Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 06/11/2008 7:02:10 PM PDT by JohnRLott
No matter how well-meaning, politicians frequently fail to understand all the consequences of their laws. Real world costs, the costs and benefits faced by those who will actually have to live with the regulations, often elude those who pass these rules. Yet, even by those depressing standards, problems with the mandated that people will soon be forced to use stand out.
The advantages of compact fluorescent light bulbs are obvious. While the fluorescent bulbs can cost 10times more than incandescent ones, fluorescent bulbs use 75percent less electricity and last up to 10times longer.
But longer life and energy savings come with a caveat — the fluorescent bulbs must be used for at least 15minutes once they are turned on and ideally for at least several hours at a time. Turning them off quickly after you have turned them on dramatically reduces their life expectancy. Not being able to use light bulbs simply when it is convenient is a cost the consumers will bear even if politicians didn’t factor it into their estimates of savings.
But those are just a tiny fraction of the other real world costs. As many now know, the compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury. The hazards are not trivial. One study found that “immediately after the bulb was broken - and sometimes even after a cleanup was attempted - levels of mercury vapor exceeded federal guidelines for chronic exposure by as much as 100 times.”
The EPA has come up with detailed advice on how to deal with how to put bulbs into sockets, cleanup spills, dispose of bulbs, and even safely transport them. For example, drop cloths should be placed on the floor under sockets in case bulbs are dropped, to cushion the fall. But if that fails, the cleanup process becomes incredibly involved. (Continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Whie LEDs are what will eventually win out in the future.
Cheaper to make (once EOS kick in), brighter light, use much less energy per lumen than the rest, no toxic gasses involved
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