The CFL

[FireFox]

Incandescent vs CFL

Toxic "Green" Lightbulbs:

http://www.forbidden...ight-bulbs.html

[Moon The Loon]

Fluorescent tubes have been full of mercury since their inception in the twenties (? or earlier??). I was dumbfounded when I heard the plans of banning tungsten filament bulbs in their favour well before the legislation was passed. I wondered then what communities would do to dispose of these things. A great example of a societal reaction to a great snake oil industrial promotion.

[boestar]

If any of you pay attention.... There are CFL disposal bins at hardware stores like home Depot, Canadian Tire, and home Hardware. the bulbs can be safely disposed of there. Same goes for batteries that low and behold contain....Mercury and have for many moons. how many of those do you toss in the garbage every year with no concern. All of these items can be disposed of properly at hazardous waste centers in your area or as I stated most hardware stores.

I have about 90% CFL lighting in my home now and will start moving to LED lighting in the future.

Use what you will but dispose of it properly.

[J.O.]

There are too many unanswered questions about the risk of long term exposure to CFLs for me to even consider putting them in any place where they would be close to me or my family. I've been stocking up on incandescents for a while now and will use them until they run out (or I do). Hopefully by then there will be safer LED bulbs available.

[Miles]

LED's are the future.

[J.O.]

LED's are the future.

Yes they are, and not too distant too. Which begs the question as to why some governments are shoving CFLs down our throats.

[Moon The Loon]

I have no difficulty nor opportunity to dispose of these bulbs properly.

Fact is, legislators had no idea what they were enabling into law.

[deicer]

Malcolm

The newer generation CFL's have addressed that. They are instant on, but when below -10c they take about a minute to brighten. I replaced my outdoor ones with newer generation bulbs and have no problems.

Iceman

[Kip Powick]

I'm sure all you wise men know this but perhaps in your locale, as in mine ,we have a hazardous waste drop-off around 4 times a year. All my used batteries, fluorescent bulbs, CFLs and old electronic marvels as well as , paint etc., are saved until the drop-off date.

Your City Hall should have the location and dates.

We also have Home Depot and Lowes as drop off spots but it is a bit far to go so we just save the stuff until the date.

[FireFox]

For recycling CFL's in the Greater Vancouver area, after using a dropoff depot the bulbs are trucked to Northern B.C. & then the mercury is sent to the Eastern US for recycling.

So...I really wonder how much energy they are saving.

How many times, when you install a new bulb, have you dropped one. Each CFL contains about five mg of mercury, enough to make 6,000 gallons of water toxic.

http://www.cbc.ca/ca...l#ixzz1BV1sxZvV

Personally, I'd prefer to wait until the LED's are a little cheaper.

[FireFox]

Yes.

Either way thou Malcolm, when you drop a battery you just pick it up.

Drop a CFL & good luck getting all of it out of your carpet...especially when, evidently, you are not supposed to use a vacuum.

Anyway....I am off to look for some good 'ole incandescents. Failing that perhaps I'll spend my "Sharing Our Success" bonus on a pack of LED's.

Cheers

[boestar]

CAreful of the MR-16 replacement LED bulbs as they have a tendance to overheat and cause fire. The power transformer in the lamp itself has insufficient cooling and the lamp will become very hot. the LEDs themselves generate little or no heat at all.

[mo32a]

When we were young kids we would go around the back of the local shopping mall and every once in awhile they would have stacks of the 8 foot fluorescent tubes out back when they renewed them in the stores. We would have sword fights with these, breaking half a dozen or more till we got bored.

I wonder what amount of mercury we inhaled during that process?

[Don Hudson]

Australia has banned incandescent lighting entirely.

[boestar]

Flourescent lighing has been used more widely that incandecent lighting for years. Every office building out there is lighted with flourescent lighting. this is not a new problem. It is just that the CFL has moved flourescent into every socket instead of special fixtures. they are more efficient and last longer so in the long run are cheaper and lower power consumption. If disposed of properly then there is no issue with them.

[J.O.]

Could part of the blame for elevated levels of mercury in our fisheries rest with widespread use of fluorescent light bulbs?

[J.O.]

Yes I was referring to the long tubes which have been around for decades.

[FireFox]

It appears that New Zealand has reversed the ban on incandescent bulbs.

Just in case you happen to break a CFL bulb here is what you should do, according to Health Canada;

• • Leave the room
    • Remove people and pets from the room and keep them out of the room during the clean-up process.
    • Avoid stepping on any broken glass.

