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Kiss your 100-watt lightbulb goodbye

I tried them had several last not even a year. I do not like the hazmat part or the mercury in them.

I would like the choice but as has been going on for a couple of decades now our choices are being taken away by a government that is becoming a police state.

Wait...don't you live in Florida? :2razz:
 
Now we will be told what size light bulb we can use. More government control over our lives.

Kiss your 100-watt lightbulb goodbye - San Jose Mercury News

As of Saturday, what used to be a 100-watt light bulb manufactured and sold in California will have to use 72 watts or less. The 72-watt replacement bulb, also called an energy-saving halogen light, will provide the same amount of light, called lumens, for lower energy cost.

Similar new standards for traditional 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect in California over the next few years, with wattages reduced to 53, 43 and 29 respectively.

The new rule does not ban incandescent light bulbs; it just requires those bulbs to be 25 to 30 percent more efficient. And it only affects incandescent light bulbs manufactured in 2011 or later, not those already in use or on store shelves.

Yeah... kiss your safe 100-watter good-bye, and say hello to the hazmat suit you'll need if you break one of the new bulbs.

Every damn congressman and senator better have these things. I'd love to be the four thumbed installer, dropping these pieces of **** all over the place, closing down Congress after they vote to repeal ObamaKare.

How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About $4.28 for the bulb and labor — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about $2,004.28, which doesn’t include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.

Sound crazy? Perhaps no more than the stampede to ban the incandescent light bulb in favor of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) — a move already either adopted or being considered in California, Canada, the European Union and Australia.

According to an April 12 article in The Ellsworth American, Bridges had the misfortune of breaking a CFL during installation in her daughter’s bedroom: It dropped and shattered on the carpeted floor.

Aware that CFLs contain potentially hazardous substances, Bridges called her local Home Depot for advice. The store told her that the CFL contained mercury and that she should call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP sent a specialist to Bridges’ house to test for mercury contamination. The specialist found mercury levels in the bedroom in excess of six times the state’s “safe” level for mercury contamination of 300 billionths of a gram per cubic meter.

The DEP specialist recommended that Bridges call an environmental cleanup firm, which reportedly gave her a “low-ball” estimate of $2,000 to clean up the room. The room then was sealed off with plastic and Bridges began “gathering finances” to pay for the $2,000 cleaning. Reportedly, her insurance company wouldn’t cover the cleanup costs because mercury is a pollutant.

Given that the replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs in the average U.S. household is touted as saving as much as $180 annually in energy costs — and assuming that Bridges doesn’t break any more CFLs — it will take her more than 11 years to recoup the cleanup costs in the form of energy savings.

Even if you don’t go for the full-scale panic of the $2,000 cleanup, the do-it-yourself approach is still somewhat intense, if not downright alarming.


Read more: Junk Science: Light Bulb Lunacy - Opinion - FOXNews.com
 
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I tried them had several last not even a year. I do not like the hazmat part or the mercury in them.

I read somewhere that CFLs that get turned off and on in sub 15minute intervals do burn out quickly. Maybe thats what happened.
 
we use mostly fluorescents as well. who doesn't want to save money AND conserve energy at the same time?

Except you're NOT saving all that much money, and the pollution of these being made in China (lower standards, shipping, energy cost) just makes you look silly.

YOUR purchase contributes to "pollution and waste" in ways you won't even admit.

However, with the banning, and I don't give a **** who signed the law they were wrong, we no longer will have the choice to choose.
 
I read somewhere that CFLs that get turned off and on in sub 15minute intervals do burn out quickly. Maybe thats what happened.

Then they are not better but you have to do certain things to get them to work. More control by the government. Environmentalist must be happy that we now have more mercury in our house.
 
What does Florida have to do with it?

Oh, it doesn't have all that much to do with it, except for the minor fact that you're personally about 2,000 miles away from where this might actually affect you.

The rest of the country has pretty much just decided to write California off and hope that it just kind of falls off the continent... I'm starting to agree.
 
From your friendly neighborhood MA Dept. of Env Protection http://www.mass.gov/dep/toxics/stypes/brkncfls.htm
I wonder how many people that bust these pieces of **** will read this?
Which means we need a government program to educate the public...
These things sound like potential terrorist weapons.

Cleanup Procedures for Broken Fluorescent Lamps

The following guidance provides instructions for businesses and institutions for cleaning up a broken fluorescent light bulb on hard surfaces. Following these steps will protect you and others from getting cut by broken glass, and from potential exposure to mercury that is released when a bulb breaks. If you break a bulb on a carpeted surface, please see Cleanup Procedures for Carpeted Surfaces below.

Materials You Will Need
• String, tape or other material to delineate the spill area
• Disposable gloves
• Index cards or other stiff paper
• The smallest possible sealable container that the broken bulb will fit in. A glass with a metal screw-on lid or a rigid plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, such as a lidded five-gallon pail, are preferable. Please note that most mercury recycling companies will provide empty lidded five-gallon plastic containers for transporting mercury waste materials.
• Sticky tape, such as duct tape
• Damp paper towel or wet wipe


Cleanup Procedures for Hard Surfaces
DO NOT USE A VACUUM OR BROOM TO CLEAN UP A BROKEN BULB

1. Cordon off the area where breakage occurred so that nobody steps in broken glass, phosphor powder or mercury. This should be done as soon as possible.

