They make you look like you've lost your circulation.
Posted on 05/05/2007 11:18:00 AM PDT by John Jorsett
We've been looking in to compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) to reduce energy consumption for lighting. Here's what we've learned so far.
Manufacturers say that a 13-18 watt CFL produces light equivalent to a 60w incandescent bulb, an 18-22w CFL is the equivalent of a 75w bulb, and a 23-28w CFL is the equivalent of a 100w bulb. This is based on the "lumens" rating on the side of the box.
In real life, CFL equivalent replacements do not seem quite as bright as incandescents, so you might end up replacing a 60w equivalent with a 75w equivalent and so forth. (The "swirled" designs seem to give off brighter light than the CFLs with a traditional "bulb" design.) But overall, CFLs reduce energy use for lighting by 60%-70%.
Color temperature makes a big difference. The lower the color temperature, the more the light resembles the "warmth" of incandescent bulbs we are all used to (that may sound backwards, but that's how it works). Not all CFLs list the color temperature. The GE "Soft White" has a pleasing, almost incandescent look, while the similarly named Sylvania "Soft White" has a cooler, harsher "fluorescent" look (although some might prefer it for truer color rendering or easier reading).
We found some Sylvania "Warm White" 13w (60w replacement) CFLs at Lowes that have very pleasing light, and their small size allows them to fit most fixtures. The color temperature is listed as 2700K (as compared to their "Daylight" CFL which is listed at 6500K and seems much "harsher".) The 13w "Warm White" CFLs came in a contractor's box of 12 for $27, which is a pretty good deal. They are rated at 800 lumens with a lifetime of 10,000 hours, as compared to a standard GE "Soft White" 60w incandescent, which is rated at 840 lumens with a life of 1000 hours.
Because of their long life and lower energy consumption, CFLs can result in significant savings over the lifetime of the bulb relative to its cost. Manufacturers are quick to point this out, with claims on the packaging of $36+ in energy savings over the life of a 14w (60w equivalent) up to $61 for a 23w (100w equivalent). Your mileage will probably vary.
Most CFLs do not work with dimmers. Manufacturers say it will shorten the bulb life and it voids the warranty. There are special bulbs that work with dimmers, but they are not widely available. If the package does not say the bulb is compatible with dimmers, it probably isn't. (Look at the fine print on the base of the bulb.) We are still looking for a local source for "dimmable" CFLs, as most of our fixtures have dimmers. CFLs are also not intended for use with most photocells and timers.
One thing that is not talked about much is that CFLs emit more ultraviolet (UV) light than an incandescent bulb, which produces virtually none. Light in a CFL starts out as UV from excited gases, and is made visible by phosphors coating the inside of the tube/bulb. Incandescent light is mostly infrared emitted by heating the filament to super high temperatures (leading some to call them "heat bulbs" instead of "light bulbs"). Most of the UV from a CFL is filtered out in the conversion, but there is still some.
Manufacturers say, however, that there is no health risk and that eight hours of exposure to CFL UV is about the same as one minute in full sunlight. But, photographs, artwork, some fabrics, and some photoreactive chemicals used in furniture finishes are susceptible to degradation from any increased levels of UV over time. So this is something to consider.
The Mercury Problem
Finally, CFL critics are quick to point out that CFL bulbs contain mercury, a highly toxic pollutant. This is true. The typical CFL bulb contains approx. 5mg of mercury. (Manufacturers are working to reduce this. Phillips is said to have developed a bulb that only has 1.5mg of mercury.) If the bulb is broken, special care must be taken to properly clean up and dispose of the remnants to prevent health risks. Further, CFLs must be recycled or properly disposed of to prevent the mercury from entering the environment. Here are the federal government guidelines for CFL disposal and cleanup.
What the critics forget to mention, however, is that coal-fired power plants are a major source of mercury pollution. Further, most of this mercury is emitted into the air, and is thus not contained or containable. Mercury in a CFL is already contained unless it is broken, and if properly recycled is fully containable.
We did some rough calculations to determine the mercury pollution impact of CFL v. incandescent bulbs. We used TVA's Kingston plant as an example. It generated 10,161,530 gross megawatts in 2005, and released 643 pounds of mercury into the environment. If our math is correct, this works out to about 0.000028702 milligrams of mercury pollution per watt of electricity generated.
Based on this, a 100w incandescent bulb operated for 8 hours per day 365 days per year causes 8.4mg of mercury pollution. An equivalent 23w CFL bulb will cause 1.9mg of mercury pollution. Assuming a five year life of the bulb, and assuming the bulb is crushed and dumped in a landfill releasing its 5mg of mercury into the environment, the CFL will cause 14mg of mercury pollution over its lifetime as compared to 42mg of mercury pollution for an equivalent number of incandescent bulbs, a reduction of 28mg or 66%.
66% sounds like a lot. But according to DOE estimates, residential power usage is about 35% of the total, and lighting in the average home accounts for about 9.4% of the energy used. Considering that about 64% of TVA power is generated from coal v. hydro and nuclear, the net reduction of mercury emissions if every TVA customer switched to CFL bulbs would only be 4.6 pounds at the Kingston plant, a 0.7% reduction. System-wide, this would be a reduction of nearly 39 pounds annually.
39 pounds doesn't sound like much mercury (even though it's thousands of lethal doses) but it's something. And multiply that for every power system in the U.S. and it adds up.
