Evening Reading

Thread Truncated. Click to see all 54 replies.

• toggle

  Early CFL's did have higher levels of mercury content in them, but I've got mercury-free ones in my apart... : RomSteady
  • toggle

    I'll have to find something more up to date. I just did a quick google search on the issue because I hea... : phipple
    • I just buy them at Target. The ones that are mercury free have it marked on the packaging usually. He... : RomSteady
    • #418

      Refresh Thread

      By: mrblarg x Show Full Post

      Reply

      I seriously don't think that the UV exposure is an issue. You would probably get more by opening you blinds. Also, Energy Star limits mercury in CFLs to 5 mg and Consumer Reports found most had well below that in their recent tests.

      Sep 01, 2009 7:21pm PDT
      toggle

      I seriously don't think that the UV exposure is an issue. You would probably get more by opening you blin... : mrblarg
      • toggle

        Given the way CFLs function, the idea that they'll continue emitting UV (or any other) light in significa... : Arcanum
        • You can still ionise the air that would leak into the tube (look up standard electron tube experiments), ... : SketchyFletchy
• toggle

  Seems like you believe everything you read on the internet. : ann thracks
  • I didn't really believe anything. I heard from my friend that CFLs had mercury, which some still do. I ... : phipple
• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/energy-environment/01iht-bulb.html?em However, the European : Ride-My-Rocket
• I'd choose quality for your eyes over environmental benefits each and every time. : MoreVespeneGas
• toggle

  hmmm, lets see: A little bit of mercury in the CFL blubs themselves, or tons pumped directly into the atm... : TheQuad
  • toggle

    Coal plants pump mercury directly into the atmosphere!? : menar003
    • toggle

      http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/opinion/25sat1.html 45 tons a year or more, depending on your source... : TheQuad
      • http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mercury_and_coal another good overview : TheQuad
  • Or how about we buy millions of CFLs that are manufactured in pollution-spewing factories in China? : Derringer
• I bought them way back when they first cane out and aside from the older ones being slow to warm up, they... : boarder2
• toggle

  i dont care for the light they give off, or the delay when they turn on, or the much higher cost. : retarded talking dinosaur
  • toggle

    the delay? really? : dromo5
    • toggle

      Highly agreed on the delay. It is one of the most annoying things in the world to me. : cetra00
      • Not all of them have a significant delay, and the color of the light is entirely dependent on the temp. Y... : Conan
    • yes, don't they take ~5-10 seconds for full brightness? no it's not 5 minutes but still, a delay : FrayLo
    • toggle

      i turn the light switch on, trying to find the light i want, and then nothing happens, so i turn it off a... : retarded talking dinosaur
      • toggle

        Your bulbs are fucked, that is not normal. Mine give out 60% or so instantly and 100% within 10 seconds : batkiwi
        • He may have just bought old stock. The lights from a few years ago did this. Some of the dodgy yum cha br... : dafugg
  • the higher cost? you mean compared to the 5 or 6 normal bulbs you would have to buy otherwise : moshman
• bring em on. Or rather, I'll take dimmable LEDs, thanks. : halophoenix
• toggle

  The UV argument is moot since a massive sum of people sit in offices all day with fluorescent bulbs every... : Yanks
  • toggle

    That said I don't like the harshness of them, I'll take LEDs instead plz : Yanks
    • toggle

      LED is so slow coming forward and crazy expensive. If you know any good sources hook me up. : Lightzout
      • Hell yeah, this sounds rad. : phipple
      • http://www.theledlight.com/ : ShadowRam
• toggle

  So I did a bit of reading. It seems most CFL's contain anywhere from 2 -5 mg of elemental mercury. http:... : Perturbation
  • toggle

    What about accumulated mercury from CFL bulbs in landfills hitting the water table? : Lightzout
    • The EPA has guidelines for mercury contamination in drinking water, with an upper limit of 2 ppb. Your l... : Perturbation
    • This was my problem, but TheQuad made a good point above. : phipple
  • If this is the case, what are your thoughts about the European Commission acknowledging that CFLs should ... : phipple
• I was an early proponent of CFL until I saw some serious problems. I install lighting regularly. Nobody ... : Lightzout
• toggle

  This is why you have to dispose of them correctly. If you take care of it the right way, you don't have ... : magistersmax
  • toggle

    Yeah, I never thought of them as hazardous waste, as Lightzout mentioned above. They never made it appar... : phipple
    • They usually do have a warning. : magistersmax
• toggle

  Fewer emissions from coal power production due to higher efficiency more than offsets any mercury in the ... : Conan
  • Yep. A lot more mercury comes from power production than is in CFLs. : zipr
• toggle

  they're annoying as fuck. i won't buy them again. : [fry]
  • i don't like the light they give off.... it does not feel natural. : ghost hacker
• Aren't there limitations like not having them in an enclosure? Or only having them in sockets that are o... : Derringer
• toggle

  Oh no, UV Radiation! My child will have a....tan? Sweet. Honestly, the amount put out by those bulb... : DerHuhnTeufel
  • this does pose a problem for a coworker who was misdiagnosed with something as a child, was given medicat... : ghost hacker
• Wow welcome to many years ago when this subject first came up, cold cathodes don't have this problem. I s... : ovrlrd
• Current CFLs beat tungsten in quality of light in blind tests. The 50c supercheap ones are still crap of ... : jcupitt
• OLED lighting needs to arrive already to show everyone how it's done. : vx2o
• Jesus christ... #2... Don't these work by arcing a beam of electrons through a gas that gets excited b... : sludge vohaul
• everyone should skip over the CFLs and go straight for LEDs. they turn on right away, cost about the sam... : x4nth3
• You can grow weed with CFL's : pancake humper