Think Those CFL "Green Bulbs" Are Good? More Than Mercury To Worry About

[blackwolfe]

I can't find a CFL bulb that will work well in an cold ouside enviroment.  My porch light is a pain in the butt to change and I have tried to find a CFL 100 watt equivilent to use because of the claimed longer life to no availe.

[Big Frank]

I bought some 100 watt equivalent CFLs at Lowe's, but they don't look as bright to me as 100 watt incandescents. I don't like how they're dimmer when you first turn the light on then it takes a minute or two to warm up.

[PegLeg45]

Even before this, I've been looking at LED bulbs. They are way more expensive, but last even longer than CFL's.
I figure if I buy one per month it won't hurt as bad over time and eventually I can replace the majority of our most-used bulbs.

http://www.besthomeledlighting.com/

How to Determine If LEDs Are Right For You?

How much will you spend on the bulbs?

Consider the cost savings and other benefits -

1. Cost - LEDs cost more initially, and there is no doubt that they save you a lot of money in the long run because they last longer and use less energy. Money savings is from using 80% less energy and not having to buy about 25 traditional flood light bulbs. Depending on your state, savings and time for the bulb to pay for itself can vary.
Over 50,000 hours for a typical 7W LED Flood Light replacement bulb (MSRP $79.99) that replaces a 50W Incandescent Flood at 8 hours usage per day:

    * If you live in Idaho where electricity is the cheapest in the country at 6.3 cents/kWh
      You save: $180.46 and the bulb pays for itself in 7.6 years.
    * In California where the cost of electricity is 14.35 cents/kWh:
      You save: $353.54 and the bulb pays for itself in 3.9 years
    * In Hawaii where the cost of electricity is a whopping 28.27 cents/kWh:
      You save: $652.82 and the bulb pays for itself in 2.1 years!

Keep in mind, at 8 hours a day, these bulbs will last about 17 years before they need replacement. You can see the savings really vary so go here to see how your state compares:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html

If the savings is not as quick as you'd like, there are a few other factors to consider as well that can strengthen the case for switching to LEDs:


2. Convenience - If you have bulbs in hard to reach places, by replacing them with LED, you dont have to worry about replacing them for a long time. No more driving to the store, buying them, coming back, taking out the ladder, and disposing of old bulbs. In places where you have a lot of bulbs, the time saved can really add up.

3. Heat If you have a lot of flood lights in a small area, it can really heat up a room significantly. LEDs give off very little heat in comparison. By talking to energy engineers (in California), a good rule of thumb for every kwH of electricity reduced by using LEDs instead of incandescent, you can keep your thermostat higher and reduce your A/C costs by about 20%. I.e. if you save 1000 kWh of electricity per year, you can factor in about an extra 200 kWhs in reduced air conditioning costs as well. Besides the additional money savings, by switching to LED's, your room will be much cooler.

http://www.eternaleds.com/The_Definitive_LED_Light_Bulb_Buying_Guide_a/220.htm

[PegLeg45]

Also, this may be of interest to some, an energy price guide per state:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html

[Big Frank]

Another bad thing about CFLs is that you can't use them with a dimmer switch unless you can find bulbs specifically made to be used with a dimmer. I haven't seen any but they do exist somewhere. If you use regular CFLs with a dimmer it voids the warranty on the bulb and burns them out faster.

[Sponsor]

[Pathfinder]

Also, this may be of interest to some, an energy price guide per state:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html

Illinois' rates are misleading. At least around Chicago, but for the whole state IIRC the rates were split - winter and summer. Most people do not have electric heat, so the electric utilities stuffed the commerce commission and passed rules that allow them to charge almost userous rates in the summer time when people reply on electric for a/c, and then drop the rates for the winter to a more "normal" level.

[billt]

Do the research on cfl's, and you will find that the amount of energy they take to produce and recycle eats up all the savings in energy.  Also, you need to get the full life claims to even break even on the increased price.  I have never had one in our home last that long, and the warranty process it more costly than just buying new.

Explain to me how if mercury in the air is bad, and if dropping an oral or rectal thermometer in a clinic causes  total evacuation of the room or building to clean up the mercury, how is it ok to put 25 mercury containing vessels in every home in the nation?   How is it a good thing to possibly break one of these things in a home where the mercury will go into the carpet where babies play?

You have to understand the entire purpose of CFL's, no matter if you like them or not, is to lower a persons electric bill by burning fewer watts to produce the same amount of lumen's of light. This they do very well. It has been proven in independent tests, and I've proven it to myself with a much reduced electric bill by replacing all of my incandescents with CFL's, even my outside pool lights. They are also avaliable in different colored "tones" much like incandescents are. They even now have dimmable models avaliable, as well as "3-Way" models. The major outlet home centers like Home Depot and Lowe's have sales on these things, and they can be purchased for about the same price as incandescent bulbs.

