OUR CONGRESS AT WORK, THE NEW CFL LIGHT BULBS

[frawin]

This is our Congress at work. I wish they would put as much thought into developing our own Petroleum Reserves.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/75548.html 

[jerry wagner]

This is our Congress at work. I wish they would put as much thought into developing our own Petroleum Reserves.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/75548.html 

Yes, because there is something wrong with conserving energy.

[Warph]

Yes, because there is something wrong with conserving energy.

Hmmmmm.... And this battle will no doubt be waged for years and years to come, largely
because it's fuelled by America's most plentiful natural resource:  Jerry's narrow-minded
self-righteous indignation.  You know Jerry, I'm actually a big proponent of using alternative
energy. As a matter of fact, at this very moment, every single watt of electricity in my
home is being provided by an alternative energy source: a low-cost, underground
shunt-wire that my brother-in-law has tapped into my next door neighbor's fuse-box.

[jerry wagner]

Hmmmmm.... And this battle will no doubt be waged for years and years to come, largely
because it's fuelled by America's most plentiful natural resource:  Jerry's narrow-minded
self-righteous indignation.  You know Jerry, I'm actually a big proponent of using alternative
energy. As a matter of fact, at this very moment, every single watt of electricity in my
home is being provided by an alternative energy source: a low-cost, underground
shunt-wire that my brother-in-law has tapped into my next door neighbor's fuse-box.

Or powered by your insulting swipes at others that do not really state an opinion?

[mtcookson]

Yes, because there is something wrong with conserving energy.

Do more research.

CFLs:
1. Contain mercury
2. Emit ultraviolet radiation
3. Emit electromagnetic radiation
4. The best part is at the bottom

The British Health Protection Agency said some of the CFL's tested produced UV radiation beyond acceptable levels (this is bad if you use them close to you, like in reading lamps and such). There have already been numerous complaints from people having skin issues due to these bulbs and the issues went away when they switched back to incandescent.

The electromagnetic radiation (radio frequency radiation) can also cause issues. Here's a small quote on some potential issues from that:

In Sweden, according to polls, up to 290,000 people, or more than 3% of the population, have reported suffering symptoms of EHS when exposed to electromagnetic radiation.  Symptoms range from joint stiffness, chronic fatigue, headaches, tinnitus, respiratory, gastric, skin, sleep and memory problems, depressive tendencies, to Alzheimer's disease and all classes of cancer.

Oh yeah... and the way the government is doing it they are essentially handing GE a monopoly on CFL's. Oh yeah, and they won't be made here in the U.S. No, no, no... they will be and already are made in China.

The best part... in the end, they are likely to have an equal or GREATER "carbon footprint" than incandescent. How so? Manufacturing, operating, AND proper disposal of the bulbs. Due to them containing mercury the proper way to dispose of them is to reclaim the mercury, which means packaging and shipping them to some company to do so. If they are thrown away, like most people WILL do, then we'll have to clean up the mercury from the landfills so that we don't ruin our water supplies (i.e. lots and lots more money, time, and fuel spent cleaning up the mess with the potential to poison people further).

It requires around 16 times as much energy to produce a CFL bulb. They are heavier as well meaning sturdier packaging (and worse too according to greenies... being plastic and all) and due to them being heavier that means higher transportation costs i.e. lowered fuel efficiency when shipping in large quantities.

Please... tell me how ANY of that make CFL's better than incandescent!


I've been using CFL's cause I thought they looked cool and they do put out quite a bit of light but no more. After the research I've done, and the government wanting to shove them down our throats, I will NEVER support CFL's and am going to stock up on incandescent bulbs before they're all gone.

[jerry wagner]

Do more research.

CFLs:
1. Contain mercury
2. Emit ultraviolet radiation
3. Emit electromagnetic radiation
4. The best part is at the bottom

The British Health Protection Agency said some of the CFL's tested produced UV radiation beyond acceptable levels (this is bad if you use them close to you, like in reading lamps and such). There have already been numerous complaints from people having skin issues due to these bulbs and the issues went away when they switched back to incandescent.

The electromagnetic radiation (radio frequency radiation) can also cause issues. Here's a small quote on some potential issues from that:


Oh yeah... and the way the government is doing it they are essentially handing GE a monopoly on CFL's. Oh yeah, and they won't be made here in the U.S. No, no, no... they will be and already are made in China.

The best part... in the end, they are likely to have an equal or GREATER "carbon footprint" than incandescent. How so? Manufacturing, operating, AND proper disposal of the bulbs. Due to them containing mercury the proper way to dispose of them is to reclaim the mercury, which means packaging and shipping them to some company to do so. If they are thrown away, like most people WILL do, then we'll have to clean up the mercury from the landfills so that we don't ruin our water supplies (i.e. lots and lots more money, time, and fuel spent cleaning up the mess with the potential to poison people further).

It requires around 16 times as much energy to produce a CFL bulb. They are heavier as well meaning sturdier packaging (and worse too according to greenies... being plastic and all) and due to them being heavier that means higher transportation costs i.e. lowered fuel efficiency when shipping in large quantities.

Please... tell me how ANY of that make CFL's better than incandescent!


I've been using CFL's cause I thought they looked cool and they do put out quite a bit of light but no more. After the research I've done, and the government wanting to shove them down our throats, I will NEVER support CFL's and am going to stock up on incandescent bulbs before they're all gone.

