Posted on 12/19/2007 1:18:19 PM PST by truthfinder9
They may lower your bills, but don't really do much for C02:
The U.S. Energy Star program says that if every home in America replaced one normal light bulb with a fluorescent...it would be equivalent to taking 800,000 cars off the road. Sure, that sounds like a lot, but it's less than 0.1 percent of registered cars worldwide. Plus, transportation accounts for only about one-fifth of global emissions anyway.Just the increase in the amount of coal that China will burn by 2020 will send as much C02 into the atmosphere as 3 billion Ford Expeditions, each driven 15,000 miles a year.
An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems, p. 7.
“They give off horrible light”
Honestly, I don’t notice too much of a difference in the type of light emitted between the CF and the incandescent ones. The first generation ones were terrible, very noticeable flicker. But they’ve gotten a lot better.
The only difference is for the indoor floods I use in the kitchen, the light takes like 30 seconds to get fully bright.
Have you actually had them last that long, I haven’t.
No. That’s the simple answer.
If you want to save money and energy, just shut the lights in the rooms you’re not using, open the blinds during the day, and watch TV in the dark.
You’ll save plenty and still only pay .50 a bulb. Plus you don’t have to worry about having mecury dumped on the floor if I happen to break one.
Pay $6 for a lightbulb. Talk about dim bulbs
“Are there any good dimmable compact fluorescents out there?”
Yes, I use three dimmable indoor floods in my kitchen.
I put CFL’s in and regret it already.
Incandescents best mimic natural light and they are dimmable.
CFL’s suck
“Have you actually had them last that long, I haven’t.”
Check back with me in 3 years. ;)
Made all the difference in the world.
Put em in my hanger I have two of them burning keeping a pretty good light at all times so I can go in and see my gas guzzleing plane and Harley and boat any time day or night.
And I feel good, like I’m helping save the planet by not having to turn the hanger lights on.
They last longer than incandescents, but 5-7 years is wishful thinking. If you've got a warranty on them, be sure to save the receipts. I've been getting a year to a year and a half on mine.
“Pay $6 for a lightbulb. “
$1 a bulb for the normal lamp ones. Walmart.
I’m not going to use them just because the greenies are trying to make me.
TAKEN VERBATIM FROM THE EPA WEBSITE IF YOU BREAK A COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULB
“EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag.
Use disposable rubber gloves, if available (i.e., do not use bare hands). Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag.
Place the first bag in a second sealed plastic bag and put it in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.
Note: Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a local recycling center.
Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.
If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet:
First, remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner, following the steps above. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.”
Well, changing to compact fluorescent bulbs DOES have one benefit, however small. The monthly cost of lighting my home has dropped, a very real advantage I can recognize and apply.
As for the number of cars on the road it would replace if every incandescent bulb in America were swapped out for a compact fluorescent bulb, that is a totally meaningless estimate for me. We put more new vehicles on the road each year than that.
Five years from now, compact fluorescent bulbs will fast become obsolete, as more and more LED lighting systems are available. Right now, an LED light with the power to replace a 100-watt bulb is ~$20 or so, but with the economies of scale, the Chinese will be producing them for LESS than compact fluorescent bulbs. Individually, one LED emits a singularly bright monochrome light, but in arrays, they provide a much more efficient light source, consuming about 3-5% of the power needed for a similar amount of light from an incandescent bulb, and less than a quarter of the power needed for a compact fluorescent bulb.
3 billion Ford Expeditions?
The snowbirds are back!
“Are there any good dimmable compact fluorescents out there?”
Not that I’m aware off. The technology to dim F-bulbs is rather expensive.
[I used some a long time ago; and they didn’t help lower my electric bill. But they were more expensive.]
Well, it is undeniable they use less power on a lumen/lumen basis. Simple fact. They also last much longer. I have a couple in the house and will get more. Not because I am a greenie, but I prefer the cool white to incandescent.
“Right now, an LED light with the power to replace a 100-watt bulb is ~$20 or so, but with the economies of scale, the Chinese will be producing them for LESS than compact fluorescent bulbs. Individually, one LED emits a singularly bright monochrome light, but in arrays, they provide a much more efficient light source, consuming about 3-5% of the power needed for a similar amount of light from an incandescent bulb, and less than a quarter of the power needed for a compact fluorescent bulb.”
I too am looking forward to the evolution of LED lighting. Hopefully they can do something about that bluish tint they give off.
Which is totally irrelevent - CO2 is the new whipping boy, but it's effects on climate are largely bunk.
“They may lower your bills, but don’t really do much for C02:”
Who gives an airborne rodent’s rump? They lower my electric bill and last longer than regular incandescent bulbs.
C02 indeed...
ruefully
We have one fluorescent bulb.
The hall light didn’t work. The landlord attempted to fix it. Now the hall light won’t turn off. He tried one more time. We gave up and put in fluorescent bulb which has now been on 24/7 for about 3 1/2 years.
Have we saved the environment yet?
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