CFL's not bright

Plugged up my twist CFL's last night for giggles and thought "not very bright".

Looked closer and the tubes were still gray looking except for the tip. WTF?

Checked to make sure they were tight, checked the plug.

Then it dawned on me ... it's too frigging cold!!!

Posted just in case some others see this affect. Not to worry. In a warm box, they will be fine.

CFL's take a while to warm up when they are too cold. I have them as my front and back lights outside, and when it is really cold, it takes forever for them to warm up. The mercury inside gets really close to liquid as apposed to gas when it gets really cold, so the reaction is slow to get going when they are too cold

Maybe your fixture doesn't support the wattage of the CFL

I've noticed this happening with CFLs around my house. Usually the lower wattage ones are more susceptible. It definately occurs because of the cold.

Yes, it is the cold. Takes several minutes for my outside lights to heat up sometimes.