The Cellar - Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

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The Cellar (http://cellar.org/index.php)

- Home Base (http://cellar.org/forumdisplay.php?f=2)

- - Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=14028)

xoxoxoBruce

05-15-2007 09:38 AM

That's true, HLJ. In Jr High Science they passed around a pan of mercury so everyone could coat a coin to take home. Nobody knew how bad it is.

glatt

05-15-2007 09:49 AM

For a short while, we had one off those mercury maze games.

SteveDallas

05-15-2007 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 343523)

That's true, HLJ. In Jr High Science they passed around a pan of mercury so everyone could coat a coin to take home. Nobody knew how bad it is.

That was right after they x-rayed your feet in the shoe store to get the proper shoe size. (A former cow-orker of mine once refused to believe this ever happened. Apparently she felt I had a reputation for making things up just to be a smartass.)

Kitsune

05-15-2007 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveDallas (Post 343536)

That was right after they x-rayed your feet in the shoe store to get the proper shoe size.

Up to 75 rems/m! :whofart:

Kitsune

05-15-2007 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkzenrage (Post 340918)

I won't use them because of the mercury in them.
There is nothing "green" about them.
Saving a few bucks on electricity is not worth contaminating the groundwater when they do go bad and end-up broken in a landfill. Many of the "proper" disposal facilities, end-up in the fill just like much of our recycling as well.
(Fun for kids to play with too)
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partner...et_Mercury.pdf

The mercury released by breaking a CFL once it reaches its end of life is less mercury released than what is output from your local power plant needed for the overhead energy to power an equivalent incandescent bulb over the same lifespan. Not a big deal.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nvironment.svg

Urbane Guerrilla

05-15-2007 10:33 AM

That's interesting, Kits. Got a source?

xoxoxoBruce

05-15-2007 10:36 AM

If it's a coal plant burning the right type of coal.

Kitsune

05-15-2007 10:39 AM

Here you go.

Quote:

It should be noted, however that the "EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations issued in 2005, coal-fired power plants will need to reduce their emissions by 70 percent by 2018."[20]. This change will lengthen the term before CFLs are better than incandescents. If CFLs are recycled and the mercury reclaimed, the equation tilts towards CFLs, and if non-coal sources of electricity are used, the equation tilts toward incandescents.

Note that the manufacturing process isn't taken into account for the bulbs, either.

Tricky, huh? Its good to be skeptical of the push for these "green" technologies. Remember the big push to move fast food containers from styrofoam to paper? Guess which one consumes more natural resources, energy, and pollutes more overall.

xoxoxoBruce

05-15-2007 10:56 AM

I think a lot of these green ideas are good once the vast majority of the people get on board. Using the end justifies the means, they make a lot of dodgy claims to convince(fool) people into thinking it's already so.

Urbane Guerrilla

05-15-2007 11:02 AM

Thanks, looks useful.

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