Energy saving lightbulbs, a srs post

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Euphoria

So, I bought some of these lightbulbs for lights that stay on a lot in my house. First thing I noticed is that they take 2 or 3 minutes to fully light up. They also say they're equal to 100 watt, but they're not nearly as bright. You also can't use them if you have anything with a dimmer.

Now I find out that these "energy saving" lightbulbs contain mercury and you have to pretty much evacuate your house if one gets broken. And yes, this is all on the box. I love how we've been tricked into buying these things by telling us we're helping the environment and saving energy, when its just another way for the government to cop out and outsource from China. I guess I'll take this as a lesson learned to read everything I buy, and not be stupid enough to spend 40 bucks on lightbulbs.

Originally Posted by heyamigo

what? i've broken them before and i don't remember mercury and never evacuated the house. are they all like this?

Originally Posted by espire

They're getting better all the time, and no longer take much longer than a minute.

The ones that are said to be equivalent are equivalent. It's a different light, but it's there and it makes things just as easy to see or read.

No, you don't have to evacuate your house. These warning are horribly overstated, and you don't need to do much at all. Yes, mercury is deadly in large quantities, but a lightbulb's worth won't do any harm in an open room.

Originally Posted by OGRE

Although more efficient light bulbs are nice, especially in the summer, the benefit in the winter can be negligible. The lower efficiency is in terms of light, with the lost efficiency running off as heat. Well, if you can use the heat (in the winter) then it's not really lost energy as your furnace runs less.

Summer is a different story. Not only do you have extra heat, but you have to expend more energy to cool the extra heat.

Okay. Time to clear up a few misconceptions.

The older bulbs, or the more cheaply made ones from China, do take longer to get to full intensity. They also often have an odd frequency of light.

Some brands are sensitive to the position you place them in (for example, bulb down), so read the package.

Not all are made in China, and not all made in China are like this. The newer designs typically go to full intensity in about a minute.

You can now find full spectrum bulbs so location is less of an issue than before (in the early days you did not want to put them in a "living" room, just in work rooms).

There are dimmible versions available, but they do cost more, and performance can vary across brands. I have six of these in the living room on a dimmer (I replaced 600 watts of spot lights with approx. 120 watts of dimables). They don't handle dimming well if turned too low.

Mercury is an issue. If you smell mercury, it would be a good idea to ventilate. However, you do not need to go to extremes (such as "detox" the house). The amount of mercury in them is very low, but it is still better to play it safe. By the way, a oral or rectal thermometer has much more mercury than a light bulb, and a standard house thermostat has over 100 times as much.

By the way, I have been using them for close to ten years (I was an early adopter). I currently have over 20 scattered throughout the property.

They do save money over the long term, however this is more true in the Summer as OGRE said. In the one room I have that is heat sensitive, I will replace the florescents with standard incandescent in the winter time, and move back to florescent for the warmer months.

For outdoor use, the 200 watt equivalent I use for the front light post has been a stellar performer, and the two I have on the porch are great as we often leave the lights on for anyone coming home late. The outside spot lights have also performed well over the years (these fit in the more recent fixtures, but not in spot fixtures over approx. 25-30 years old).

My suggestions, go to Lowes or Home Depot and spend 20 minutes reading the packaging of the various brands. It is worth the time. Buy a couple of brands and try them out to see what you like.

By the way, these are only going to be around for another 5-7 or so years. By then LED lighting should be inexpensive enough to start replacing them. It is more energy efficient and the lights will last a lot longer. I am actively watching this technology (as I said, I am an early adopter), and plan to start trying them when a 100 watt equivalent light gets down to approximately $20-25 each.

Hope this helps.

[TheBarrett]

Seriously...
I just call em lightbulbs and use em...

[Rev]

Originally Posted by TheBarrett

Seriously...
I just call em lightbulbs and use em...

What can I say, other than...

OM Shanti.

[fsquared]

Wow, I don't even know what mercury smells like (and I suspect that finding out would be a bad idea).

[heyamigo]

does anybody at all know how it smells like? and how the hell would they know?

[TheBarrett]

I love the smell of mercury in the morning, it smells like...victory...

[Rev]

Originally Posted by heyamigo

does anybody at all know how it smells like? and how the hell would they know?

Pretty obvious. Although I can't describe it.

Chances are you have smelled mercury before, you just don't remember it.

If a light goes out suddenly, and you smell something kind of bad, it's probably mercury.

[Rev]

Originally Posted by fsquared

Wow, I don't even know what mercury smells like (and I suspect that finding out would be a bad idea).

Smelling it is not so dangerous. Just, if you do smell it, air out the room so the vapors don't linger.

Also, then wash your hands after handling the light bulb.

Not a big deal.