In article , mike wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 12/31/2009 3:07 AM spake thus:
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:18:55 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:
4) Does it take into account the addition of mercury to
environments where most of the energy developed is from hydro or
nuclear power?
No. CFL bulbs are poised to bring significant mercury pollution
issues to areas where there isn't any mercury pollution from nearby
coal plants because there AREN'T any nearby coal plants.
Do you have ANY idea how long florescent's have been in wide use?
Where do you see them? How about ALL large buildings being almost
completely lit with full sized florescent's which contain FAR more
mercury than CFL's? When you flip the typical light switch in a home,
maybe 1-4 lights are powered up. When you flip a switch in a
supermarket, there may be hundreds of lights lit up. All Florescent.
Any idea why they use florescent's ?
Of course he knows this; that's implicit in his arguments. He's not stupid.
What he's saying, which I agree with, is that the use of CFLs, primarily
for *residential* lighting (not commercial, which as you point out has
already been using fluorescents for many decades) will result in a
massive upsurge in the amount of mercury in transit out there, some of
which will escape into the environment. This is the 900-pound gorilla of
CFL usage which isn't getting nearly as much attention as it should, and
makes the claims that Don K. and others have made about how much CFLs
will result in *reduced* mercury emissions dubious at best.
How about we make CFL's RELIABLE so we don't send nearly as many of them
in the landfill?
CFL's are the LEAST reliable lighting in my house. And it ain't the
part with
the mercury that's failing.
8000 hours my a$$.
But there is a warranty. Just figure out the vendor...find your proof of
purchase...mail it in to the warranty center with $4.50 return postage
and they'll send you a brand new 99-cent light.
Disposal problem solved...
In my experience, the 99 cent or $1 ones in single-packs account for a
lot of CFL problems, while being unreturnable - also in my experience,
disproportionately lacking UL "listing" for "self ballasted lamp", the
"FCC ID" usually required of line-voltage-powered self-ballasted lamp
having electronic ballast, or even usually the FTC-required statement of
light output in lumens (and in my experience falling short significantly
in the few cases they do). Along with in my experience above-average
rates of DOA, early failure, spectacular early failure, and notable
malfunctions.
These problems in my experience are from CFLs of "dollar store brands",
not so much a problem of ones with "Energy Star" logo or of "Big 3 brands"
(GE, Sylvania, Philips).
- Don Klipstein )