Another Reason to Avoid CFLs

[andruoid]

This is the second time this has happened to us. Very lucky someone was home when this thing decided to go. I never like these CFL things from the beginning. I emailed the photo to Globe, wonder what their response will be? Free bulbs and fire insurance for life? ;-)

So, I just went out and bought 24x 60W and 36x 40W incandescents. The reason for so many is our brilliant government is go to be banning the sale of incandescent bulbs. may have to buy a closet full soon.

To quote another person who had the same thing happen:
"Cuts down on your carbon footprint when the whole damn house burns down."

 

[Bomfy]

I hate CFLs. They stinky and make poopie light. I've had that happen, but never so much, just slight in comparison.

Did you by chance have the bulb inverted/sideways/slanted down? Some CFLs are only happy when vertical. Also I have seen ones that aren't okay for ceiling fans.

I will be so happy when the price of LED bulbs comes down and I can get those.

 

[OstrichSaK]

...our brilliant government is go to be banning the sale of incandescent bulbs..

I can't tell you how much this pisses me off and I use CFLs exclusively. Our government needs to but the eff out of stuff like this. What do you think brought the prices down to where they are and pushed the technology to be better? Competition. You take that away and the prices will stabilize and possibly go back up since they've always had to compete with their incandescent counterparts. When I heard about this I wondered who in D.C. was in the pocket of the large CFL manufacturers. Making laws to tell people what kind of light bulbs they can and can't use in their own home is just going too far.

 

[zuben el genub]

Apparently, the House of Reps is trying to overturn this.
I'm having no problem with CFLs themselves - it's disposing of them.

There will be some incandescents still made. At least for specialized uses like photography.

 

[shawn1224]

Show of hands - who thought this thread was about avoiding the Canadian Football League

 

[andruoid]

Show of hands - who thought this thread was about avoiding the Canadian Football League

LOL, that too, overpaid athletes are hard to dispose of as well.

 

[Bob Maxey]

I can't tell you how much this pisses me off and I use CFLs exclusively. Our government needs to but the eff out of stuff like this. What do you think brought the prices down to where they are and pushed the technology to be better? Competition. You take that away and the prices will stabilize and possibly go back up since they've always had to compete with their incandescent counterparts. When I heard about this I wondered who in D.C. was in the pocket of the large CFL manufacturers. Making laws to tell people what kind of light bulbs they can and can't use in their own home is just going too far.

In many places, if you break one you require help from a certified Haz-Mat crew to clean up the mess. I see real estate sales contracts changing to account for a mercury inspections and their associated costs.

Odd that we are replacing a proven, cheap, and reliable bulb that has little environmental impact with a bulb that contains a metal that has long been known to cause problems and in most cases, has been banned by US law in most consumer products.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Apparently, the House of Reps is trying to overturn this.
I'm having no problem with CFLs themselves - it's disposing of them.

There will be some incandescents still made. At least for specialized uses like photography.

Maybe I'll keep my supply of Mazda lamps. Especially the 1,000 watt lamps.

 

[OstrichSaK]

In many places, if you break one you require help from a certified Haz-Mat crew to clean up the mess. I see real estate sales contracts changing to account for a mercury inspections and their associated costs.

Odd that we are replacing a proven, cheap, and reliable bulb that has little environmental impact with a bulb that contains a metal that has long been known to cause problems and in most cases, has been banned by US law in most consumer products.

Let consumers decide what bulbs they want to buy. Creating laws to outlaw the more environmentally sound light bulb hardly seems like something our government should have a say in either way. Don't they have bigger problems to deal with rather than creating issues to discuss? How 'bout they address the actual problems at hand that affect citizens.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Let consumers decide what bulbs they want to buy. Creating laws to outlaw the more environmentally sound light bulb hardly seems like something our government should have a say in either way. Don't they have bigger problems to deal with rather than creating issues to discuss? How 'bout they address the actual problems at hand that affect citizens.

Or . . .

Let no government decide, rule against, or ban a consumer product UNLESS it can be proven that it represents a serious health problem?

I am not a scientist, but I know a few things:

CFLs break, people are sloppy/lazy, and the contained mercury will remain in the home despite your efforts to remove the metal. This is the nature of metallic mercury; once those shiny silver droplets are in your carpet, it is next to impossible for average folks to remove them. Or they fall into the cracks in your woodwork. Or your dogs or kittens or children become exposed.

I know that the lamps we have now are safe. Not much in those lamps that represent a danger in most cases. They are cheap, do not require a warm-up period, and if they break, all that remains is broken glass.

I know there will be law suits over mercury contamination. This is a given because lawyers need to eat, too. Twenty years from now, just assume a vast and complex class action suit against the makers of these horrible lamps.

 

[Dark Jedi]

I thought you meant the Canadian Football League. Here I was about to agree with ya.

I never had that problem. Sounds more like a Quality Control issue. Have you tried a different brand? I had one of those as my porch light and been there for like 2 years or so. Always left on and never had that happen.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Apparently, the House of Reps is trying to overturn this.
I'm having no problem with CFLs themselves - it's disposing of them.

There will be some incandescents still made. At least for specialized uses like photography.

I think CFLs are racist and they are destroying the family unit. Also, I am allergic to the light they produce.

Most lamps are gay, and they offend our Muslim brothers because of the shape. It looks like a pig's curled tail. I see a Jihad coming soon.

Are Chrustmas lights going away as well?

 

[Dark Jedi]

I think CFLs are racist and they are destroying the family unit. Also, I am allergic to the light they produce.

Most lamps are gay, and they offend our Muslim brothers because of the shape. It looks like a pig's curled tail. I see a Jihad coming soon.

Are Chrustmas lights going away as well?