As far as energy production and recycling costs it doesn't matter to me because I'm not paying for that. If the bulb costs almost the same to buy and uses one third of the power, and lasts over twice as long, the rest is meaningless to me as the end consumer simply because I've already realized the savings. I don't worry about what little Mercury they contain, or everything else they claim will kill us all. I'm 57 years old and grew up with lead paint, lead in gasoline, even steel beer cans that rusted. I lived through it. I don't recycle. For me it simply isn't worth the bother.

 In grammar school in the 60's our science teacher had a large vial of Mercury on his lab desk. We used to take the stuff and rub it on then Silver coins and they would become slippery and shiny. We then went to lunch and ate our sandwiches. We rarely washed our hands. I'm still here. We would pour some of it on to the floor and stomp on it and watch as the little silver colored balls would shoot across the floor. He would scream at us, and give us detentions for doing that, not because it was so poisonous and dangerous, but rather because it was EXPENSIVE! Today if they drop a thermometer they have to shut the school down and call in a Haz-Mat team and spend $250,000.00 to "decontaminate" the place. This has gotten out of control.

My doctor told me on my last visit that in children today between the ages of 10 and 20 years of age, we are at epidemic levels of Diabetes in this country! What is that saying? We're so damn worried about things that won't kill us, we have zero problem ignoring the things that will. What is in store for a kid who is on Insulin at age 10? Dialysis by the time he or she is 30? In a coffin by 45? Ask a 12 year old child who is on Insulin because he or she has eaten a steady diet of sugar coated $h!t their entire lives, willingly provided by their idiot parents who worry about mercury in light bulbs, if they care about what's in a landfill? We need a solid dose of common sense in this country. All of this silly "green" thinking isn't it. I use CFL's to save money. It's as simple as that. I've proven to myself they do work in that regard. As far as what they'll do or not do to a landfill in 400 years, I simply don't have time or energy to worry about such things that are meaningless today, and will most likely be even more so in years to come.

 With all of the "change" going on in this country politically, socially, as well as economically, what we are putting in our landfills and choosing to light our homes with is about the very least of or concerns. Or at least it should be. We've got 1.3 BILLION muslims in this world of which 13+ MILLION of them want to kill every single one of us, and are trying to obtain nuclear weapons to do it as we speak. That no one cares about. At least not enough to do anything about it. But drop a thermometer on the floor in a school or hospital and you would think World War III has just broken out. We need to rearrange our thinking. This borders on insanity.  Bill T.

[philw]

we have had to change   


the "Green" ones cost a crap load more     ( well there is a surprise ) 

http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ban-of-incandescence-bulbs/441381
Ban of Incandescence bulbs fast Approaching

SEPTEMBER 01, 2010 – COMMENTS (5) | RELATED TICKERS: MCP , GE , F
Incandescence bulbs waste 95% of their energy and convert only 5% to actual light. Contrast this to the CFL which converts 25% of input energy to visible light via the Rare Earth phosphor coating. This efficiency results in much lower lamp temperatures, significantly longer life (estimated at 6 to 10 times as long), and less total energy consumed, directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

ENERGYSTAR reports that if every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a qualified CFL then in one year that action would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. This would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars.

Countries around the globe are mandating the phase out of incandescent bulbs. Australia led the way by announcing all bulbs must be replaced with CFLs by 2010. The U.S. passed an energy bill that bans incandescent bulbs by 2014.

It is estimated that Rare Earth consumption in this application is growing about 15-20% per year meaning additional supply will be necessary to support this growth.

More information can be found on the ENERGYSTAR website a

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

[billt]

ENERGYSTAR reports that if every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a qualified CFL then in one year that action would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. This would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars.

I replaced a total of 47 of them both inside and out. I did it to save money, nothing more. And for what it's worth I have had 3 out of the 47 go bad in the last 2 years. I kept the receipt and all 3 were replaced without charge. Just the savings from the heat factor that is eliminated I'm sure saves on the amount the A/C runs in the Summer. Incandescents give off a tremendous amount of heat. When I was a kid there was a toy for young girls called the "Easy Bake Oven". It cooked especially prepared meals kids could make with the heat from 1, 100 Watt light bulb.

For what it's worth we just replaced our refrigerator with a new larger, state of the art, 28.5 cubic foot model. It is entirely lit by L.E.D.'s. It's energy rating is less than $50.00 per year, plus we recieved a $300.00 rebate from the state after we bought it.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

My sister had an easy bake oven when she was about 5. ( I don't think she has cooked anything since )

Energystar is a Govt thing, they are just as screwed up as everything else the Gov touches. Last summer we had a thread on here about how they gave a rating to a block of wood or some such stupidity.