What's greener? Throw away "bad" bulbs to replace with "green" bulbs, or let "bad" bulbs run out b4 replacing?

Question

I just bought a pack of "green" lightbulbs, but thought it may be wasteful to just throw away 6 lightbulbs that still work just fine.

What do you all think?

Answer 1

You get the most bang for your buck by replacing the lightbulbs you use most first. Like the kitchen, bathroom, dining room, living room, bedroom, etc

Rooms that you don't enter as often: the garage, basement, storage room, attic, etc can use regular incandescent bulbs until they burn out.

The difference in electricity you would save replacing those bulbs is insignificant because they are rarely on anyway. So don't throw away your old incandescent bulbs, just use them in places where the lights aren't turned on very often or for a long time.

Answer 2

If you are not sure, then go ahead and save the old bulbs.
Put the new bulbs in fixtures that are on more than 3 hours a day, or in the 6 most used fixtures in your house. Save the old bulbs from those fixtures to use as replacements for bulbs that are on no more than 5 minutes per day. Don't buy any more incandescent bulbs at all. As the medium use bulbs wear out (those that are on 5 minutes to 3 hours a day), replace them with new compact florescent bulbs. You'll see your lighting bills drop by 60-80%, and you feel bad about getting rid of bulbs that seem perfectly good.

Answer 3

Actually though "green" bulbs use on average 1/4 the energy of incandescent bulbs it is not the case that you should throw anything away. Likely the bulbs used most will go bad soon enough and you'll replace them. The cost of manufacturing the bulbs is substancial. Make sure though that you buy high quality "green" bulbs. It would be a shame to pay upwards of 2.00 dollars for a bulb that might break in less than the 5 years they're supposed to last. Remember northing's greener that not using energy.

Answer 4

Manufacturing processes use energy and therefore result in some form of pollution. If you throw away something that is still usable then the energy to produce and transport that item was wasted for nothing. We have been using "green" bulbs for at least 7 years now. We started back when you could only order them over the Internet. Here are some of the things I have learned about them. They do not all last for five years. Consumers need to read the directions. They are not suited to light fixtures in ceiling fans and they get too hot if you put them in recessed fixtures that are enclosed. I have removed the glass globes from the fixtures in three rooms so that I can use the "green" bulbs in there. Is that pretty? NO Do I care? Not really. These bulbs should not be used in a fixture connected to a dimmer switch either. Now then what do you do when these bulbs do burn out? In California it is against the law to put these exhausted "green" bulbs in the trash. They must be taken to a facility for household hazardous waste. To quote the box my latest bulbs came in "LAMP CONTAINS MERCURY Manage in accordance with Disposal Laws See: www.lamprecycle.org 1-866-326-BULB" I use compact fluorescent bulbs wherever it is feasible. I even gave my parents two four count boxes of bulbs for Christmas. I never put the burned out bulbs in the trash. I'm just waiting for an additional reason to drive across town before getting rid if the dozen dead bulbs I have in a box in the garage. Oh btw did you know most of thes bulbs are made in China? My Dad says that he read how the manufacturing processes over there are causing massive pollution problems because of poor or missing guidelines for handling the mercury before the bulbs are made. If you really stop to think about it no matter which type of bulb we use they all require a manufacturing process that will use energy and therefore generate some form of pollution. What's best? Turn off your lights when you don't need them and look into LED fixtures. We have them in our den along with one of those solar tube sky lights. Now then I'm going to turn off my computer and go do something that requires no electricity.

Answer 5

Throwing away the bulbs is greener. It's not even close. The energy wasted by using the old bulbs is far more important than the waste of the bulbs.

Answer 6

No need to wait to plug them in, switch the bulbs out now. Consider donating the incandescent bulbs to a freecycle group near you (http://www.freecycle.org/)

Answer 7

have the bad bulbs in the reserves, or throw it away,don't give them for others to use, just the same as you're using it.

Answer 8

give them to some one else, not wasting, your sharing