Tuesday, April 19, 2011

If you have CFL light bulbs, you MUST READ this!

I've previously written (here, here and here) about the ridiculous plan our state legislature has forced upon us to give us 'free' CFL light bulbs that actually cost us a fortune - and definitely more than we'd pay for them if we just bought them at a store.

Now comes this fantastic article, "The CLF Fraud," by Edmond Contoski in American Thinker.

If you have a CFL light bulb in your house, you MUST READ this column.

It details everything from the fire potential (and there have been many) to the long-term dangers of the mercury in the bulbs, including the fact that the mercury exposure is thousands of times the allowable limits and that a vacuum cleaner and broom are insufficient tools to clean up a broken bulb. It also looks at the claims of energy efficiency and asks some rather damning questions that, when answered, prove the claims are far from complete - from energy usage to life of the bulbs, as well as unaccounted-for costs of disposal.

As the article states:

Once again, a government claiming that it knows what is best for people -- and that takes away their right to choose for themselves in the matter -- is a dismal failure. In light of the facts just presented, the federal law effectively banning incandescent light bulbs should be switched off.

I seriously doubt if any of the state legislators who mandated the use of these bulbs bothered to gather this information before voting yes on Ohio's law.

Wonder what they'll do now? Admit the error of their ways or just ignore the consequences?

5 comments:

Lighthouse said...

Thanks Maggie

did you hear that Canada may delay a ban for 2 years
- that would upset the applecart in North America, imagine the cross-border stock-up of the popular cheap ordinary bulbs!
Energy-efficient light bulb deadline delayed



RE CFL problems...not forgetting LEDs
Ceolas.net

The CFL Mercury Issue
Breakage — Recycling — Dumping — Mining — Manufacturing — Transport — Power Plants

LEDs: The Lead and Arsenic Issue
Lead, arsenic and other toxic content, home breakage and disposal concerns

Brian Schwartz said...

We have saved dramatically on our electric bill by installing these. However, we have broken one on our carpet and I worry about what mercury and other chemicals are now in our carpet.

Also, they do not work with the dimmer switches in my home theater. So, when incandescent bulbs disappear, my fancy lighting that I spent a fair amount of money on, become useless.

skeeter1107 said...

Stock up on all that you can. I am.

Maggie said...

Already am, Skeeter - you should see my stockpile.

Hmm...wonder how much they'll be worth after the incandescent bans take effect?

Lighthouse said...

Re how much cost..

some stores in Europe seem to have kept a few boxes just for that reason
(they can "sell out existing stock"
post ban)
Light bulb that was 70 cents in a store was around 3 dollars recently

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