Posted on 12/23/2010 2:09:46 PM PST by NRG1973
A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) is to blame for an accidental electrical fire in Hornell Wednesday morning, said Steuben County Fire Investigator Joe Gerych.
“Those are the lights everybody’s been telling us to use,” he said. “It blew up like a bomb. It spattered all over.”
A CFL on the ceiling burst, said Gerych, and gas inside the CFL bulb helped start the fire. He added exploding CFLs are rare.
The North Hornell Fire Department responded to a call from the McNeill residence, 7185 N. Main St. Ext., Hornellsville, a little before 7 a.m. Wednesday, said North Hornell Fire Chief Mike Robbins.
(Excerpt) Read more at eveningtribune.com ...
I like mine also...not adding heat in the hot southern summers is a biiiiiig plus. Save the cost of a quality bulb or two each hot month from not running the ac extra to counter it, and some of ours are up to several years and counting.
Me too! I hate the light produced by the CFL’s - it gives me a headache.
Exploding CFL’s are NOT rare.
Have been reading about this problem on the internet for over 5 years.
I wonder if an exploding bulb is as rare as the 10 deaths in 10 years of drop side cribs? I am willing to bet that it is a much higher incidence of this happening than 1 a year.
What’s the carbon footprint of a house fire?
Answer the knock on your door, your smart meter has issued a warrant
I found some Sylvania bulbs with a claimed life of 1500 hrs that are made in St. Marys, PA earlier this week in a local graocery store.
I just retired one of the very first installed in this house, about a decade ago. (And the poorest light quality.) Ran 24/7 except during power outages.
Two others died in that decade -- don't know about the life because I haven't been recording "on" times. But I've replaced a LOT more incandescents in that same period.
Yes, one emitted a bit of smoke when it died (burning electronics does tend to stink -- I'll never forget when my TV caught fire). Don't usually leave them on when we're away, but I will take a much closer look at containing fixtures now.
uh oh....
Color temperature is important, as my wife learned when we replaced the fluorescents in the kitchen. Last time she bought high color-temp ("bright white") and that created a less-than-ideal light -- a bit bluish. This time we bought low color-temp lamps and got MUCH better light.
Whether you choose CFL’s or not should be up to you, not the government.
Agreed 100%!
Probably near zero. At least for the wood -- it's only the premature release of temporarily-sequestered carbon.
Which is why planting trees is silly. That carbon is coming back, unless you have a means for permanently sequestering old wood and not letting it burn or rot.
Would really appreciate some of your links for my own education. Dogpile.com doesn't give much beyond the fact that it does happen and seems to be linked to bulbs made in China (gee, where have we heard before of problems with Chinese-made products?) or, in one case, possible overtightening of a live bulb!
(I will include external flame-inducing burnouts as "exploding", but not internally-burned electronics.)
Thanks in advance, ridesthemiles! (No need to collect them if you haven't kept the links, just ping me to what you see when you see it, please. I must spend my time elsewhere because I haven't see this.)
Cute. But "smart meters" (whatever they will become -- what's out there now are parts of various experiments related to the residential consumer of electricity) won't issue warrants. But they could result in much higher electric bills if no attention is paid to consumption practices.
We're particular about characteristics of the bulbs we buy. In shaded fixtures it's hard to tell the difference and our house has a warm glow inside.
But in all fairness, nobody in this household reports the headaches or other problems that some folks do. I am sensitive to certain indoor environmental conditions apparently at levels far below other's, so I'm not about to pooh-pooh the headache reports.
CFLs might not be for everyone, and everyone should have a choice.
Yes, that family business was called “General Electric.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html
They became emboldened when they decided what kind of toilets we had to use........
Exactly... I do get the headaches and sometimes worse (almost migraine)... At my office, I’ve been fortunate to be able to have almost all the fluorescents off, and they let us bring in incandescents (many of us suffer from the same thing).
My husband and I are all about saving energy — we compost, recycle, use water cisterns, save seeds, all of that. The house came with a couple of fluorescent lights — in the kitchen and AZ Room. That’s fine, I just don’t want them where I read or sit for long.
The gas doesn't burn but how hot does it get when a bulb is burning out? Since it's not flammable maybe it can super-heat. Just speculating.
All the more reason to distrust them. The only made in China thing I would buy is clothing. They use recycled metal, which breaks or bends with even normal use. Not really so cheap when you end up throwing it away. And really not cheap, when you factor in how many American jobs have been lost.
You got it!
Lists problems with GE CFL Light Bulbs - 2010
06/06/10 In 2008, the Office of National statistics reports there were 1033 fires caused from misuse of CFL light bulbs. Energy Star, a joint effort between the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, CFLs installed in enclosed fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs may overheat. This can pose serious risk of injury or fire, and significantly reduce both light output and lifetime. Even under optimum conditions, light output from a CFL will decrease over its lifetime. To maintain existing light levels, select CFLs with rated lumen output (of bulb and ballast together) at least as high as the bulbs they replace. CFLs should have a power factor (PF) above 50% and a Color Rendering Index (CRI) above 80%. ENERGY STAR-qualified integral CFLs and most available modular CFLs meet these criteria.
CFL Ligh Bulb Smoke and Possible Fire
July 26, 2009
Trisonic Comp;act Fluorescent Light Bulbs Recalled due to Fire Hazard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2010
Release #11-001
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