Energy saving light bulbs-good or bad?

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I can't find the article I read but according to it if one breaks, you are supposed to leave the romm immediatly. Give the dust which contains mercury a cahnce to settle and then when you do return wear gloves and a face mask to clean it up. Bag it all up and take it to a recycling facility. According to the article the bulbs are more dangerous than people think. I'm sure you can search it up on the internet.

Or you can just go back and read the procedure that I posted on page one.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

And how is this supposed to be better for anyone? You have to leave the room immediately for 15 minutes and use gloves to clean it up? Sorry, but I don't see how this is supposed to be better better for me, or the environment.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

And how is this supposed to be better for anyone? You have to leave the room immediately for 15 minutes and use gloves to clean it up? Sorry, but I don't see how this is supposed to be better better for me, or the environment.

The amounts are mercury in the bulbs are miniscule. They can be recycled easier than regular bulbs. There is less energy used to make them and they use less energy to function. Sounds better to me.

 

[Imzadi]

Argh! I just broke one before reading this! And I didn't know I was supposed to leave the room. I just wafted a pizza through the area and ate it. Now I have to go mop so the cat doesn't step in any unseen mercury dust.

They're good, but I have a hard time finding attractive one. DH is really into them and always brings home the spiral ones and sticks in fixtures where the bulbs are very visible. Yuck!

GE makes new compact florescent spirals, that are not supposed to stick above fixtures. Also, I just installed these new oval-ish soft white, florescent bulbs in the bathroom. They look more like regular, incandescent bulbs, only larger & more "bulbous." I don't have any fixture covering my bathroom lights above my mirror. They are the kind that are purposely exposed around makeup mirrors.


There are also 3-way florescent bulbs out. They've been out for a while, but I only found out a little while ago, from reading a past thread here.

 

[mickeysgal]

Argh! I just broke one before reading this! And I didn't know I was supposed to leave the room. I just wafted a pizza through the area and ate it. Now I have to go mop so the cat doesn't step in any unseen mercury dust.

:

Leave the room, face masks, and mops to clean up a dangerous spill? Is it me or is this a bit of overkill? Is this the same mercury we all played with when the thermometer broke and in science class on the lab tables?

 

[Imzadi]

Leave the room, face masks, and mops to clean up a dangerous spill? Is it me or is this a bit of overkill? Is this the same mercury we all played with when the thermometer broke and in science class on the lab tables?

Well, look how we all turned out.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Leave the room, face masks, and mops to clean up a dangerous spill? Is it me or is this a bit of overkill? Is this the same mercury we all played with when the thermometer broke and in science class on the lab tables?

I don't think you have to wear a mask...maybe gloves...but I would recommend that cleaning up any kind of light bulb. It's really not as dangerous as people are saying. These are just general precautions.

 

[Hoodie]

We just moved into a house where the previous owners have CFC bulbs nearly everywhere. We just finished removing them all. The ones in the kitchen constantly flickered or took forever to come on fully. We've had a hard time finding some that fit out light fixtures with a shade, and the rest were in the bathrooms - with no window to the outside. Not to mention there are ugly as sin!

Rather than risk breakage in a place that has minimal fresh air circulation, we just replaced everything. For the record, there has been no change in our energy bill pre to post CFC bulbs.

ETA: first place we removed the bulbs was from the nursery. It has a thick pile rug and I'm not taking any chances with mercury dust getting trapped in it.

 

[luvmy3]

Aren't these going to be mandatory in a few years? Do they make ones that go into chandeliers and wall fixtures like the ones in bathrooms that look like regular bulbs? I think these are so ugly and I'd hate to put them in my entry and dining room chandeliers.

 

[JB111107]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

I have a few of these, but I like the incandescent bulbs better, especially for my sewing room where I need clear, clean light. These give off a tinted light.

Our goverrnment has, of course, taken it upon themselves to make sure that we can't decide how to light our own rooms in our homes because we are too ignorant to figure it out for ourselves.

Some of the statments ARE overkill, BUT they are in the requirements made by the EPA in regards to the measure passed by our ever-so-smart congress.

