lighterfootstep.com — Despite widespread availability and dramatically lower prices -- name brand CFL bulbs go for about two dollars these days -- CFL adoption in the United States remains around 6 percent. The rate is much higher in Europe and parts of Asia. Still, in the largest single consumer market in the world, CFL awareness remains in single digits. Contrast this
Sep 24, 2007 View in Crawl 4
jefuSep 25, 2007
It's Byron the Bulb!
Closed AccountSep 25, 2007
I've never accidentally broken a "old-fashioned thermometer or thermostat" on my living room floor. Lightbulbs? Yeah I've broken a few lightbulbs by accident over the years.
thuktunSep 25, 2007
There are allegedly dimmer switches that specifically support CFL bulbs, but we haven't tried them. The set of lights in our house that have dimmers use little bulbs that we haven't found a suitable CFL replacement for.
hammerattackSep 25, 2007
No equivalent toxins? My friend, you're sadly mistaken. LED's are laced with heavy metals. The process is known as doping and is precisely how semiconductors are able to work.Now, that being said... led's and cfls are about the same on the "evil scale", and the enlightened truth is that they're both harmless. Unless you eat them, or sniff the mercury vapor directly from the tube, there's nothing to worry about.
Closed AccountSep 30, 2007
Mercury is a toxic substance, and as a consumer it is important to be aware of the mercury content of the products you buy, know how to properly dispose of them, and understand the health risks to your family and the environment. In the case of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), it is important to note that these bulbs save 2-10 times more mercury from the environment than they contain by avoiding pollution from coal-fired power plants, and the amount in each bulb is not significant enough to pose a health risk in your home. Most CFLs have an initial mercury content of 3-4 mg (For comparison, a household mercury thermometer contains 50-3000 mg). Some low-mercury CFLs contain as little as 1.4 mg. Over the life of that same 20W CFL, it will use 550 kWh less electricity than the 75W bulb it replaced, which translates to about 6.5 mg mercury saved from the atmosphere on average. In certain southeastern and western states that depend primarily on coal for electricity, each bulb would save closer to 13 mg of toxic mercury emissions.To learn more about proper disposal in your area if your CFL burns out or breaks, the EPA Energy Star Program provides clear clean-up tips and contact numbers