Seven Things You Don't Know

[nhboy]

Link to original article.

"We live in a time when there are better ways of making absolutely every consumer choice—from toothpaste and food to sheets and face products—which can make basic buying decisions a little confusing. But it's not so easy for some of us to say "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" and then blindly buy whatever: These decisions matter, even if they take a little extra work, which is why I was excited to see a new piece about ... light bulbs. Really!

I currently have three burnt-out incandescents in my studio apartment and I have been putting off buying new ones because I couldn't decide what to get. Brian Howard, an editor at the Daily Green and the co-author of the brand new book Green Lighting, offered some tips in a Q&A, here. Here are the things you need to know:"

 

[inflight]

Is there supposed to be a link? I don't see one...

 

[Radiant1]

Is there supposed to be a link? I don't see one...

Look again. "Link to original article" at the top of the message.

 

[inflight]

Look again. "Link to original article" at the top of the message.

haha wow, how did I miss that.

thanks.

 

[aps45819]

3. CFLs aren't as bad and buzzy and unflattering as they used to be.

and while that didn't stop congress from mandating their use, they still contain mecury which requires you to follw the EPA's rules for disposal and clean up.

 

[Baja28]

and while that didn't stop congress from mandating their use, they still contain mecury which requires you to follw the EPA's rules for disposal and clean up.

Welllll....no.

It’s a zombie myth that just won’t stay down: Compact Fluorescent Lamps contain toxic mercury. There is about as much truth to that statement as there is mercury in CFLS — which is to say, trace amounts. CFLs do contain mercury, but in quantities so small that breaking one exposes you, in most cases, to less mercury than eating tuna fish...

Are we talking about high levels of mercury?

No. And the amount of mercury in CFLs has dropped steadily since they first made inroads into the market 15-20 years ago. As recently as 2007, CFLs contained about 5 milligrams, enough to cover a ballpoint pen tip. Since then, regulations in the European Union, which have also been adopted in California and other areas, have mandated that the amount of mercury in CFLs be limited to 3.5 mg by 2012 and 2.5 mg by 2013.

GE spiral CFLs use an even smaller amount: 0.8-0.9 mg of mercury. Sándor Lukács, the CFL systems manager for GE Appliance & Lighting, said the company decided to rapidly cut the mercury content of its CFLS in the 1990s. “To put it in perspective,” Lukács said, “when I was a little child, I had a thermometer that had 1,000 times more mercury than the current CFLs.” The Mercury Myth: How Much Mercury Do CFLs Actually Contain? | Txchnologist

 

[aps45819]

Drop the mercury thermometer in a school and see what happens.

If they're so safe and wonderful, why is it illegal to manufacture them in this country?

 

[itsbob]

Welllll....no.

SO if throw 1,000,000 CFLs into a landfill every year there will be NO environmental impact?

 

[aps45819]

Welllll....no.

Cleaning Up a Broken Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL) | Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) | US EPA

 

[Baja28]

SO if throw 1,000,000 CFLs into a landfill every year there will be NO environmental impact?

1M CFL's Bob? Seriously? If it were possible to dispose of 1M CFL's into one landfill (which it isn't), I bet there would be less impact than the plastics that are disposed of. Did you read my post and see how much mercury there is in one CFL?? Did you??

Cleaning Up a Broken Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL) | Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) | US EPA

The same EPA that halts construction because there may be an insect somewhere? That is the SUGGESTED method of clean up, NOT a requirement. From your link.

What if I can't follow all the recommended steps? or I cleaned up a CFL but didn't do it properly?

Don't be alarmed; these steps are only precautions that reflect best practices for cleaning up a broken CFL. Keep in mind that CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury -- less than 1/100th of the amount in a mercury thermometer.

Mercury thermometers are not illegal to manufacture in this country. They are only banned in the following nanny states: Look at these states and tell me what they all have in common. Hint: :democratcontrolled:

The following IMERC-member states currently have restrictions on the sale and/or distribution of mercury-containing thermometers and other measuring devices: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Additional states that restrict the sale of one or more types of mercury-added measuring devices (including mercury fever thermometers) include: Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio, and Oregon. http://www.newmoa.org/prevention/mercury/imerc/factsheets/measuring_devices.pdf

So can we stop with the and the over CFL's now??

