What does the panel think?BBC News - 24/01/09
Charities and eyesight specialists are calling on the government to halt its plans to phase out the sale of traditional light bulbs.
Campaigners want retailers to disregard a promise to phase out the incandescent bulbs by 2012.
They say replacement lower energy bulbs do not provide enough light, causing problems for people with poor vision.
Article continues ...
Sight fears over low-energy bulbs
Moderator: Peak Moderation
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Aurora
Sight fears over low-energy bulbs
I agree - if you listen to the manufactures they say a 15W CFL is the same as a 75W incandescent, that 20W = 100W, 12W = 60W.do not provide enough light
This 5:1 ratio is wrong in my opinion and the single biggest screw up by the lightbulb industry in the last decade or so. I use at least a 4:1 ratio, using 25W CFL in place of 100W and have no complaints about light output. If the companies hadn't quite so optimistic in the equivalences people would not have been disappointed and take-up would have been far higher, far outstripping the slightly reduced energy savings.
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biffvernon
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That's true - 4:1 seem about right in my experience. Also, there is a lot of variation in the light quality - with no indication on the packet. I have one bulb which is a very bright blue/white colour, and others that look the same but give a much warmer yellow light. There seems an element of pot luck as to what you get.
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emordnilap
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The white dust is the phosphor lining ... a rare earth blend, but not too toxic as far as I know!
http://www.electrochem.org/dl/interface ... s48-51.pdf
http://www.electrochem.org/dl/interface ... s48-51.pdf
The amount of mercury in compact fluorescents is less than the additional mercury that goes up a coal power station's chimney as it generates the additional electricity to run an incandescent bulb. Also, the mercury from coal burn freely enters the environment whereas the majority of the smaller amount in CFLs remains in its sealed glass container.Jakell wrote:I have heard that the mercury content of these is quite large. I broke one once and there was a cloud of white dust. If I break one now I will leave the room for at least half an hour
I'm not sure about amounts of mercury. I've just got a thing about mercury in general.clv101 wrote:The amount of mercury in compact fluorescents is less than the additional mercury that goes up a coal power station's chimney as it generates the additional electricity to run an incandescent bulb. Also, the mercury from coal burn freely enters the environment whereas the majority of the smaller amount in CFLs remains in its sealed glass container.Jakell wrote:I have heard that the mercury content of these is quite large. I broke one once and there was a cloud of white dust. If I break one now I will leave the room for at least half an hour
I've had one or two disagreements with my dentist about mercury. I think he's miffed about that extra ear he grew after removing my mercury fillings
Many lamp light outputs do seem to be are over stated. I suspect the issue is the old lighting one of efficacy versus efficiency and is related to the different colour ranges from incandescent to CFL types.
If you buy decent brands of CFLs they should state a three number color code of the colour temperature. Usually on the end of the box and on the rating marking on the integrated gear. The coding is the same as non integrated CFLs (TC-DEL and similar) and these generally come in colors 827, 830 and 840, 827 is a pleasant warm white. I have a couple of Osram lamps in the color and find it quire pleasant for most uses.
The mercury content of all lamps is variable depending on brands but can not exceed 5mg (ROHS limit) per lamp. Some of the manufacturers produce lamps at around 1.4mg again this data is for non-integrated CFL we don't use integrated lamps in professional luminaires. It is harder to produce low mercury lamps so the costs are higher and production is more difficult to ramp up.
If you break a lamp the mercury is usually visible in the broken glass. Clear the area, pickup the glass, duct tape is your friend, use cardboard to pickup any visible mercury beads. Tape it all into a bag and dispose of as you should a lamp at end of life. If you break it on carpet the I'd recommend dumping it, again the are around the breakage should be treated as if it were a lamp.
If you buy decent brands of CFLs they should state a three number color code of the colour temperature. Usually on the end of the box and on the rating marking on the integrated gear. The coding is the same as non integrated CFLs (TC-DEL and similar) and these generally come in colors 827, 830 and 840, 827 is a pleasant warm white. I have a couple of Osram lamps in the color and find it quire pleasant for most uses.
The mercury content of all lamps is variable depending on brands but can not exceed 5mg (ROHS limit) per lamp. Some of the manufacturers produce lamps at around 1.4mg again this data is for non-integrated CFL we don't use integrated lamps in professional luminaires. It is harder to produce low mercury lamps so the costs are higher and production is more difficult to ramp up.
If you break a lamp the mercury is usually visible in the broken glass. Clear the area, pickup the glass, duct tape is your friend, use cardboard to pickup any visible mercury beads. Tape it all into a bag and dispose of as you should a lamp at end of life. If you break it on carpet the I'd recommend dumping it, again the are around the breakage should be treated as if it were a lamp.
Wow, I didn't know the mercury was enough to form visible beads. Will mercury beads soak into cardboard,? from what I've seen balls of mercury seem pretty impervous and usually need to be vacuumed up. Is it possible to put some sort of powder down to absorb the mercury and then vacuum that up. Dumping your carpet seems a pretty serious option.revdode wrote: If you break a lamp the mercury is usually visible in the broken glass. Clear the area, pickup the glass, duct tape is your friend, use cardboard to pickup any visible mercury beads. Tape it all into a bag and dispose of as you should a lamp at end of life. If you break it on carpet the I'd recommend dumping it, again the are around the breakage should be treated as if it were a lamp.
No doubt this is good advice, but we all know that 99% of the population won't do any of this. They'll sweep it up with a dust pan and brush and throw into the kitchen bin.revdode wrote:If you break a lamp the mercury is usually visible in the broken glass. Clear the area, pickup the glass, duct tape is your friend, use cardboard to pickup any visible mercury beads. Tape it all into a bag and dispose of as you should a lamp at end of life. If you break it on carpet the I'd recommend dumping it, again the are around the breakage should be treated as if it were a lamp.
Cripes Ben! you've even got one as your avatar. Careful now !Ben wrote:No doubt this is good advice, but we all know that 99% of the population won't do any of this. They'll sweep it up with a dust pan and brush and throw into the kitchen bin.revdode wrote:If you break a lamp the mercury is usually visible in the broken glass. Clear the area, pickup the glass, duct tape is your friend, use cardboard to pickup any visible mercury beads. Tape it all into a bag and dispose of as you should a lamp at end of life. If you break it on carpet the I'd recommend dumping it, again the are around the breakage should be treated as if it were a lamp.