Plus, we should take pollution controls wherever we can get them. If you figure a 0.7% reduction in coal-fired household energy use and related emissions across the board, system-wide TVA emissions of NOx (nitrogen oxides that cause ozone and smog) could be reduced by 1337 tons, SO2 (sulfur dioxide that causes acid rain and harms plants and stream ecology) by 3220 tons, and CO2 (a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming) by 735,000 tons (2005 figures). Increased commercial usage of CFL would result in even more reductions.
So CFLs won't save the planet, but they might put off its demise for a month or two.
Back to the CFL mercury problem, a couple of things need to happen right away:
• Consumers need to be educated on proper disposal and cleanup. The packages we purchased do not mention this prominently or at all. One directs you to a website. There should be prominent warnings about health risks and instructions for proper disposal and cleanup on all CFL packaging.
• Local public works officials need to incorporate CFL collection, recycling and/or disposal into their waste management programs.
• Big-box retailers who sell more than 100 CFLs per year (or some other arbitrary figure) should be required to provide on-site recycling centers.
One place NEVER to put them is in your bathroom or dressing room. Never put them near your mirrors where you get ready. It will ruin women's self-esteem! LOL.
Here's a different take on that story from Snopes.
I think it’s a safe assumption light bulbs will be thrown in the trash and not recycled, unless, of course, all bulbs are properly registered and the buyers’ backgrounds are checked.
I keep seeing this to which I respond "how many people have coal fired power plants in their house?" Nobody I know.
My power comes from hydroelectric so this doesn't apply to me.
Here’s my prob: According to my local guys, they’ll take ‘em whole, but not broken. If I break one, what the heck do I do? Feh.
I agree with your observations.
No CFL made that claims “100W equivalent” is even close to the useful light output of a 100W incandescent. The lower wattages are even worse. You MUST plan to insert a bulb of higher wattage than the manufacturers claim. I have found that often I have to have two of these turned on where one incandescent would have sufficed.
They are a terrible item to use in such places as closets and other locations when the time per on/off cycle is low. Not only is the warm up time for them very significant to get up to even the measly output claimed, but there is a substantial decrease of bulb lifetime per cycle.
They are a total disaster when used in places that get cold: garage/ porch/ attic/ basement - you get hit five times as hard on the “warm up time” and one bulb is never useful where when you had been able to use one incandescent. My experience suggests that the lifetime gets hit even harder in places which are cool, and lifetime suffers the double whammy of cold start & short cycles.
I’ve kept track of their lifetime. Not once has CFL bulb achieved even close to the lifetime claimed - even when the light was kept on constantly.
I use them in several places in my house, but I believe that for most applications, incandescent bulbs are far better. I have many places in my home that I’ve never replaced an incandescent since they are on so seldom. Suggesting that people owning new houses replace a $0.40 bulb with a $3.00 bulb in many places throughout their home represents a ridiculous waste of resources.
They make you look like you've lost your circulation.
So, now the conservative thing is to trash low-energy lights?
Remembering what happened to the price of R-12 A/C refrigerant for the existing stock after the clean-air act, the conservative thing just might be to go buy 50 bucks worth of 60/75/100 watt incandescents now while they can still be had for 30 cents apiece.
I use them where they make sense. They don’t make sense for most of the lighting locations in my home. You are free to use them where you see fit.
I believe that is what most conservatives would say about this issue.
I invite correction.
We are living in the scam generation.
Do they use CFLs in Hybrid cars?
Our earlier ones (from several years ago) were like yours. But the newer ones are much better, and most of ours are now CFLs.
In a few years, LEDs will be ready for general purpose lighting.
We’ve been using the things for about 7 years now, and I can’t really think of one thing to complain about. The savings we see are certainly not a hoax. By the way you can get the bulds at Costco for about half what they are most places.
My wife recently recommended them to a large family with a 5 bedroom house. Their electric bill was eating them up. After replacing all their bulbs their bill was cut almost in half.
Funny, the things seem to work OK in my garage, but then I live in the banana belt of NW Montana.
Hardly any objectivity in this article. Comparing mercury in bulbs to coal fired plants is a stretch to say the least. May as well compare the mercury manufacturing the bulbs as well.
Pray for W and Our Troops
You are right: this is a scam generation.
After reading the “$2000/ cleanup” article, I just had yet another thought, regardless of the truth of that article:
Suppose you were selling your home and the prospective owner for some reason or other decided they wanted it tested for mercury? If you had broken a CFL there, I suspect it highly likely they would find it “over the limits”...
What then?
I can see this is could cost people ... many people ... big time.
This brand a more natural spectrum - Ott-Lite.com.
They are more expensive that the competition, but the light they produce is better than any other fluorescent or incandescent bulb I've tried.
However, I have never left lights on all over the house when I’m out of the room. I’ve trained my family to turn them off, too.
If someone’s lighting bills are eating them up, perhaps they ought to consider turning lights off where they don’t need them.
Use CFL’s in the kitchen (if you get one that you can stand the color) and in the living room (if you decide it is fine to turn on another light or two) and in the study where you read for a couple hours at a time. However, where you’re only going to be for five or ten minutes, use incandescents and turn them off when you’re done!
Where the warm cuddles are
The light travels slower
As it shifts down to yellow
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