Compact fluorescent bulbs don’t deserve the bad rap – The Boston Globe
I WRITE in opposition to Jeff Jacoby’s July 17 column in support of the incandescent light bulb “How many lawmakers does it take to . . .,’’ Op-ed. Jacoby wrote that compact fluorescent lamps “are more expensive to buy, are slow to reach full brightness, don’t work with dimmers, contain toxic mercury, and can’t be used in many ordinary fixtures. And, to many people, fluorescent light feels cold and sickly.’
If you purchase a CFL for $3, you would recoup your expense in just three months because a CFL uses 25 percent of the energy of an incandescent bulb. Also, a CFL lasts 10 times longer than an incandescent.With the newer electronic ballasts, CFLs come on faster, though some are a bit slow. At present, CFLs are available that work with dimmers and three-way light switches.
Yes, mercury is used in CFLs. Lighting a 60 watt incandescent bulb with coal-fired electricity emits 7 milligrams of mercury into the atmosphere, compared to a CFL’s 1.75 milligrams. With proper disposal, a CFL would emit less mercury into the atmosphere than an incandescent bulb.Finally, if you want the warm, yellow glow of an incandescent bulb, buy a CFL that is marked “warm light’’ or “soft white.’’We haven’t even mentioned climate change.
Ron D’Addario Reading The writer is a member of the town’s climate committee.© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
via Compact fluorescent bulbs don’t deserve the bad rap – The Boston Globe.
Then we have this one that keeps doing the rounds,
The idea that “Incandescent related Coal plant Mercury emissions is worse than CFL mercury”
2 wrongs don’t make a right anyway,
but even EPA is moving away from that supposition, with new emission regulation oversight under Lisa Jackson
It was never true anyway (http://ceolas.net/#li198x = again, see the official references)
and of course, a CFL broken in a room is a lot more worrying to that user, than something from a remote chimney.
In fairness,
I would agree with Ron that CFLs get an unnecessary bad rap
- all light have advantages.
But there are much more relevant ways to save electricity and emissions (in generation, grid distribution, consumption waste),
than banning, or campaigning against, what paying consumers might want to use in the way of (usually) safe products.
Light bulbs don’t themselves burn coal or release CO2 gas.
It’s not like regulating cars, for example.
Where there is a Problem – deal with the Problem…