[ale] OT CFL cleanup / LED light bulbs starting to become affordable

Wed Jul 3 12:54:16 EDT 2013

cleaning a mercury spill IS a green job! That's the color people turn when
they die from not cleaning a mercury spill.

On Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 12:49 PM, Richard Bronosky <richard at bronosky.com>wrote:

> But CFLs create "green jobs"!
> On Jul 3, 2013 12:43 PM, "Jay Lozier" <jslozier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> In a previous job I got very familiar with the EPA rules which lowered my
>> already low opinion of the EPA. One problem is that the disposal of the CFL
>> bulbs should be at a hazardous waste facility certified to handle mercury
>> not at a non-hazardous sanitary landfill. Technically you could be charged
>> with a federal felony if you improperly dispose a hazardous waste - I am
>> not sure if there are any minimum quantity.
>>
>> While incandescent bulbs used more energy they were non-hazardous waste
>> when they burnt out.
>>
>> Also, CFL can aggravate certain medical problems which incandescent bulbs
>> never did.
>>
>> Often overlooked is the manufacturing process for CFL and LED bulbs may
>> be more damaging to the environment than for incandescent bulbs even with
>> the higher energy consumption.
>>
>> Jay
>>
>> On Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:16:18 -0400, Ron Frazier (ALE) <atllinuxenthinfo@*
>> *techstarship.com <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>> wrote:
>>
>>  Hi all,
>>>
>>> Just wanted to drop a note about some LED light bulbs I've seen
>>> recently.  As you may know, the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs is
>>> being phased out.  The best current alternative is the compact fluorescent
>>> (CFL).  These work well, and use about 1/4 the energy of an incandescent.
>>>  The problem is that they have toxic mercury.  If you break one, you have
>>> to take special steps to avoid exposure to mercury or mercury vapor.
>>>
>>> You can find info here:
>>>
>>> http://www2.epa.gov/cfl
>>>
>>> I had the (not) fun of experiencing the cleanup procedure the other day.
>>>  I dropped one of these and it shattered.  I put on vinyl gloves and
>>> removed every fragment I could find.  I then wiped the carpet with a damp
>>> paper towel.  I then vacuumed, even though the epa would rather you not,
>>> since almost all the residue was gone and I knew there were shards of glass
>>> in the carpet.  I then threw the vacuum bag away (it needed it anyway).
>>>  Finally, I ran the whole house attic fan to ventilate the house for 1/2
>>> hour.  They recommend venting for several hours if practical.  What a pain.
>>>
>>> There are no really good alternatives.  However, LED light bulbs are
>>> starting to become affordable.  I saw an ad from newegg that said they have
>>> 30W equivalent bulbs in a 6 pack for about $ 5 ea.  Also, I was surprised
>>> to find that there are some interesting alternatives now appearing at home
>>> depot and lowes.  Home depot has two products from CREE.  One is a 40W
>>> equivalent bulb for $ 10 and a 60W equivalent for $ 15.  I'm waiting for
>>> affordable 100 W equivalents, but they're still about $ 45.  So, we're
>>> getting there.  I moved to all CFL a couple of years ago.  I'm not quite
>>> ready to jump to LED yet, but maybe the prices will keep dropping.
>>>
>>> If you decide to buy some of these, there are at least three things you
>>> need to consider other than cost.  First is size.  Some of these are longer
>>> and / or wider than standard bulbs.  Second, are they omnidirectional and
>>> do they cast shadows?  Some bulbs have part of the bulb structure obscuring
>>> the bulb and would cast shadows in certain areas.  Third, are they
>>> dimmable?  Dimmability is a big advantage that incandescents have that most
>>> fluorescents don't.  Some of the new LED's are dimmable.  But, look at the
>>> specs.  Some of them require new advanced dimmers.  The CREE ones I
>>> mentioned, however, are dimmable with conventional old style dimmers.
>>>
>>> Also, the manufacturers like to play games with longevity ratings.  One
>>> will say 10 years, another 20 years, etc.  This is useless.  You have to
>>> find how many hours per day they're figuring.  Usually, it's 3, sometimes
>>> 6, etc.  The Philips CFL's I just bought are rated at 11 years, at 3 hr /
>>> day.  (The bulbs in my living room and work area run much more than 3 hr /
>>> day.)  If you do the math, that works out to 12,000 hours.  The cheaper
>>> CFL's may be rated only for 8,000 or 10,000 hours.  A LED should last
>>> 20,000 hours or more.  There are 8760 hours / year, so if you're running a
>>> bulb 12 - 24 hours / day, expect lots fewer days out of it.
>>>
>>> Home depot will recycle CFL's for you.  Lowes might but I don't know.  I
>>> don't know of any easy way to recycle bigger circular or straight
>>> fluorescent tubes.  I wish I did, as there are a few fixtures in my house
>>> that use these.
>>>
>>> Has anyone else had experience with the new LED bulbs?
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9
>>> Mail.
>>> Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
>>>
>>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
>>> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
>>> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
>>> quickly.)
>>>
>>> Ron Frazier
>>> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
>>> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>>> Litecoin: LZzAJu9rZEWzALxDhAHnWLRvybVAVg**wTh3
>>> Bitcoin: 15s3aLVsxm8EuQvT8gUDw3RWqvuY9h**PGUU
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Jay Lozier
>> jslozier at gmail.com
>> ______________________________**_________________
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