The Sustainability Review:Compact Fluorescent Lights…Again
The Sustainability Review:It’s been a few years since I wrote about compact fluorescent lights (CFL), six years if anyone’s counting [article not availiable on this Web site –Webmaster] . I’m not going to write about the energy savings, payback, and all the stuff we hear about in magazines or in our monthly power bill. I thought I’d write about why I think people don’t use CFL lights, maybe clarify some questions, and help you shop smarter because all CFLs are NOT created equal. It is similar to buying a car. We don’t go out and by any car, we shop for specific traits and brands.
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Let’s tackle the above, one by one:
Brightness. It is true that many CFLs are not as bright when they start. It is equally true that there are CFLs that get bright quickly (a few seconds). We have lights in our house that are bright from the start. We also have lights that are horrible, you wonder if they are on then realize they are just starting up. We’ve had good luck with Feit Electric (Home Depot), Maxlite (Champion Electric), and Greenlite (Natural Abode).
Dimmers. There are dimmable CFLs. I own one and it sits in a box in the shop. I hope that someday they’ll make a dimmable CFL that actually works. My experience is that it dims to about 80 percent fine; below that, the color gets purplish and it starts to buzz. If anyone has had better luck, I’d love to hear it. If you have to have dimmable lights, halogen lights are better (not much though) in terms of light output per watt, as are xenon. Incandescent lights are about the worst.
They flicker. They use to when ballasts were magnetic and operated at a different frequency. Now most ballasts are electronic and cycle on/off 10,000 times per second, not noticeable to the human eye. Some of the cheaper lights may still flicker because they are using poor quality ballasts and some may “plink, plink….plink” on, which is also a sign of a poor quality CFL.
Bluish light: You can get it; it’s called 5000k light and also surprisingly called “daylight.” If you want that warm incandescent light we are all used to, get a warm or soft white (<2700k). I always buy the warm white if possible because I use lights at night when I am not trying to mimic the outside world.
They don’t fit in fixtures. It is amazing the size some lights are now. The spiral lights changed things dramatically and now spirals that have a glass or plastic globe around them are the same size as any incandescent light out there. I recently purchased a Maxlite and it is a small globe two inches in diameter. It fits in a small track light fixture and the bulb is not visible.
They don’t work in the cold. Many don’t but there are many that do. You need to look for ones that are made specifically for outside. GE and Philips make CFLs that work in temperatures as low as –22 and –10 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.
Mercury. CFLs do contain mercury, which is hazardous, so you need to recycle them properly (check with the Recycling Center for current options). A fact that struck me was that, over five years of life, using a CFL puts less mercury in the environment than using incandescent bulbs. According to the EPA, four milligrams (mg) of mercury are used in a CFL and an additional 2.4 mg are released from coal-fired power plant emissions, for a total of 6.4 mg (EPA 2002). Compare that to an incandescent bulb that emits 10 mg of mercury (EPA 2002). Another thing you can do is to purchase CFLs that use recycled mercury.
If you’ve tried CFLs in the past and found them to be less than desirable, I hope you’ll give them another try. Stick to reputable names, try a couple different sizes, and if you still aren’t happy bring them back and try something else. There are many good lights out there.
Resource:
EPA
Fact Sheet 2002
Mike Forbes and his family are now living in their house.
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