We started lamping the house with them over a decade ago, using them more in interior spaces as light quality improved. So far 4 have died -- one of the first two installed, running 24/7, started failing in December and was replaced.
Also, the amount of mercury in one thermometer is about 5000x more than a CFL lightbulb.
I think you're off a bit. The old fever thermometers contained somewhere from .5 to 3 grams of mercury. I believe CFLs today are down around 3 milligrams. So the ratio is approximately 1:160 to 1:1000.
I broke two of those as a boy. Which is equivalent to 300 to 2000 CFLs.
If we say that I've been using all CFLs for 5 years and 4 quit, and that's their steady rate of burnout, somewhere in 75 to 500 years I will have "released" as much mercury as I did with those two thermometers.
Part of the accounting has to do with the amount of electricity saved which results in less coal burned which reduces the coal plant mercury emissions.
My wife and I have an ongoing fight because she hates the color of the CFL’s. All I care about is that the use less electricity =($).
I knew my mercury facts were not acurate. Those figures were quoted on a talk radio show by someone who was promoting CFL’s. I think they were coparing them to your typical outside house thermometer. I was just trying to point out that the danger/fear was way overblown. The media loves to blow things like this out of proportion.
The problem I see with CFL’s is that they do not function well in cold temperatures.
I have 8’ flourescent lights in my unheated barn with a ballast that works down to 20 F. What do use to replace your outside post lamps ? I am tired of replacing those every 6 months. These lights(2) are on a photo sensative switch. They are on 10-12 hours everyday.