Energy saving lightbulbs, a srs post

[Euphoria]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

I know most of you probably don't care much about this subject, but I thought I'd post it anyway. With gas pretty much 4 dollars a gallon here, I've been trying to find ways to save money and attempt to be a good citizen by "helping the environment" 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.

/rant

[TheBarrett]

Well...that sort of sucks...

A Lightbulb that will basically poison your home environment if you break it. With a price too.

It's like people are paying to die these days.

[Fixty Sixty]

Use them for a porch light or a hall light that stays on most of the evening. They last a long time, so eventually they will save you money. Environmental impact is less than much larger fluorescent light tubes which are filled with mercury vapor.

[heyamigo]

Originally Posted by Euphoria

Now I find out that these "energy saving" lightbulbs contain mercury and you have to pretty much evacuate your house if one gets broken./rant

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

[espire]

Originally Posted by Euphoria

First thing I noticed is that they take 2 or 3 minutes to fully light up.

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

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.

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. Perhaps you're using 13-watt bulbs which are equivalent to 50 / 60 (see what I did there?) watts of incandescent light, rather than the 26-watt bulbs which are equivalent to 100 watts incandescent.

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.

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.

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.

It's not a matter of tricks and copping out, it's what the government has decided is best. You are helping the environment, and you are saving energy. The lightbulbs also don't cost anything like $40; Maybe $3 for a 26-watt bulb. RadioactiveMan can help you with pricing.

There are reasons not to use compact fluorescent, but not throughout your house. You might want to use incandescent in the living room or the bedroom to set a mood (the light still has more metaphorical warmth to it), and you can't dim with CFL yet. That will be possible soon enough.


Rethink your choice, Euphoria. Congress doesn't always get it right. In fact, they didn't even get it right here, as incandescent bulbs should still be available (maybe heavily taxed). But they got the idea right; America should switch to compact fluorescent.

[BlackAdder]

I work in the casino industry, and we have recently found out that there are CFL that can work on a dimmer. They are typically available to contractors at this point and do cost a little more.

I also use them throughout my house, with a few minor exceptions. The energy savings was noticable.

Don't panic too much.

[Future Raptor Ace]

I was for energy saving light bulbs until I herd what this brilliant guy had to say. He brought up great points, and now quite frankly, I don't want them in my house now!

[TheBarrett]

Guy? You mean Euphoria or Laurent Boutonnat.

Because Euphoria's a Her*

[Euphoria]

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. Perhaps you're using 13-watt bulbs which are equivalent to 50 / 60 (see what I did there?) watts of incandescent light, rather than the 26-watt bulbs which are equivalent to 100 watts incandescent.



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.



It's not a matter of tricks and copping out, it's what the government has decided is best. You are helping the environment, and you are saving energy. The lightbulbs also don't cost anything like $40; Maybe $3 for a 26-watt bulb. RadioactiveMan can help you with pricing.

There are reasons not to use compact fluorescent, but not throughout your house. You might want to use incandescent in the living room or the bedroom to set a mood (the light still has more metaphorical warmth to it), and you can't dim with CFL yet. That will be possible soon enough.


Rethink your choice, Euphoria. Congress doesn't always get it right. In fact, they didn't even get it right here, as incandescent bulbs should still be available (maybe heavily taxed). But they got the idea right; America should switch to compact fluorescent.

I bought the 100 watt equivalent, and they are not nearly as bright as a 100 watt incandescent bulb. And yes, they do take a few minutes to warm up, and even then they're still not as bright. In fact, I think they're already starting to lose strength like regular fluorescent lights.

Just because the government says its better doesn't mean it is. Honestly, I don't buy it. Sounds like another way for this country to buy shit cheap and sell it to us for double the cost. Not one of those lightbulbs is made in the United States, they are all imported from China. Also taking jobs away from our citizens.

I know what I paid for them. One package of 3 for 12 dollars. I bought 3 of them, plus tax equals about 40 dollars. I live in a larger house, and I only put them in lamps that are on a lot and are hard to reach.

I will never buy another one of these, I didn't like them before I saw this video. It just confirms a bad decision.

[OGRE]

We often tend to focus on the little things while ignoring the big things. We worry about saving drops of water while we're gushing gallons somewhere else. And we often have misplaced concepts of conservation.

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. However, you should consider how much you save with energy efficient bulbs versus how much you could save....say....by acquiring a more energy efficient air conditioner....making home more efficient...insulation....etc.

It's the BIG picture that is important for conservation. They say every little bit helps...and it does. But if you're doing a little bit and ignoring the big bits, then what are you really doing.