2. If there is a window or door that opens to the outside near the broken bulb, open it to ventilate the area and wait about 15 minutes. If the bulb broke in an inside area, such as a hallway or retail store aisle where there is no window or door to the outside, or outside the building, do not wait to clean up.

3. Wearing disposable gloves, use stiff paper to carefully push the glass and powder to a central point where you can scoop it up, being careful not to get it on your clothing. Place the collected fragments into the container. If you need to further break the glass to fit it into the container, do this outside, being careful not to cut yourself.

4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any visible glass shards, powder or mercury and place it in the container. Then, using wet wipes or moist paper towels, wipe the area thoroughly. Place used towels and disposable gloves into the container and close it tightly. Once closed, do not re-open it to put more material in.

5. Label the container “Universal Waste – Broken fluorescent lamp” and date it. If possible, place the container in a well-ventilated area, or where other spent lamps are stored for recycling. You may legally store the containerized broken lamp for up to a year from the date on the container, but we recommend recycling or disposing of it as soon as possible, in case mercury vapors leak out of the container.




Cleanup Procedures for Carpeted Surfaces

Research performed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has shown that, after standard cleanup procedures, some residual mercury may remain on the carpet. Please see Compact Fluorescent Lamp Study Report, Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection for more information.

If the carpet is in an area where young children or pregnant women may be exposed, it is advisable to cut out and replace the section of the carpet where the breakage occurred in order to remove any residual mercury.

If carpeting is not removed, follow the previous cleanup steps 1 through 5.

After completing these steps, ventilate the area to the outside to the best of your ability, using a fan if possible. Keep foot traffic off the immediate area of breakage for several days.

Ventilate the area when it is next vacuumed and remove and dispose of the vacuum bag or empty and wipe out the canister immediately afterwards. If possible, vent the area to the outside the next few times the area is vacuumed.

For questions, or for additional guidance, call the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Mercury Hotline toll-free at 866-9-MERCURY (866-963-7287) or the Bureau of Environmental Health in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) at 617-624-5757.


Sources of Information & Assistance

• General information about mercury: MassDEP Mercury Hotline toll-free at
866-9-MERCURY (866-963-7287) or Mercury Resources | MassDEP

• Health effects of mercury: Department of Public Health at (617) 624-5757 or Department of Public Health - Health and Human Services

• Universal Waste Rule fact sheet: MassDEP Business Compliance Assistance Line at 617-292-5898 or Waste & Recycling Fact Sheets and Guidance Documents | MassDEP

• On-Site pollution prevention assistance: Office of Technical Assistance for Toxics Use Reduction (OTA) at 617-626-1060 or Office of Technical Assistance and Technology (OTA) - Energy and Environmental Affairs

Michigan has different guidelines.
http://www.mass.gov/dep/toxics/stypes/brkncfls.htm
 
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Except you're NOT saving all that much money, and the pollution of these being made in China (lower standards, shipping, energy cost) just makes you look silly.

YOUR purchase contributes to "pollution and waste" in ways you won't even admit.

However, with the banning, and I don't give a **** who signed the law they were wrong, we no longer will have the choice to choose.

choice to choose, is that in the constitution or something?
 
CFL's are already on the way out, as soon as LED bulbs get cheap enough to attract customers. Then we will have some serious savings on electricity usage.
Architecture 2030 is also a new item that will help reduce energy usage by our buildings, by means of modern building codes that rquire us to construct all new building such that they use 50% less electricity.
all in all, just more commie plots to the luddites in the republican party....
 
CFL's are already on the way out, as soon as LED bulbs get cheap enough to attract customers. Then we will have some serious savings on electricity usage.
Architecture 2030 is also a new item that will help reduce energy usage by our buildings, by means of modern building codes that rquire us to construct all new building such that they use 50% less electricity.
all in all, just more commie plots to the luddites in the republican party....

See here's UB trying make the issue something it's not again. Now he's off onto building codes, different animal entirely!

I agree LED are a good choice, however I'd like to see more natural light from them. It is a very harsh light. Why wait though? Why not just enforce all lightbulbs be LED by 2012? Why wait for savings? think of the children man!
 
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Moderator's Warning:
Lets cease the attacks and baiting, and also be mindful of the Fair Use rules going forward
 
See here's UB trying make the issue something it's not again. Now he's off onto building codes, different animal entirely!

I agree LED are a good choice, however I'd like to see more natural light from them. It is a very harsh light. Why wait though? Why not just enforce all lightbulbs be LED by 2012? Why wait for savings? think of the children man!

Production can only change so fast, LEDs have a higher up-front cost so it can be troublesome for a big office building to buy 5000 of them all at once, etc.
So, because we want the transitition to be smooth, that's why. If you stop thinking of this as "the liberal greenies goal is to hurt me in any way possible because they hate America," you may start to understand the mindset better.
 
