Are you replacing burned out bulbs with those new eco friendly flourescent bulbs?

Answer 1

Yes.
-They produce less heat.
-They save you money over the life of the bulb.
-The last longer than standard bulbs when used properly.
-Although they contain mercury, they reduce mercury pollution as hey require less coal produced electricity which releases mercury into the environment.
-If the light is too "blue" or "harsh"... use a lampshade.

Answer 2

Done, over a year ago. I ran a little cost/ benefit and elected to change out the incandescent bulbs before they burned out. The earlier energy savings offset any loss on my incandescent investment. I keep the old ones around for change outs in closets & other low use fixtures.

By watching the sales, I am paying $1.04 / 60Watt equiv. (15 Watt actual) bulb.

I recycle them in a proper fashion. It's not that hard. Companies actually purchase them (en mass) for Mercury recycling. Utilities have been recycling their Mercury Vapor bulbs for years so the infrastructure is there.

My electric bill is about $39.00/ mo. for a 1250 sq-ft house, with an electric stove, a 6hp air compressor and two welders in the barn.

Answer 3

I've been doing so for years. A few things I've noticed about them:
1) forget about the seven years... 2 or 3 years average, tops.
2) don't use them outdoors if your temperature drops below -10 degrees C (15 F) as they'll put on the craziest light show before they pop.
3) garbage collectors consider them toxic waste, and you have to drive them to a hazardous waste depot (ironic, isn't it?)
4) 20 years ago, health experts were blaming flourescent lights on half the things that ail humans - headaches, vitamin D deficiency, etc, etc
I don't have any facts to support this, but I think that the amount of energy used to produce those things far exceeds the amount of energy used to produce them.
My guess is that in 5 years time, CF bulbs will be recognized as one of the stupidest ideas mankind has ever come up with.

Answer 4

OK here's the thing with those bulbs. they are energy efficient, but the negative is that they are costly, and if you read the package they contain Mercury as do most florescent bulbs. What that means is you should not throw them in the garbage, they need to go to a haz waste collection center. Most cities have these, or the county does. Look into that.

My fear is in 5-10 years there will be this huge increase in mercury in our environment from all the bulbs in landfills. water will soak down to them, and eventually get to our lakes rivers and streams.

Look into the effects of Mercury,it's not pretty.... remember the mad hatter from Alice n Wonderland??? looney Crazy.... Mercury poisoning was the cause. His character was based of poisonings of that era...

Answer 5

We are replacing them when the old ones burn out. One thing I noticed is that it takes a couple of seconds to get the full light. It reminds me of an ice arena that just put the lights on and they have to heat up.

As for the mercury...I remember as a kid playing with the little drops when the thermometer broke with my finger!

I also rode in a car without carseat, without seatbelts, and did other things that would be considered awful these days.

Answer 6

Yes, I have. I wanted to try them out and compare the lighting and cost effectiveness. I was dismayed to find out how much mercury is in them though. I guess I thought that eco friendly really meant eco friendly.

Answer 7

I had the comparable issue till I replaced all of them with the spiral tube bulbs. the hot eco-friendly bulbs final years rather of months and are a lot extra least costly interior the long-term. i easily shaved $34.00 off of my month-to-month electric powered invoice and that paid for 2 programs of four bulbs each and every in merely the 1st month.

Answer 8

Yes. To save energy and to _reduce_ mercury pollution.

Fossil fuels contain mercury. Using incandescent bulbs causes more mercury to be emitted from power plants. More than the tiny amount (0.005 grams or less) that is in a CFL.

It's better if you dispose of old CFLs properly so that even the tiny amount of mercury is not released. But, no matter how they're disposed of, CFLs reduce mercury pollution.

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainable/Powerplay%20articles/16Powerplay.Mercury.CFL.html

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

Answer 9

I have been doing such echological thing since the year 2000.....however I have found that....they are more expensive, (especially if you substitute most of the bulbs of your home)...however, my personal experience is that they last 1/3 of the normal life of the common filament bulb.....I has to switch to non fluorescent, non echological bulbs again,,,,I am dissapointed of the duration and cost of the so called fluorescent "echologically friendly", but not pocket friendly, new bulbs......

Answer 10

Shoot, I didn't even wait for them to burn out. I've got a drawer full of old fashioned incandescents that will be put back into the sockets when my lease is up. I think that if everyone replaced even only their porch lights with compact florescent it would have quite an impact.
Power to the People!