Posted on 12/28/2011 7:37:38 PM PST by matt04
Compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, have been counted on to light the way to a more energy-efficient future.
Compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, which will gradually be phased out starting in January, CFLs use about a fifth the power and have a life six to 10 times as great.
However, since the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched its online safety complaints database in March, there have been 34 reports made by people about CFLs that emitted smoke or a burning odor and four reports of the devices catching fire.
As perspective, though, 272 million CFLs were sold in 2009 in the United States.
Nevertheless, the complaints are a cause for concern, according to Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fire Services.
“In 2008, the state fire marshal’s office office first alerted the fire chiefs that CFLs could smoke” at the end of their life, she said.
“I’m not aware of any fires that fire departments in the state have responded to that were started by CFLs, but, as a consumer, it’s a good idea to be vigilant,” she said.
An incandescent bulb typically ends its life when the wire filament, which glows to produce light when electricity passes through it, burns out and breaks. Fires from this are almost nonexistent.
A CFL uses electricity to heat an element in the lamp’s base that excites the mercury vapor gas in the coils so that they emit light. When a CFL can no longer produce light, the electronics in its base will still try to function, sometimes leading to overheating, smoke and fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at masslive.com ...
A barn fire is far more likely to be spontaneous combustion OR caused by the wiring going too the 100 watt bulb. Barns are not known for safe wiring practices. Put the bulb up where it can't be hit and it's safe. BTW I just placed a thermometer on the 100 watt bulb in my hall. It reached about 195 degrees surface temp. A 60 watt bulb I can unscrew one hot with my bare hands.
The ballast in standard fluorescent fixtures can cause fires as well.
Generally they make smoke & thats it. We even used them onboard ship. A ballast in that case is a simple step up transformer. The difference is it has a lot more room too displace heat. Such a ballast usually gives you ample warning it is going bad also.
Proud to live in a CFL free home. Always.
I don’t give a rip how long they last.
I don’t like the type of light they put out.
They are ugly.
They are a pain in the but to clean up when you break them.
I have over 1,000 of the 100watt bulbs and I am getting more tomorrow.
Got hundreds of the 75, 3 way, 150 watt each.
I will never run out of them.
CFL lamps are not the devil. I love using them in my bathroom.. Light comes on right away, but not full bright for a couple seconds so my eyes can adjust.
Everywhere else I use LED lamps though. There is zero reason outside of obstinance not to use the best technology avaiable.
I do not know your particular situation, however, using CFL lamps in an enclosed environment will sometimes cause catastrophic failure.
Also if they are used in the base up position CFL lamps can over-heat if they do not have enough ventilation. This is caused from the electronics necessary to maintain the fluorescent arc located in the base.
Not a bad technology just does not have the right information surrounding it to make sure that there are no issues.
I have over 220 CFL’s in my home... Essentially all in recessed “can light” fixtures. In about 5 years I’ve replaced about 10% to 15% of them. None smoked or otherwise catastrophically failed.
Many of those 200 CFL’s have a lot of hours on them.
And “10 years” is not what is actually claimed. It is based on an “average” use of x number of hours per day. A good incandescent bulb is good for about 2000 hours. A good CFL is good for about 6,000+ hours.
I don’t buy the cheapest CFL’s I can find. I buy ones that work well with a good color temperature and are usable as soon as you turn them on (cold). The added cost, about $8 a bulb, is well worth it. They pay for themselves many times over in saved electricity costs over the life of the bulb.
You are right about sub par wiring in barns. Oily rags, are yet another source of fire in outbuildings (used to be worse when boiled linseed oil was a commonly used farm chemical).
But bare inc. bulbs have been known to break and drop superheated tungsten. This will ignite flamable debris should it come in contact.
The point is NO light source is 100% safe, close but not 100%. Just look what the Mine Safety folks require for light sources in explosive environments, same requirement when I was using lights inside fuel tanks during repair operations.
This hysteria about CFLs is just that, hysteria. When you but billions of electric devices into service, some will catch fire, but the rate will be so low as to be insignificant.
I use more than 220 TCP 1R4014IB CFL’s in my home. They are enclosed in a normal R40 flood light glass envelope so you can’t easily see the curly light inside. In addition they are in recessed “can light” fixtures so you don’t see much of the bulb to begin with. These bulbs are not “ugly” and have a good color temperature. TCP calls them “Instabright” and have about 80% of their brightness when turned on cold making them great for hallways and bathrooms.
I also have florescent tube lights, incandescent lights and LED lights in various places...
Which is cool in some situations, not so cool for reading, fornicating, etc...
Diffusion will be the key to winning.
/johnny
johnny
No it's all about a general poor design and our federal government passing laws. Watts means heat displacement. The heat must go somewhere. On the older incandescents the heat was in the element. With CFL's the heat is in the electronic ballast located at the base of the socket.
Here is another unmentioned factor and likely the actual reason these bulbs catch fire more frequent than incandescents. Certain utilities in the past decade have raised the voltage entering the average home from what was once 110/220 to nearly now at 130/260 volts. The old transformer ballast could take that abuse better and could take voltage spikes and surges fairly well as could incandescents to a point. The CFL's are right on the margin of failure to start with since the electronics are confined and enclosed.
Most persons do not even have a clue as too what the voltage is in their home. The bulb in the picture in the article is rated at 120 volts. Most homes these days run well above 120 volts on a single circuit. Mine was 128/256 till I finally got my utility to put up a lower voltage transformer because I was sick and tired of replacing some very expensive items in my home. I feel sorry for anyone living near the substation using them. They likely have no clue as too why the darn things won't last.
I want LED’s to work as well.
I’ve purchased about 20 different models trying to find ones that work well as replacements for various incandescents I have around the house. So far I’ve only found a usable replacement for a 25W incandescent used in dimming wall sconces (color is just okay). I’ve not found a usable replacement for 40W incandescents (the color isn’t acceptable).
Actually, many CFL’s have internal voltage regulation and are more tolerant of voltage variations that incandescent bulbs.
Incandescent bulbs are very sensitive to voltage verses lifespan. Raising the voltage 10% drastically reduces lifespan.
CFL’s are sensitive to spikes as you say (as in causing failure) but so are virtually all the other electronic devices you have in your home.
Two of mine have done that.
“Here is another unmentioned factor and likely the actual reason these bulbs catch fire more frequent than incandescents. Certain utilities in the past decade have raised the voltage entering the average home from what was once 110/220 to nearly now at 130/260 volts.”
May I ask why they do this. What benefit is it to the utility?
Well, hero... I don't have sconces here. I have 3 important lights, and they have to work.
Or not, actually considering my octave shift down toward the IR.
Lets us play...
/johnny
I used to purchase incandescent bulbs rated at 130 volts for our lab. We got much longer life out of them.
Trying to pick a fight?
Just rude?
Drinking?
Or something else?
Lower voltage damages induction motors (mainly refrigerators and air conditioners). Higher voltage allows more load variation without the voltage going too low due to wire resistance (house and power line wire).
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