I was reading through through this person’s comprehensive site on all sorts of fluorescent bulbs, and it helped to come to a few more conclusions about the bulbs, which I’ll summarize here (ultimately I’m going to copy this all over on to my Real Green Living site, as well, which I’d like to have up and running this week). My conclusions are:
Safety:
Compact fluorescent
bulbs are awesome for using in places where bulbs almost never get broken
anyway- i.e light fixtures in the ceiling or bulbs that already have
covers over them. On the off chance that a bulb does break, it can be
dealt with, but know what
safety precautions to take. Different types of fluorescent bulbs
have different amounts of mercury in them. The long tube type can have as
much as 60 grams. Low mercury compact light fluorescents have the least
amount of mercury in them (around 4 grams), so look for those if you’re
buying bulbs. Compact fluorescent bulbs last a really long time, but
when they do eventually burn out, after years of use, treat them like
batteries- don’t throw them in the garbage. Use a Take it Back program to
get them recycled (in Ottawa, check
out the Household hazardous waste program dates. You can also
take items back directly to the recyclers listed on the Take It Back
website anytime you want.
Practicality and long life:
If you are using the bulbs somewhere where you need bright light
immediately, make sure you get a brand that doesn’t have a long warm up
time. I have to say, we’ve never actually had a problem with this. We use
these bulbs in our basement, and the light comes right on as soon as we
flick the switch. For the longest life, don’t use them somewhere you
have to turn them on and off again quickly (like in a closet). Maybe the
new LED
light bulbs would be a good solution for closets. Make sure you
have the right compact fluorescent for the job. Some don’t work so well in
cold weather. Again, though, we’re using them on our porch at the moment,
and so far we haven’t had a problem. Similarly, don’t use them with dimmer
switches, unless you’ve bought ones specially designed for use with dimmer
switches. Investigate different white light spectrum options, to see
what you like. There’s a range of different types out there.
To see
why I’ve come to these conclusions you can check out my
previous blog entry on the subject.
posted at 09:36 on Mon, 22 Jan, 2007 |
path: /living
All material copyrighted by Jen Schellinck. All rights reserved.