Sucks being a vampire

 

[zuben el genub]

The repeal didn't pass:
Bill to repeal light-bulb standards falls short in House - KansasCity.com

 

[OstrichSaK]

The repeal didn't pass:
Bill to repeal light-bulb standards falls short in House - KansasCity.com

Of course not. This country is run by idiots who feel that prying in our personal lives somehow trumps the real problems we're facing.

 

[cluelezz]

They're not banning incandescent bulbs. They just raised standards for em. Allegedly a lot of the ones already on the market fit the new standards. I've never had a problem with CFLs though. Never had to dispose of any yet, but there's a home depot down the street. Annd I've dropped em without ever breaking any. LEDs seem good, but they're expensive.

 

[Hrethgir]

In many places, if you break one you require help from a certified Haz-Mat crew to clean up the mess.

I didn't know about that until not long ago, and any time I've had to replace a CFL, I just chucked it in the garbage can. I live in an older apartment, and I think some of the wiring just doesn't play well with CFLs. I know putting them into the bathroom with the shower is a waste of time and money, gotta use incandecents there or I gotta replace the CFL every month or two, they don't like the humidity, I guess.

 

[lordofthereef]

Wow. I have always purchased mine at the budget store where you get two for a buck and have never had this happen. The ones in the dining room are at least 3 years old. I will have to keep an eye out.

Any idea if this is a certain brand or anything? I mean we are condemning all CFLs here... is it possible that not all of them are subject to these problems?

 

[andruoid]

Wow. I have always purchased mine at the budget store where you get two for a buck and have never had this happen. The ones in the dining room are at least 3 years old. I will have to keep an eye out.

Any idea if this is a certain brand or anything? I mean we are condemning all CFLs here... is it possible that not all of them are subject to these problems?

Globe seems to be higher than normal in failure rate. The one I posted above was in a ceramic light socket mounted on the ceiling, which btw probably slowed the initial flame from igniting any further material around it. I also had a Phillips brand do something similar, I switched on the light, the tube cracked and was blackened slightly, different fixture, not the same one.

I've never really liked CFLs or the light they produce. I believe they cause more trouble than they are worth. I've never seen an incandescent doing anything similar. CFLs use more material than an incandescent and potentially hazardous material (mercury). Because of the mercury, you now have to take them to a specified location to be disposed of correctly. They cost more. I'm no expert but I'd think it might use more energy to actually make the CFLs, negating some of the so-called "green-savings".

I have a pretty large home, about 25-35% were CFLs. I replaced all but 6 CFLs today, 14 are already replaced by incandescents. I'll be going to the recycle center in the next week.

 

[Bob Maxey]

I didn't know about that until not long ago, and any time I've had to replace a CFL, I just chucked it in the garbage can. I live in an older apartment, and I think some of the wiring just doesn't play well with CFLs. I know putting them into the bathroom with the shower is a waste of time and money, gotta use incandecents there or I gotta replace the CFL every month or two, they don't like the humidity, I guess.

I think most users also simply toss them in the trash. They likely do not know the law or care either way.

 

[zuben el genub]

They get tossed in the trash especially if your town charges you to dispose of them and doesn't really have any kind of collection center handy.

Out here, people just dump truckloads of trash along the side of the road where they won't get caught.
1. Ignorance
2. cost
3. No place to really dump stuff. If you have a lot of trash and no truck, you have a problem.
4. Hypocrisy. Until recently, people put recycled trash in separate containers, and the trash
company would dump all of it in the main container of the truck. Now they do sort it.

 

[andruoid]

So, here is the reply from Globe Electric I received today. BTW, their CS Dept says 2-3 for a reply, I sent this on July 12.

---

Greetings.

We understand your concern following what you experience and we appreciate you taking the time to share this with Globe Electric Inc. Globe Electric stands behind its products

Like you, we are diligent in ensuring that the safety of consumers is maintained at all times. Globe Electric is proud of our more than 75 year track record of providing the highest quality standards in all of our products.

Please note that CFL's have a unique "end-of-life" characteristics. Though at first they may be alarming, it is important to note that a CFL light bulb may emit smoke and a melting plastic odor at the end of its life. This is a common occurrence in all brands of CFL's and is not considered dangerous. Bulbs burn out when the ballast overheats and an electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resister (VDR), opens up like a fuse in your home

 

[lordofthereef]

So, I suppose the question is, is what they say true? I am no electrician, so a well written letter (as seems to be above) might be enough to convince me.

Another question, are there recorded incidences of fires beind started by bulbs such as these?

 

[andruoid]

I'm not sure as to the percentage of actual fires, if any, that are caused by CFLs. I have however seen worse images of "burnt out" CFLs via Google Images.

The incident I mentioned caused the ceiling light socket to heavily blacken. Thankfully, the ceiling light socket is made out of ceramic material. If it was something not as resistant to heat/flame then I can only imagine what might have happened. I shut off the breaker before I unmounted the socket from the ceiling to be sure there was no damage behind it. There was also a nasty odor that lingered for some time, even with the windows open. I have 2 young kids, I don't want them breathing in any residue like that.

LEDs look like a better solution, I'll wait for a while though before investing in those.

 

[Stuntman]

When I first started using CFL's, the ones that burnt out were really hot to the touch when removed it. I have multiple bulbs in the bank and turn it off and removed the burnt out one. I touched the base where it connects to the socket and my reflexes made me drop it before I got burned. Since then, I've been careful about handling burnt out CFL's.

I have noticed that this is not the case as of late. At least, I did not notice any great amount of residual heat from the base of the more recent ones that burnt out. I thought that perhaps the ones that did generate a lot of heat when they burn out were older ones as the newer ones did not.

I cannot totally eliminate all incandescent bulbs from my home. My garage door opener light needs to use incandescents. The CFL's do not work in them.