Baby Boomer Technology – CFLs

Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Technology – CFLs

Show Notes:

CFL or compact fluorescent light bulbs are safe and energy efficient.  A 26 watt CFL with product the same lumen's as a 100 watt incandescent light.  And if you were to use it 6 hours a day every day, you would save 126 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and 170 pounds of CO2 emissions on average.

Australia, the first nation to mandate the switch to CFL bulbs, projects the switch will slash the greenhouse emissions by 4 million metric tons per year or the equivalent of removing 1 million vehicles from the road.

Each bulb does however contain a very small amount of mercury.  And each year the amount per bulb has been dropping.  It is now at an average of 4 mls per bulb.  The amount is expected to be cut in half over the next few years. 

What if the bulb breaks?  Don't pick it up with bear hands and lick your fingers.  Use common sense and carefully pick up the pieces, place them in a plastic container, seal the container and wash your hands.

When the bulb shatters only 6.8% of the mercury is released – at most 0.34 mg.  OHSA's permissible exposure for mercury vapors is 0.1 mg per cubic meter.  So the exposure unless in a very small room is minimal.

We do need to improve the recycling of CFLs.  Efforts are underway nation wide.

The light is dreadful.  In recent test by popular mechanics the light of CFLs was found to be superior to incandescent lights.   Try one and see for your self.