Shedding a Little Light on Things

I recently picked up a newspaper insert called "Going Green" while sitting at the unemployment office. Some good reading for the long wait ahead of me. Something that is a common past time for me lately. Well...that's another story.

Several articles in this paper caught my attention and I learned a lot. The one I'm going to share with you right now though is about compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). I thought I knew all about these but, to my surprise, I did not.

Here is what I did know, which I thought I'd share with you in case some of you weren't aware of this information.

1. The positive side of using fluorescent bulbs is, obviously, that they use less energy and last a lot longer than traditional bulbs. According to this article, these bulbs use 75% less energy which can help save in the long run. Over the life of the bulb, it will prevent about 450 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. That's one bulb!

2. CFL's contain a small amount of mercury. We all know mercury is toxic and a danger to children so its really important to know this about fluorescent bulbs. Avoid using these bulbs any place where the bulb could be easily broken...table lamps, etc. Any used or unbroken bulbs should be taken to a qualified recycling center where the mercury can be properly taken care of. The one thing I wasn't aware of was that Home Depot and Ikea are two places where you can bring used bulbs. Good to know! If you break one of the bulbs, don't freak out! Just be careful. You can visit EPA.gov for step-by-step clean-up instructions.

Here is what I didn't know...

1. You shouldn't use CFL's in ceiling fans. Reason being, the vibration of the fan can cause the bulbs to fail and they won't last as long as they are meant to. We have 5 ceiling fans in our house, all with CFL's in them. That explains why we had a few bulbs go out in a short time after we installed them. Guess we need to fix that!

2. If you are using CFL's, your best bet is to use them in fixtures that typically stay on for 15 minutes or more at a time. Basically the lights you use most often. 15 minutes is the amount of time it takes these bulbs to reach their optimum light and energy efficiency.

3. Along the lines of mercury, I didn't know that various bulbs contain different amounts of mercury. So...you can opt to purchase bulbs with the least amount mercury in them. Visit EWG.org for the list of bulb brands as well as more information about CFL's.

Interesting. I figured I'd share this info with you folks since I think most people have started to switch over to fluorescent bulbs. We do still have a mix of incandescent and CFL's here. If you haven't started using CFL's, that's ok too. Just remember to turn off those lights when you leave the room and you'll save energy! :) Besides, CFL's aren't the only energy saving bulbs. Light emitting diode bulbs (LED) are another choice which have come a long way in recent years.