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[sheepdog]

I'm sure by now most of you have seen the new fangled light bulbs, the milkie white tubes shaped like a curly fry they are so bound and determine to promoting as the next new way to save the planet, conserve energy, and all that stuff. The claims are that despite their considerably higher initial cost, they save you more in energy, and last longer, etc etc.

Well, we decided that maybe we should give them a try. I should of known better, but it sounded good at the time. Silly me for falling for media hype.

After parting with a good chunk of our hard earned money, we installed the first one in the kitchen. Even though we had purchased the highest wattage, the lighting was so poor I couldn't see to fry an egg! I'd say even the highest wattage bulbs put out less than half the amount of light as a regular bulb. In order to see decently, we had to put 2 bulbs in the light fixture, where as before we only had one 100 watt bulb of the old style in the overhead light fixture. So much for saving energy, if it takes twice as many bulbs burning to get the same amount of light.

As far as lasting longer, well, no good news there either. One burned out in less than a week, another lasted 2 weeks, my old cheap light bulbs I get at Dollar General at 4 for a dollar last longer than that!

And if all that wasn't bad enough, then I find out the damn things contain MECURY!!! A deadly, toxic poison!!! They are considered hazzardous waste when burnt out. This of course, is discovered after I pitch the burnt out ones in the trash heap, so it's too late to do anything about that.

So.....while it is great to come up with new inovations, technoligy and good ways to save the planet and conserve enery, why in the world don't they think things threw before mass marketing products that in fact are actually harmfull to the enviornment? I mean seriously, everybody knows mecury is toxic, why even consider putting it in something that is so abundently used in the average home? We all know the delicate bulbs are easily and frequently broken, it is shear foolishness to have such dangers in a household where children and pets could be endangered.

I am also concerned that in the event these bulbs catch on, the old style bulbs will become less readily available. The new bulbs throw off no heat like the old style bulbs. I use heat lamp bulbs when it is really cold, but in more moderate weather, a regular 100 watt bulb throws off enough heat to keep the chill off young pups and can be used in place of the electric guzzeling regular heat lamp bulbs.

I really do wish people would not be so greedy and promote these new ideas before they are found to be safe and effective. Conserving energy is important, but we should not be in such a rush to fall for every new gimick that comes down the pike. Surely there are plenty of very smart people in the world that can come up with better ways to conserve energy and make our lives better than a light bulb that is toxic. (and doesn't even light up well)

[moogie]

I agree that the output of these CFL's seems to be less than their rating states, in other words they are not as bright as incandescents. But some of this problem apparently depends on which manufacturer's bulbs are purchased as not all manufacturer's CFL's are equal. Some are better than others.

I've also noticed that even though they have a longer life span, on average, their output actually decreases as time goes by. I did some research and discovered that the average CFL starts decreasing output at about 40% of its lifespan! So in my kitchen I still use halogen lamps for the extra brightness. I like to be able to see what I'm cooking

But for reading, or in any lamp where previously a tri-light was used, I do use CFL's and they're fine in those types of fixtures.

Some CFL's are available now for use with dimmer switches and those I use in the dining room.

I'm all for saving energy and reducing costs but until manufacturers start producing a better product, there will still be a place for incandescents and halogen lamps.

Edited by moogie, 21 October 2008 - 04:27 PM.