 64% OFF