We have a few of these in our house. I keep them for green reasons, but don’t particularly like them.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, the color temperature of the bulbs you can actually buy at the store is poor, tending to be greenish or yellowish. The ones available in the store don’t work with reostats. Or in the cold. And they’re a bit flickery. They don’t look especially good in recessed lighting applications. And they are useless for lamps whose shades clip to the bulb.
Yes, I know that after research on the web I can get different color temperatures, and can get different bulbs that might work better in specific applications, including cold and recessed lighting. I, however, am less than thrilled at the prospect of having to do research, and place a catalog order, in order to buy such a mundane object. I also don’t reliosh the thought of warehousing them for years because I had to buy a huge number in order to make the shipping cost reasonable.
Now, in today’s Globe, it sounds as if when one breaks, you might as well break out your haz-mat suit. Doubtless a little alarmist, but still, the worst consequence of a broken tungsten bulb is a glass splinter.
They certainly have a ways to go before these things are consumer-friendly.
It’s an issue.
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p>For recessed lights, go to Home Depot, they have very good ones. It’s the recessed light casing on the outside with the normal florescent bulb on the inside. Once fully lit, you can’t tell the difference. Yes, if it’s cold it does take a minute or so to warm up. I have them in my basement, the person who had the house before decided to put 20 recessed lights down there. I immediately replaced the bulbs, they are on a dimmer. No issues with flickering at all, and I don’t feel light I’m creating a brown out in my neighborhood when I turn on the lights. A two pack is $9, but they do last 7 years (or so they say) and your electric bill is reduced.
We live in the greatest country on earth. The US, that bastion of “freedom” and democracy.
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p>Ya, well you are buying stuff from a nation that exports organs from political prisoners. You are buying stuff built by hand from people literally brought in from the fields. What did I see, 500 million Chinese have never brushed their teeth.
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p>Yes you are supporting the corruption of the western world who built the factories, gave the technology away and left us with no jobs.
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p>Each one is processed cheaply, incorrectly and is feeding a totalitarian regime who is commanding more and more control of resources from oil to tungsten globally.
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p>Don’t worry about the mercury, it was in your last flu shot.
It seems from the article tht the CFLs should be used only in certain locations. They are still far too expensive for common use but LED bulbs should eventually provide another green alternative once their price falls. Right now I belive they cost more than $50, so there is still a long way to go.
I mean, “consider replcaing the carpet”? Now we’re taking a $1500 light bulb. I ahve these things all over the house.
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p>I might just start replacing them, and wait for the LEDs to improve.
Just take everything for what it is and for how we use it. If you have a habit of dropping light bulbs then yes, you are probably someone that should not be using CFLs.
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p>The argument about color quality is an old one. Most stores, from the local ACE to Home Depot/Lowes carry CFLs that go in a variety of sockets (outdoor, indoor, hard hats, lamps, bathroom fixtures, etc.) that also come in a variety of heat/color intensity ranges.
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p>If you’ve got pets and/or children and lots of floor lamps then I’d say you have a very legitimate concern. Nobody wants to constantly be on edge that Fluffy or Johnny is going to put themselves and the whole family at risk.
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p>The reality remains of course that the largest emitter of mercury is coal fired power plants – used to power our lights and everything else. The amount of mercury in our air (and more widely known in our water, affecting fish consumption advisories) is at a relatively constant level that none of us want. One way to bring that level down is by using less energy through the usual conservation methods but also to use devices that require less energy, such as CFLs.
That’s why I have these things even though I am less than thrilled with the color temp.
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p>But, there is a big difference between mercury emitted by a coal plant (i.e., out there) and by a CFL (i.e., in my living room). One I can control, and one I cannot.
but I’m gonna do it anyway.
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p>You actually can control both to a certain degree. You clearly already understand this from your earlier posts but for those who may not know what I’m saying:
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p>If you reduce electricity use within your home you reduce mercury emissions in the air that affects all of us. We’ll never be able to stop emissions (at least not anytime soon) but we certainly can dramatically reduce them. I say this while typing on my pedal powered laptop sitting in the darkness inside of my yurt.