Saturday, August 27, 2011

Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs Are The Worst

Our master bath has a sconce with a bunch of 60W bulbs in it. If you leave the lights on and the doors closed for a while, the place heats up like an Easy Bake Oven. We decided to swap out the incandescents in the sconce for some CFLs, figuring it would solve the heat problem. I swapped one bulb and checked it out. The thing stuck out like a colostomy bag out of the light fixture.


The CFL has some kind of ballast on the fixture end that makes it longer than the normal bulb. It wrecks the aesthetics of the sconce. If we used them, we'd have to completely replace the sconce.

On the CFL package, there's a warning that the things contain mercury and you can't just throw them out when they die. You have to recycle them properly by taking them to a CFL collection center. Awesome. Now when the light bulbs die, I have to make a special trip to a recycling center.

CFLs are supposed to help stop Global Warming Climate Change. I'll need to throw out my existing sconce and buy a new one and then burn gas driving around disposing of the dead CFLs later. Yay! We're saving the planet!

Meanwhile, the cultists who scream at us about Global Warming Climate Change are taking multiple private jets to vacations and living in huge mansions. At the same time, nations with populations much larger than ours are not doing anything to prevent Global Warming Climate Change. Finally, recent data is showing that the sun has a lot more to do with Global Warming Climate Change than previously thought.

The sun?!? Who knew?

So, to recap:

I need to replace my light sconce and use lightbulbs I need to recycle because they contain deadly poisons at the behest of people who burn energy like there's no tomorrow to stop something caused by the sun while for every one of us doing these things there are 7-10 others around the world doing the exact opposite.

Sounds good to me.

9 comments:

Kelly the little black dog said...

Whine, whine, whine. You left coasters. Try getting a dimmer and only up the light when you need it. Alternatively what about led bulbs. They're very pricy, but should fit better.

K T Cat said...

Dimmers won't do us any good when we're all forced to use the stupid things.

Jedi Knight Ivyan said...

my understanding is that cfls won't "dim" on a dimmer switch. they are on or off.

Kelly the little black dog said...

I was referring to putting the dimmer on the standard light bulbs so that you could reduce their intensity for most use. What wattage are you using that they generate so much heat?

It is possible to dim CFLs, but the dimmers are $$$.

tim eisele said...

About that "solar activity is causing global warming" thing: which recent data do you mean? As far as I've been able to find out, the most recent data is actually showing the solar forcing to be going the wrong way - the sun's been a tich dimmer than normal for the last decade or so. Is there something more recent that I've been missing?

Mostly Nothing said...

I hate CFLs.. more expensive, and they don't put out the same light as a comparable bulb. A 13w CFL is no where close to a 60w standard bulb..
With the ban coming next year, I buy a box or two of 60w or 100w bulbs, every couple trips to Mendards or Home Depot.

I like the idea of LED lights, but the prices are outrageous. I only get LED flashlights now, great for camping. They are cheap and don't break when kids drop them.

K T Cat said...

Tim, here's the info, albeit from a slanted source. The links he gives can be tracked to less slanted sources.

K T Cat said...

MN, I need to start doing the same.

Continuing Education Contractor said...

LED light bulbs could very well be the next best thing in lighting. The technology is making inroads in every market, with an LED bulb for any application. LEDs have a long list of advantages over incandescent and CFL lighting. A common complaint about compact fluorescents is the ramp-up time to full brightness. Instant-on CFLs provide light instantly, but still require time to reach full brightness. LED light bulbs provide full illumination from the moment they’re turned on. It reminds me of how compact fluorescent technology slowly dominated incandescent technology. There is a similar roadblock, as well; LEDs have outlandish high prices.