Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Old September 23rd 10, 12:39 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave,talk.politics.misc,us.politics,alt.politics,alt.politics.economics
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,027
Default Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Proceed with Caution

On Sep 22, 3:45*pm, "Chas. Chan" wrote:
Average citizens cannot be trusted with economic decisions that
require balancing immediate costs and long-term benefits, according to
environmentalists.

[...]

•CFL manufacturers claim that a 13-watt CFL emits the same amount of
light as a 60-watt incandescent, but it doesn't seem to work that way
in the real world. I've been in CFL-lit hotel rooms where I need a
flashlight to read my dog-eared copy of The Road to Serfdom.

•Warm-up time: it takes up to 5 minutes for a CFL to reach full
strength, which may be related to the point above (why CFLs seem less
bright). My friend has installed them in a hallway where illumination
is needed only for the thirty seconds it takes to navigate the
staircase. Not ideal when Grandma visits and can't see the skateboard
on the stairs.

•Few CFLs last for their advertised lifetimes of five years or more.
Many people report replacing them after one year, making those return
on investment numbers a bit less rosy. Using them in ceiling fixtures,
on dimmers or timers, and for less than fifteen minutes per use reduce
their life.

•CFLs contain mercury and should be returned to a hazardous waste
center for disposal. Studies assume a 25% recycling rate, with the
rest going into landfills. (The Westinghouse website recommends
recycling only when disposing of "a large quantity" of fluorescent
tubes and doesn't mention how to dispose of their CFLs.) According to
a 2008 Yale study, burning coal to supply electricity to incandescent
bulbs emits more mercury per bulb than a CFL contains, but regions
that rely on cleaner fuels like natural gas experience greater mercury
contamination with the introduction of CFLs. Why would
environmentalists advocate to bring a toxic product into every home?

•Cleaning up a broken CFL doesn't require a haz-mat team, but you have
to take significant precautions to avoid mercury contamination of
living areas.

•Manufacturing CFLs is labor-intensive. No CFLs are made with
expensive U.S. labor; most are made in China, where hundreds of
factory workers in CFL plants have been hospitalized for mercury
poisoning. The last major light bulb factory in the U.S., a GE plant
in Winchester, VA, closed earlier this month.

•CFLs require six times as much energy to manufacture as incandescent
bulbs, not to mention -- if you're concerned about such things -- the
carbon footprint of shipping them from China.

•CFLs appear to cause migraines and epileptic seizures in a small
number of people. Other health risks are being studied.

•CFLs work poorly in cold temperatures -- as a wintertime front porch
light, for example. In cold climates, the heat of incandescent bulbs
is a useful -- if inefficient -- byproduct.

•CFLs degrade the quality of the electric current (so-called "dirty
electricity" with uneven sine waves) on a circuit into which they are
plugged, causing problems for other electronic devices and possible
health hazards to humans.

[...]

(complete story with references)http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/...ent_light_bulb...


Not my experience.
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Proceed with Caution Chas. Chan Shortwave 16 October 5th 10 09:15 PM
Fluorescent light RFI solved News Features Antenna 19 August 11th 08 07:29 PM
(OT) : The Best 2700 Kelvin Compact florescent bulbs barnegatdx Scanner 1 April 3rd 08 02:49 AM
(OT) Fluorescent Light Bulb Warning. [email protected] Shortwave 59 July 17th 07 07:24 PM
compact fluorescent light interference uncle arnie Shortwave 22 August 28th 05 01:56 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:00 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 RadioBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Radio"

 

Copyright © 2017