On Sep 19, 8:24*am, wrote:
On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:52:22 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

I have some CFLs in my house ten yars old. *If you need to check their
life write the date on the bulb when you put it in.
I have never hada prblem fitting CFL into any light fitting.
They are all taken to the recycle centre in Europe on failure and the
mercury is recovered. *as is virtually every piece of manufactured
equipment. *Our local recycle center has more than forty containers
fordifferent stuff to be recycled.

Interesting you mentioned this. *Back around 2001 or 2002 I purchased
my first CFL bulb. *It was about 8 inches long and just came out
straight, bent over at the tip, and went straight back to the base.
It looked pretty stupid in my semi-fancy kitchen light fixture,
because it stuck way out and being at an angle, it came down into the
room a fair amount. *But I wanted a light that I could leave on for
extended periods of time and not run up the electric bill. *

For personal reasons as well as safety, I want a light that is always
on near the entry door into the kitchen from outside. *This was that
light, and it remained on all night, every night, and often times
during the day if I forgot to shut it off. *It worked 365 days a year
from the date of purchase until December of 2009, when I had a new
refrigerator delivered. *The delivery man wheeled in the new fridge in
a cardboard box, and smashed the bulb because it hung so low. *If not
for that accident, it would likely still work today.

Seemed those old ones lasted a very long time.

As for these new spiral ones, I have yet to find one that lasts any
longer than an incandescent bulb. *Some last less hours. *I even had
one explode, whereas when I flipped on the light switch, there was a
shower of sparks and cloud of smoke. *After shutting off the switch
immediately I found a base that has bulged, turned black, and split
down the side. *The glass part was sitting loose. *(This was a
bathroom fixture where the bulb points UPWARD, otherwise the glass
part would have fallen to the floor and smashed. *I has another one
make a loud pop and emit smoke, but not nearly as dramatic as that
first one. *I had a 3rd one that was dead right out of the box.

Sure, I have bought incandescent bulbs that burn out the first time
they are turned on, but at 25 to 50 cents a piece, it's no big deal.
But at $5 or more per bulb for CFLs, I sure as hell am going to bitch,
and when a shower of sparks blasts off in my house landing on
flammable materials like drapes and paper, I am furious because I
could have had a major fire. *Over the years I've seen many standard
bulbs fail, and not one of them has ever even come close to causing a
fire. *The flash inside the glass globe and die. *No dangers involved..

I'll admit that any products can be defective from the store, or fail
prematurely, but when they become dangerous, I'm very concerned, and I
have now used many CFL bulbs, and none of the new ones last long.

Well, I've been using then for arond twelve years, they were expensive
years ago. They did seem to last better, I still have most of them
(the ones with the massive armoured glass cover) I have only had a
couple fail lately but no explosions so far. I don't have any spiral
ones, just the ones with multiple bends.