"Mayayana" writes:

| I didn't think they would last as long as advertised though, and when
| I put one in a ceiling fan fixture I wrote the day and the supposed
| life span. I replaced it sometime in February of 2014 and noticed what
| I had written. It was installed on 1/12/2002, and was supposed to last
| five years. It did way better than five years, and wasn't even
| supposed to go in a ceiling fan fixture because the vibration isn't
| good for a bulb.
|

I've never used them, but in talking to people who do
I find that short life is the most common complaint. They
seem to be variable.

| I haven't broken a CFL yet, but as a kid I also played with the
| mercury from broken thermometers and am still here, so I'm not
| terribly worried.

I used to have a sizable chemistry lab myself. I also
used to ride my bike behind the DDT mosquito spray truck
because the cloud was fun. The fact that "I'm still here"
doesn't make mercury or DDT safe. Over the years the
concern about mercury has increased. I read awhile back
that there's no longer any level considered safe for children
to be exposed to. With CFLs it just seems such a shame
because the toxicity was entirely avoidable. But economics
always wins out over common sense.

CFLs without mercury?

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...r_cfls_mercury

Mercury is an essential element in the operation of fluorescent
lighting; it allows the bulbs to be an efficient light source.

If you're really worried:

http://tinyurl.com/kzxs8a8

ArmorLite: A CFL Bulb Without The Risk of Toxic Mercury Exposure

--
Dan Espen