 

[nhboy]

Who uses mercury thermometers? I haven't seen one for years. As for cfl's, I find that They last much longer than the incandescent bulbs.

 

[Baja28]

Who uses mercury thermometers? I haven't seen one for years. As for cfl's, I find that They last much longer than the incandescent bulbs.

Prolly no one uses them. They are a familiar reference for anyyone freaking out about mercury in CFL's.

I use CFL's all over the house & have never replaced one in 4-5 years.

 

[aps45819]

Who uses mercury thermometers? I haven't seen one for years. As for cfl's, I find that They last much longer than the incandescent bulbs.

The government banned the thermometers because they contain mercury.
The government mandated CFLs and they contain mercury.

I dislike the mandate more than I dislike the bulbs

 

[nhboy]

Mercury filled thermometers for kitchen use are still available for anyone who wants one.

Link.

 

[Baja28]

The government banned the thermometers because they contain mercury. Not completely true. Only a handful of nanny states did. Read my post. You can still buy mercury thermometers in MOST states.

The government mandated CFLs and they contain mercury.

I dislike the mandate more than I dislike the bulbs

While I know where you're coming from, posting misleading info doesn't help. And I believe the govt. backed off the CFL mandate.

I don't want the govt. telling me what bulb to use either but I won't mislead people to further my cause.

 

[Baja28]

Mercury filled thermometers for kitchen use are still available for anyone who wants one.

Link.

I would never have thought I'd see the day that we were on the same side of a debate.

 

[SamSpade]

Prolly no one uses them. They are a familiar reference for anyyone freaking out about mercury in CFL's.

I use CFL's all over the house & have never replaced one in 4-5 years.

I used to - what I found was eventually, the house was always dim and sometimes it took forever for the light level of the room to even reach an acceptable level. So I only used CFL's where I really didn't care about a lot of light - porch lights, the garage, closets.

And one that I never ever turned off. I still like incandescents better.

 

[Gilligan]

I use CFL's all over the house & have never replaced one in 4-5 years.

We replaced nearly all of the incandescents in our office 'common areas' with the CFL equivalents and are not impressed at all. They require replacement about as often (a bit of a PITA with 10' ceilings) and are not nearly as bright.

 

[Baja28]

I used to - what I found was eventually, the house was always dim and sometimes it took forever for the light level of the room to even reach an acceptable level. So I only used CFL's where I really didn't care about a lot of light - porch lights, the garage, closets.

And one that I never ever turned off. I still like incandescents better.

We replaced nearly all of the incandescents in our office 'common areas' with the CFL equivalents and are not impressed at all. They require replacement about as often (a bit of a PITA with 10' ceilings) and are not nearly as bright.

I have heard this often. I did go up on the wattage when replacing bulbs. They are dim when you first turn them on but they brighten as they warm up and within a minute are full brightness. If you swap a 40W incand. with a 40W CFL, you will get less light. Go to a 60 or 100W CFL.

As for burning out prematurely, GWGuy has had the same problem. I can't speak to that because I honestly haven't replaced one yet. Maybe a bad batch? :shrug:

 

[nebeno]

Found a good article about the mercury in CFL's.

Ask TreeHugger: Is Mercury from a Broken CFL Dangerous? : TreeHugger

Specifically below they've done some math to determine mercury exposure from a broken CFL compared to OSHA standards. The real question though, is how often have you broken a light bulb? I honestly can't even remember ever breaking one.

"A CFL containing 5 mg of mercury breaks in your child’s bedroom that has a volume of about 25 m3 (which corresponds to a medium sized bedroom). The entire 5 mg of mercury vaporizes immediately (an unlikely occurrence), resulting in an airborne mercury concentration in this room of 0.2 mg/m3. This concentration will decrease with time, as air in the room leaves and is replaced by air from outside or from a different room. As a result, concentrations of mercury in the room will likely approach zero after about an hour or so.

Under these relatively conservative assumptions, this level and duration of mercury exposure is not likely to be dangerous, as it is lower than the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard of 0.05 mg/m3 of metallic mercury vapor averaged over eight hours. [To equate these values, we could estimate the average indoor airborne mercury concentration for 8 hours, beginning post-spill at an estimated starting value of 0.2 mg/m3 and decreasing from there. If one assumes the the air exchanges completely in one hour (a fairly standard assumption), then the 8-hour average concentration would be 0.025 mg/m3.]"