Oh, it doesn't have all that much to do with it, except for the minor fact that you're personally about 2,000 miles away from where this might actually affect you.

The rest of the country has pretty much just decided to write California off and hope that it just kind of falls off the continent... I'm starting to agree.

Wrong I posted a link that showed Bush signed a law in 2007 that phaseout incandescent bulbs and in a few years we will be forced to use compact fluorescent. I am stocking up on incandescent bulbs.
 
OMG. Bush killed the American lightbulb, you say? the horrors.

It wasn't American companies who would have shifted those jobs overseas, regardless, to save on labor costs, was it? It couldn't have been the wonderful corporate bigwigs who did this. AMIRITE?

yesyouarerite..
 
Why should I care about this? My family already made the switch too LED bulbs which do last a lot longer than most of the cfl type bulbs, and also cost me less money in the long run. Being a Environmentalist is good in the long run.
 
Wrong I posted a link that showed Bush signed a law in 2007 that phaseout incandescent bulbs and in a few years we will be forced to use compact fluorescent. I am stocking up on incandescent bulbs.

*sigh* Your original post stated that incandescent bulbs can still be manufactured as long as they conform to a specific energy standard. Old technology gets replaced by newer, more efficient technology. This is the same reason why we're communicating via an online message board instead of via Pony Express.

What do you use 100 watt bulbs for anyway? An interrogation room? :2razz:
 
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Now we will be told what size light bulb we can use. More government control over our lives.

Kiss your 100-watt lightbulb goodbye - San Jose Mercury News

As of Saturday, what used to be a 100-watt light bulb manufactured and sold in California will have to use 72 watts or less. The 72-watt replacement bulb, also called an energy-saving halogen light, will provide the same amount of light, called lumens, for lower energy cost.

Similar new standards for traditional 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect in California over the next few years, with wattages reduced to 53, 43 and 29 respectively.

The new rule does not ban incandescent light bulbs; it just requires those bulbs to be 25 to 30 percent more efficient. And it only affects incandescent light bulbs manufactured in 2011 or later, not those already in use or on store shelves.

I disapprove of the toxicity of the alternatives.

Energy efficiency or safety? hmm - for me I still prefer safety over saving a few bits of energy.

That's the one thing that irks me about many pro-green measures. It throws caution and safety to the wind.
 
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By god it is only mercury

How many of the people complaining about the mercury in CFL's would have been the people to complain about the government mandate removing mercury from gasoline.

Or how about the fact most mirrors used to use mercury for the reflective coating ( just tell your kids not to lick the back of mirrors.

Or that older termometers used mercury, and how many people played with the mercury when they broke.

Getting worked up about a broken CFL is being paranoid, your health is at risk far more by bad eating habits then by a couple of broken CFL's.

All you need to do is get the kids out of the house, open up the windows put a fan to blow the air away from the CFL and vacuum up the stuff. Any trace mercury will evaporate within a short period of time and having the air circulating will dilute it enought to keep you healthy

Of course I work with far more toxic items on a daily basis so I might be biased against insane levels of safety
 
By god it is only mercury

How many of the people complaining about the mercury in CFL's would have been the people to complain about the government mandate removing mercury from gasoline.

Or how about the fact most mirrors used to use mercury for the reflective coating ( just tell your kids not to lick the back of mirrors.

Or that older termometers used mercury, and how many people played with the mercury when they broke.

Getting worked up about a broken CFL is being paranoid, your health is at risk far more by bad eating habits then by a couple of broken CFL's.

All you need to do is get the kids out of the house, open up the windows put a fan to blow the air away from the CFL and vacuum up the stuff. Any trace mercury will evaporate within a short period of time and having the air circulating will dilute it enought to keep you healthy

Of course I work with far more toxic items on a daily basis so I might be biased against insane levels of safety

Oh well ok! Since you don't share my same concern I'll just let go of what I deem to be an issue. . . since it bothers you so much :shrug:
 
Oh well ok! Since you don't share my same concern I'll just let go of what I deem to be an issue. . . since it bothers you so much :shrug:

Sure it should be a concern

But it is not truely a major one, like some have made it out to be.

Remember mercury was added to gasoline for decades. It is in the coal that is burnt at power plants and emitted into the atmosphere, it is leaching into the rivers and lakes from industrial run off.

A minute amount of mercury released from breaking a CFL is not going to polute your home for years to come. Just kick your kids out of the house for a few hours as you clean it up and things will be fine

(remember your kids probably have a mountfull of mercury as it is from the filling they get from the dentist.)
 
Sure it should be a concern

But it is not truely a major one, like some have made it out to be.

Remember mercury was added to gasoline for decades. It is in the coal that is burnt at power plants and emitted into the atmosphere, it is leaching into the rivers and lakes from industrial run off.

A minute amount of mercury released from breaking a CFL is not going to polute your home for years to come. Just kick your kids out of the house for a few hours as you clean it up and things will be fine

(remember your kids probably have a mountfull of mercury as it is from the filling they get from the dentist.)

You're right. No - it's not major.
I'm not too bothered - annoyed but not pissy.
 
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