Has anyone thought about the fact that it mightbe smarter to wait til your old lightbulbs die to replace them?

Question

Everyone's talking about replacing their incandescent bulbs with compact flourescents. Wouldn't it make sense to WAIT until your old bulbs die before throwing them in the landfill? All the ads and inserts in your electric bill should read, "When your old bulbs die, replace them with CFL's," NOT "Replace your bulbs with CFL's."

Ok, let me "think it through" really carefully here...hmm, does it make any difference if this country throws a billion partially used bulbs in the landfill right now or does it gradually over the next few years ONCE THE RESOURCES THAT WERE USED UP TO CREATE THAT BULB have been efficiently utilized? You think it through, Mr. 7% best-answer-3000+ answer-spend-all-my-time-on-Yahoo-JACKASS.

Answer 1

My my, did we get out of bed on the wrong side this morning or what? You don't save electricity until you replace the bulbs. But who is dumb enough to throw the old bulbs away?

Did you know:

That more energy is required to get those bulbs here from China and to your home than they will ever save?

That more pollution is generated in manufacturing them than they will ever prevent?

That they can and have caused house fires?

That they contain mercury that should never be landfilled?

Yes, I do use them. I'm a cheap skate and I give a ratsass about pollution and global warming. I don't use them in enclosed fixtures or in fire prone areas of the house. I use those old bulbs in those places instead of throwing them away.

Answer 2

That is what we are in the process of doing and I think most sensible people would do it that way. We bought the CFL bulbs and as the standard ones burn out we are replacing them with the new kind. I did see where someone had replaced all their standard bulbs with CFL before they burned out, but she offered the old standard ones on Freecycle so they could still be used. I agree completely with your point though, it is best to do things sensibly otherwise you can do more harm than good.

Answer 3

C'mon, what is the objective here? To cut down on electric usage. Whether or not the bulb is dead makes no difference in the landfill. Try and think it through before posting, OK?

Answer 4

I wait until the old bulbe burn out, then replace them with CFLs. That makes the most sense to me...

Answer 5

I am definitely waiting. I only use 40 and 20 Watt bulbs and wont to throw them away until they are dead. So much gets thrown out and wasted in this country, it a shame.

Answer 6

So, you're thinking people are throwing out perfectly good bulbs before they burn out? I wouldn't think anyone would do that, but what do I know?

Answer 7

I agree with rico, change them out and cut down power usage. That is the goal. If you can find another use for the old bulbs good deal. If not, toss them. Would you drive your old car at 10mpg until it dies before you get one that gets 40mpg?