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Lights Out for Incandescent Lightbulbs

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shardian:
I have a CFL in my garage. It takes FOREVER to get past nightlight lumen levels on cold days/nights. Oh, and BTW, I was at Walmart and they had dimmable Flood CFL's for $13.

ahofle:

--- Quote from: Ed_McCarron on December 19, 2007, 09:39:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: ChadTower on December 19, 2007, 03:26:17 pm ---They last much longer, run cooler, run cheaper...

--- End quote ---

...add mercury to the waste stream...

--- End quote ---

I thought I was the only one who noticed this.  I'll bet less than a percent of CFL users properly dispose of them (like NiCd batteries).  :-\

I also agree that the rated life of CFLs is usually greatly exaggerated (and seems to depend much on the manufacturer).  I have had good luck with these outside though unlike Ken.  When the temp goes in and below the 20s they are definitely dimmer, but more than adequate for lighting the front porch and garage area at about a quarter the energy usage. 
Another thing that seems to vary among manufacturer is the time it takes for them to warm up.  I bought a bunch of CFL globes for the bathroom lighting and they seem to take forever to put out good light (very irritating).

Daniel270:
Part of the thing that grabbed my attention with this is the fact that I live in an apartment that's pretty strictly incandescent.   Most building owners are cheap ---daisies--- and won't update anything unless it goes into a building code violation, including better fixtures for those new bulbs. 

I'm still complaining about no light whatsoever in my living room.... and no ceiling fans. :(

patrickl:

--- Quote from: Ed_McCarron on December 19, 2007, 09:39:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: ChadTower on December 19, 2007, 03:26:17 pm ---They last much longer, run cooler, run cheaper...

--- End quote ---

...add mercury to the waste stream...

--- End quote ---

I was wondering about this on another thread and found that there is a claim that actually less mercury gets released with CFLs:

Coal electricty plants indeed emit a lot of mercury, even though they are being forced to be cleaner too.

Found a random article on the subject:
Shedding some light on the CFL Blubs.

--- Quote ---In 2006, coal-fired power plants produced 1,971 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity, emitting 50.7 million tons of mercury into the air—the equivalent amount of mercury contained in more than 9 billion CFLs (the bulbs emit zero mercury when in use or being handled).

Approximately 0.0234 mg of mercury—plus carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide—releases into the air per 1 kwh of electricity that a coal-fired power plant generates. Over the 7500-hour average range of one CFL, then, a plant will emit 13.16 mg of mercury to sustain a 75-watt incandescent bulb but only 3.51 mg of mercury to sustain a 20-watt CFL (the lightning equivalent of a 75-watt traditional bulb). Even if the mercury contained in a CFL was directly released into the atmosphere, an incandescent would still contribute 4.65 more milligrams of mercury into the environment over its lifetime.

--- End quote ---

Ed_McCarron:

--- Quote ---In 2006, coal-fired power plants produced 1,971 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity, emitting 50.7 million tons of mercury into the air—the equivalent amount of mercury contained in more than 9 billion CFLs (the bulbs emit zero mercury when in use or being handled).
--- End quote ---

Not having the facts to dispute this, but having worked in/around the industry, anything that can be extracted from the waste of those plants is - they can sell it.

Sulfur, mercury, and probably some other 'wastes' are extracted by different processes, and sold as bulk chemical.

The plants whine about the expense of trapping the waste, but then turn around and sell it.  If theres money to be made, they find a way.

Everyone puts their own spin on it to cater to their agenda.  Just like here. ;)

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