    [*]Ventilation

    • Ventilate the room for at least 15 minutes prior to starting clean-up by opening windows and doors to the outdoors. This will ensure that mercury vapour levels are reduced before you start cleaning.
  • Clean-up Directions for Hard and Carpeted Surfaces
    • Do not use a vacuum to clean up the initial breakage, as it will spread the mercury vapour and dust throughout the area and may contaminate the vacuum.
    • Wear disposable gloves, if available, to avoid direct contact with mercury and to prevent cuts.
    • Scoop or sweep up the broken pieces and debris with two pieces of stiff paper or cardboard. Do not use a broom.
    • Use sticky tape, such as duct tape or masking tape, to pick up any remaining fine glass or powder.
    • Wipe the area with a damp paper towel, cloth or disposable wet wipe to remove any residual particles.
    • Place the broken glass and clean-up materials in a glass container with a tight fitting lid to further minimize the release of mercury vapour.

    [*]Carpeting - Steps to Take After the Initial Clean-up

    • If the rug is removable, take it outside, shake and air it out for as long as is practical.
      • The first time you vacuum on installed carpet after the clean-up, shut the door to the room or close off the area as much as possible and ventilate the room in which the lamp was broken by opening the windows and doors to the outside. When the vacuuming is done, remove the bag, wipe the vacuum with a damp paper towel, cloth or disposable wet wipe, and then place the vacuum bag and paper towel in a sealed plastic bag outside. In the case of a canister vacuum, wipe the canister out with a wet paper towel and dispose of the towel as outlined above. Continue to ventilate the room for 15 minutes once the vacuuming is completed.

    [*]Disposal

    • Immediately place waste material outside of the building in a protected area away from children.
    • Dispose of the waste at a household hazardous waste location as soon as possible. Check with local, provincial, or territorial authorities about the requirements for recycling and for the location of household hazardous waste depots or pick-up.
    • Do not dispose of the waste in your household trash.
    • For further information on disposal, please contact Environment Canada.

    [*]Washing

    • Wash your hands after storing and disposing of waste.

• Additional Information
  • Remove and install the CFL by handling only the base of the lamp to prevent any unnecessary pressure on the glass that may cause it to break.
  • Consider using a drop cloth when replacing a CFL to minimize the chance of breakage should the lamp fall or to protect the flooring and assist in clean-up should the bulb drop and break.
  • Store fluorescent lamps in containers that prevent them from breaking, such as in their original packaging.
  • Consider avoiding the use of CFLs in areas where the lamps may be easily broken.

[J.O.]

That's enough to convince me. When the technology is changed, I'll consider buying them. Time to stock up on incandescents.

[deicer]

Having over 70 CFL's in the house for over a decade now, have not had one break.

Yes, I agree that they need proper disposal, but let me ask this. Who amongst us never experienced a long tube flourescent breaking in the school gym where everyone stood around until the janitor swept it up? Who didn't jump for joy when you ran across long tube flourescents in the garbage somewhere and had a sword fight with your buddies? How many millions of long tube flourescents were just tossed into the garbage to shatter and fling contaminants over the decades?

I think we are in a better place with CFL's due to the fact that there is now more knowledge out there as to the proper usage and disposal of them.

Without any breakage, I have just watched my hydro consumption drop by 60% and stay low over the years.

Iceman

[13820]

Having over 70 CFL's in the house for over a decade now, have not had one break.

Who are you ? Al Gore? 70 light bulbs. Is that 10 per room?

[deicer]

Who are you ? Al Gore? 70 light bulbs. Is that 10 per room?

Seriously, have you ever inventoried how many light bulbs you actually have in your house? The number might surprise you

Iceman

[spreadsheet]

Seriously, have you ever inventoried how many light bulbs you actually have in your house? The number might surprise you

Iceman

That did surprise me, including 4 lights outside I have 71. About a third are CFL, I've used them for about 8 years now without a problem, only ever had one burn out. The concern with them seems to be a bit over the top.

[J.O.]

Sorry but I'm not buying. They will have to be disposed of some day and I don't have confidence in our ability to keep them out of the landfills. For every person who gives a damn and recycles them properly, there will be three who throw them in the trash.

I admit that I am somewhat biased, but for very good reason. A close family member suffered for years until it was found that she had mercury in her system. This was after working in dentistry with all of the precautions that were supposed to make it "safe". No amount of mercury is safe.

[13820]

I tried them early on in our pantry.

Burnt out two, but put it to the fact that they were on and off too much.

BTW they were thrown in the trash.