Touching on your objections:

1.They contain mercury, correct they do as it is well established 0.69mg.  However, in Kansas Westar utilizes coal-fired plants to produce 59.5% of its annual production which produce mercury, some of which is removed (25% roughly) due to the scrubbing technology used by Westar.  However, until they use clean coal, there is still mercury production.  Most studies would indicate that the CFL bulb would decrease mercury production significantly due to the lower consumption.

2. Incandescent light bulbs produce UV radiation as well.  Most people don't stand directly under a light bulb all day, but if you do keep 30cm distance between you and the light bulb (either one!).

3. EMF production is the case with most household appliances.  You decide whether you can tolerate your cell phone, home phone, monitor, computer, television, electric blanket, power codes, etc.  Like I said you decide.

4. CFL bulbs require roughly 9x-10x the greenhouse gas expulsion to produce as do incandescent bulbs, however they generally last 8x longer and utilize 25% of the energy necessary to produce the same lumens of light.  Thus, they would consume significantly less over their life as do incandescent light bulbs taking production/operation and scrapping into account.

Continue your resistance to CFL's if you choose, but they are a better and more efficient technology than incandescent.  Conservation is a worthy goal.

[Wilma]

You can also conserve electricity simply by not using it when not necessary.  How about those lights that are left on all the time, my 2 TVs that I think I have to have on simultaneously, running water when not actually using it.  It takes more power to fill the water tanks.  Besides they are ugly.  I have a chandelier that exposes the bulbs.  How are those ugly things going to look in my chandelier?

I will bet that you could think of a hundred ways to conserve more electricity than what these nuisance bulbs will do.  I am with MT.  I am not converting until I can't buy the incandescent any longer.

[jerry wagner]

You can also conserve electricity simply by not using it when not necessary.  How about those lights that are left on all the time, my 2 TVs that I think I have to have on simultaneously, running water when not actually using it.  It takes more power to fill the water tanks.  Besides they are ugly.  I have a chandelier that exposes the bulbs.  How are those ugly things going to look in my chandelier?

I will bet that you could think of a hundred ways to conserve more electricity than what these nuisance bulbs will do.  I am with MT.  I am not converting until I can't buy the incandescent any longer.

There are chandelier ones available, they are not all curly.  There are several globe, flame tip, chandelier and other options.

[mtcookson]

Touching on your objections:

1.They contain mercury, correct they do as it is well established 0.69mg.  However, in Kansas Westar utilizes coal-fired plants to produce 59.5% of its annual production which produce mercury, some of which is removed (25% roughly) due to the scrubbing technology used by Westar.  However, until they use clean coal, there is still mercury production.  Most studies would indicate that the CFL bulb would decrease mercury production significantly due to the lower consumption.

Nuclear. Problem solved.

2. Incandescent light bulbs produce UV radiation as well.  Most people don't stand directly under a light bulb all day, but if you do keep 30cm distance between you and the light bulb (either one!).

Uh... what? No they don't. Incandescent bulbs do produce infrared radiation (i.e. heat) but not UV radiation.

3. EMF production is the case with most household appliances.  You decide whether you can tolerate your cell phone, home phone, monitor, computer, television, electric blanket, power codes, etc.  Like I said you decide.

Fortunately I'm not bothered by it, except for when using dimmers on incandescent bulbs... dimmers drive me nuts. For others though, they should NOT be forced to use a bulb that may bother them.

4. CFL bulbs require roughly 9x-10x the greenhouse gas expulsion to produce as do incandescent bulbs, however they generally last 8x longer and utilize 25% of the energy necessary to produce the same lumens of light.  Thus, they would consume significantly less over their life as do incandescent light bulbs taking production/operation and scrapping into account.

Taking into account proper disposal of CFL's can make them overall less efficient than incandescent bulbs. There's nothing in incandescent bulbs that are harmful so you can just trash them without any major consequences like CFL's will have.

Just look at what the EPA recommends if you break a CFL: http://www.epa.gov/cfl/CFL_brochure.pdf
And here is what they say to do just to dispose of them after they burn out: http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflrecycling.html

Just think, with the way our government is now, once CFL's are required and the are so many in landfills that the government has to intervene to clean up the mercury guess who foots the bill? Yeah, us... the taxpayers. So our costs go up for each bulb, the government gets bigger and blows more money it doesn't have, and the lower so called "carbon footprint" is not so low (i.e. more energy is used).

Continue your resistance to CFL's if you choose, but they are a better and more efficient technology than incandescent.  Conservation is a worthy goal.

Conservation is never a bad thing when it is done correctly. I LOVE having lower bills of any kind but when there are nasty side effects and even the chance that it will NOT be as efficient due to its harmful contents its clear that sticking with incandescent until a BETTER alternative is found.

A better alternative could be LED bulbs. LED is quite efficient and would likely last even longer than CFL but currently is way too expensive for most people to convert to. Get LED's down on cost and that could be the answer we're looking for. From what I've been able to find LED bulbs do not produce UV radiation though they likely will produce electromagnetic radiation. IR radiation should be minimal.

[Roma Jean Turner]

I like the bumper sticker that says:  If I can choose to abort my unborn child I think I should be able to choose my own light bulb.  I'm with Wilma.  Tried em..don't like them, won't buy them.