** might I add that everytime I turn on my living room light, and the TV is on ( I have a HD Plasma) it "dims".

 

[Imzadi]

OK, it's the PHILIPS brand that makes the bulbous looking, soft light, florescent energy saver bulbs, that look more like incandescent bulbs, only bigger. They are definitely sold at Walmart & Circuit City. They take forever to fully brighten when you turn them on.

 

[GeorgeG]

There are downsides to the new mercury bulbs, most of which have already been stated. They gained acceptance only because they could be called "energy savers." My wife bought a bunch of them before she talked to me about it and I had a fit. While they do save some electricity, they are not worth the hassle that goes with them. It's better to simply use conventional lights, but less. In other words, learn to turn lights off when they are not needed (duh).

 

[JB111107]

There are downsides to the new mercury bulbs, most of which have already been stated. They gained acceptance only because they could be called "energy savers." My wife bought a bunch of them before she talked to me about it and I had a fit. While they do save some electricity, they are not worth the hassle that goes with them. It's better to simply use conventional lights, but less. In other words, learn to turn lights off when they are not needed (duh).

I totally agree, but by 2014 incandescent bulbs will be outlawed, and we will not be able to purchase them. The government is forcing us to choose these bulbs sooner or later. THAT is what gets me angered. Where in the constitution does it state that they have this right??

 

[Imzadi]

I totally agree, but by 2014 incandescent bulbs will be outlawed, and we will not be able to purchase them. The government is forcing us to choose these bulbs sooner or later.

Sounds to me like something to start slowly buying & hoarding and then sell on eBay in 2014. <-- Note the incandescent lightbulb in the smilie.

 

[JB111107]

Sounds to me like something to start slowly buying & hoarding and then sell on eBay in 2014.

with my luck I'd stockpile them, and they'd become a banned item to sell there.

 

[DC7800]

Leave the room, face masks, and mops to clean up a dangerous spill? Is it me or is this a bit of overkill? Is this the same mercury we all played with when the thermometer broke and in science class on the lab tables?

Once, as a young child, I actually bit and broke a thermometer in my mouth.

I also broke one of these bulbs trying to put it in the light fixture. Went to the store and bought another bulb - yep, broke it too. I think I just picked up the pieces of broken glass by hand. No mask, no gloves, no leaving the room.

Decades ago we somehow managed to survive lead is gasoline and asbestos in our walls. Both, and mercury, pose very real hazards, but if CFC bulbs are truly half as dangerous as they sound in the clean-up procedures, they shouldn't be on the market.

 

[DarthKTrava]

I have seen new lamps at Wal-Mart that have what maximum sized bulb you can put into a lamp. They give both the incandescent wattage and the flourescent bulb wattage. Don't put more in a lamp than what they say. Or you risk fire and subsequent damages.

 

[ameraumi]

OK, it's the PHILIPS brand that makes the bulbous looking, soft light, florescent energy saver bulbs, that look more like incandescent bulbs, only bigger. They are definitely sold at Walmart & Circuit City. They take forever to fully brighten when you turn them on.

This is the only brand I like! I do not think it takes that long to warm up and I like the hue better.

 

[Imzadi]

This is the only brand I like! I do not think it takes that long to warm up and I like the hue better.

I installed 2 Phillips bulbs this afternoon. I just turned them on & off again a couple times and let them cool off in between. They are the equivalent of 60 watt incandescent bulbs. When I turned the first one on, it immediately came on at about 15 watts, like one of those tiny appliance bulbs. I timed it, it took a full 10 seconds, to reach about 40 watts. The nightlite I have in the bathroom has an automatic sensor that turns off automatically when it senses light. It stayed on for about 8 of those seconds. The bulb took another 5 seconds to reach about 50 watts, then another 10 to fully brighten to 60 watts. The second bulb took a few seconds less.

The GE spiral flourescents I have of the same wattage, turn on at about 40 watts and only take about 8 seconds to go all the way to 60 watts.

I would never use the Philips round bulbs on a stairway, or anywhere I need instant light.

 

[Charade]

I have a few of these, but I like the incandescent bulbs better, especially for my sewing room where I need clear, clean light. These give off a tinted light.

Try Home Depot. They have a brand that comes in 3 or so different color (temperatures). Soft white, daylight and bright white. The difference is noticable.