Mini Challenge No. 1 Results: What We Learned About Daylight CFLs

A few weeks ago, we launched the first Kill-a-Watt Mini Challenge, posing the pressing question: What are daylight compact fluorescent lightbulbs good for (aside from making your kitchen look all eerie and blue)? Congratulations to Nick Littlejohn and Arthur Simon, whose answers we liked best. For their hard work, we gave them one dejected daylight CFL from our Kill-a-Watt Challenge czar's kitchen (pictured here) along with some concert tickets and other exciting things. See below to read what we learned about daylight CFLs from our challengers, and stay tuned for more prize opportunities.

Top Six Answers to the Question: What are daylight-emitting compact fluorescent lightbulbs good for, anyway?

1. They kill vampires while also repelling orange old ladies from Arizona, because blue is the opposite on the color wheel from orange – or something like that (Arthur Simon, Dionysium).
   
   
2. They help people with seasonal affective disorder avoid depression during long winters (Nick Littlejohn, Kill-a-Watt Challenge Forum). [According to our research, Nick's right, although the jury's still out on whether just any old daylight CFL would suffice.]
   
   
3. They emit the ideal light for spotting chin hairs (nice lady, Dionysium).
   
   
4. They help grow plants indoors (Littlejohn, forum); they help grow hemp (anonymous guy, Dionysium). [According to Merrideth Jiles at the Great Outdoors Nursury, "Grow lights in general work well within about a foot and a half of the plant." Other than that, he says, "Grow lights are really ineffective." Rather than go for a daylight CFL, he says, you might opt for a high-pressure mercury light. They're expensive, but they work. Kill-a-Watt Challenge czar recommends: Grow your plants outside.]

The Winners:

For some reason, only one person wrote into our Kill-a-Watt Challenge Forum with an answer, and it was Nick Littlejohn, a local green realtor and Kill-a-Watt Challenger. For his efforts, he got to go to the Femi Kuti concert at Stubb's and gets to ride the bus for free 10 times this month. Yay, Nick!

Arthur Simon, on the other hand, was one of several people to propose answers onstage at the Alamo Drafthouse South during the green Dionysium, and for his ability to make stuff up on the spot in a rather sweet way that still made no sense, he got the official lightbulb prize as well as an Alamo Drafthouse gift certificate and some CapMet passes.

A toast to mini challenges! Yay!