cfc Bulbs are they that great for Canada?

Question

A regular light bulb is "inefficient" , The bulk of that inefficientcy is heat.

I live in Canada, the bulk of my light usage is in the winter.
Any home built in the last 20 years has excellent insulation.
Thus any energy saved by installing cfcs is offset by more Natural gas usage heating the home. What do you think?

Answer 1

You just trade one pollution for another. CFC bulbs contain the very toxic substance of mercury in each bulb.

It cost one Maine family almost $2,000 to clean up the mess after they broke a bulb in their child's room.

While each bulb contains a small amount of mercury, multiply that amount by the number of bulbs sold. Each bulb has the potential to pollute rivers and get into fish and the food chain.

Answer 2

Personally, any time you can save energy it's a good thing. If you're going to upgrade to a more energy-efficient bulb, try the compact florescent bulbs already on the market - they use much less energy than the incandescent bulbs you're already using, and will also last for **years**.

On top of which, installation is as simple as removing your existing light bulb and screwing in the compact florescent bulb.

Answer 3

Are you using your light bulbs as a source of light or a source of heat?

Heating your home via an incandescent bulb - or any other form of electric heat - is more expensive than just about any other heating method.

I replaced as many incandescent bulbs in my home as I could, replacing them with CF's. My electric bill immediately went down 20%. That's all the convinceing I need.

Answer 4

let's compare. assume the cost of electricity is 10cents per kwh.. the light bulb burns for ten hours. a 100 watt incandescent and its equal a 40 watt cf.. the 100 watt bulb uses 1000 wattts and the 40 watt uses 400. thats a saving of 600 watts. divide by 1000 to get kwh, you save 0.60 so the cf bulb saved you 6 cents over a 10 hour period. now if that cf bulb breaks, it contains mercury. dangerous stuff so be sure to wear gloves and dispose in a special container.

Answer 5

CFL bulbs might not be great for Canada, but they're great for China. You're helping the Chinese economy by allowing China to produce not only the bulbs as a whole, but all of the rather complex parts that go into making the bulbs, especially all of the electronics that go into the electronic ballast circuits. Moreover, because of the complexity of the electronic ballast circuits, I've had them fail premature on many of my CFL bulbs. While the package guarantees the bulbs will last five years, I've had some that didn't last five weeks. All of that puts Loonies in foreign pockets.

Answer 6

Electric heat is inefficient. Think about it. Many electric plants burn natural gas. Is it better to burn it, make electricity, transmit it, and convert it back into heat?

So it's not only better for Canada, it's cheaper for you.

You are right that it partly cancels out the savings in Canada, but not entirely.

EDIT - CFLs 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 7

florescent bulbs!
thats the thing man