A NATION OF CONVERTS?

Millions of us have switched to using CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs) in our lamps, ceiling lights, sconces, and outdoor lights. And, for the most part, we’ve noticed a slightly lower rate on our electric bills because the 60-watt CFL bulb we put in our desk lamp only consumes 14 watts of electricity. The reduction in electrical energy use is not dramatic for the typical American home because the real culprits that demand much more electrical energy are our old and obsolete refrigerator, water heater, and dryer. These appliances, as well as heat pumps and air conditioners, are responsible for our sky-high utility bills.

The savings we don’t see is that, because millions of us have switched from regular incandescent bulbs to CFLs, we have achieved a significant reduction in our impact on the grid and, as a nation, lowered the demands on our electrical services.

Introduced to the market in 1980, CFLs have improved considerably: they cost less, turn on instantly, don’t flicker, and give off a good white light. But to date, only 5% of purchased bulbs are CFLs, the rest are incandescents. CFLs remain a small niche product and, as a “green” resource, their credibility is still relatively low.

CFLs have freed us from our previously high demands for electrical power, but much can still be done to alleviate our high energy consumption. Converting to alternative energy resources like solar and wind power will significantly reduce our electricity use. The more energy efficient our appliances become, and the more we replace our old appliances and HVAC systems with Energy Star-qualified products, the less reliant we will be on the grid.

Everyone agrees this would be for the better, less usage, less dependency, less demand for utilities, and lower energy cost for the consumer.

THE ADVANTAGES OF CFLs

The typical American home has between fifty electrical outlets and an average of twenty to forty lighting sources, including lamps, sconces, ceiling fixtures, exterior and security lights, and nightlights or auxiliary lights. If 110 million American homes replaced an incandescent light bulb with a CFL (compact fluorescent light), the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people or all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of unburned oil or greenhouse gases not emitted into the atmosphere, one light bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road.

Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States and half of our electricity comes from coal-fired plants. Replacing an incandescent with a CFL in 110 million homes is enough electricity saved to shut down two entire power plants, or skip building the next two.

Those of us who are visually impaired and need a better reading light than the incandescent they are using can find great visual support by replacing the incandescent with a cool spectrum CFL that emits a white light that doubles the sunlight and makes that the page of a book is very white and the text very black, creating a high contrast in the reading material that will help people with visual disabilities in reading,

DISADVANTAGES OF CFLs?

Many of us who suffer from migraines claim that the light from a CFL bulb can trigger a migraine reaction. Fluorescents in general, including commercial and residential tubes, often cause this migraine reaction as well. Some research is being done on the sine waves that are produced by the frequencies of electromagnets. Clean electricity produces smooth sine waves. Dirty electricity produces spikes in sine waves, and research shows that these spikes cause diabetics’ blood sugar to rise. Devices that measure amounts of dirty electricity show that other things in the home that generate dirty electricity are computers, printers, and monitors. We may be living in a dirty electricity blizzard these days, and CFLs are reportedly contributing to that voltage power storm.

CFL bulbs emit ultraviolet rays, just like the sun does. In fact, so do halogen bulbs, which were regulated to be covered with a glass seal to prevent UV exposure. Lacking a glass diffuser to filter the UV emission, CFLs can cause problems for those of us with photosensitivity to UV rays, especially for people prone to skin conditions like lupus, CFLs could make the condition worse of your skin. CFLs with a glass envelope (a cover) over the rotating bulb tested negative for any UV radiation, but this information is not found on any CFL package, to date.

A new area of ​​research is developing related to electromagnetic sensitivity, which is the tracking and documentation of people who have skin rashes, migraines, depressions, and fatigue due to high-frequency dirty electricity from a variety of devices in our residence. and commercial environment, including compact fluorescent lamps.

Not sure if the CFLs in your home are giving you headaches, migraines, fatigue, arthritic pain? Medical experts have advised to replace the bulbs and see if there is any difference. But, if the home has the typical electronic cluster of computer, monitor, flat screen TV, etc. It can be difficult to disease a single source like a CFL bulb.

CFL ADVERSARIES

The news that incandescent light bulbs will disappear from store shelves and we’ll all have to use CFLs doesn’t sit well with many of us. Many do not like being told that they can no longer use incandescent light bulbs. The complaint is usually: “It seems that the government is trying to control everything, even what we use to light our houses!”. And because the dramatic savings from using CFLs may not be seen on the electric bill, it seems to the American householder that the removal of incandescent lamps from the market is just another ploy by the powers that be to manipulate consumers. .

There is also a dislike for CFLs due to certain drawbacks of their use. One is the mercury content, and in fact all fluorescent light bulbs and tubes contain a small amount of mercury (5 mg or less), which is a neurotoxin. Compact fluorescent lamps contain less than 5 mg of mercury. If they break, they pose a dangerous material risk of inhaling the toxic mercury dust that coats their swirling tubes. There are no HAZMAT (hazardous materials) guidelines for incandescent lamps, but there are for CFLs. They should be disposed of like batteries, motor oil, etc. Broken CFLs can be disposed of responsibly at your local Home Depot store. But how many of us know that?

If disposal is not done responsibly, landfills could become contaminated with mercury, a toxic substance that can leach into roads and water sources. This buildup has been evidenced in our oceans as large fish are monitored and increasingly higher levels of mercury are recorded in their bodies.

Lastly, CFLs cannot be used with a dimmer and although there are dimmable CFLs on the market, they are more expensive than other CFLs and there is criticism that some of them dim “in steps” and do not fade or light up as incandescent.

LFC CONFUSION

Therefore, a person replacing a standard 60-watt incandescent bulb with a 60-watt CFL might find the CFL to be dimmer and yellower, and therefore inferior. If they were to replace it with a CFL of a different spectrum, they would find that the CFL at the same wattage is actually brighter and whiter than incandescent. CFLs do not behave like incandescents in the sense that there may be (depending on the brand) an offering of three different spectra (color temperature and illumination) which significantly affects the brightness and color of three different bulbs of the same wattage.

There is a complaint about the look of CFLs and not everyone likes the swirly look of the bulb. Compact fluorescent lamps that look like standard incandescents are available. A glass envelope in the same shape as a standard light bulb simply covers the CFL in a swirl.

CONUNDRUM CANDLESTICK

Finally, to date, CFLs cannot resemble or replace small base, clear, flame tip, or blunt tip chandeliers. Although CFLs come in small bulbs (chandeliers) with an elongated shape, they are simply a small swirl bulb in a glass envelope that visually duplicates a standard chandelier bulb. And, they’re not clear, so that bright, jewel-like filament so characteristic of the standard chandelier simply can’t be duplicated by a CFL. For many who want to replace this type of bulb in their chandelier, this is inconvenient. If there is any solution to this problem, it will be solved with LEDs, which can easily duplicate the base, the flame shape, and the clear glass cover.

Despite all the controversy that CFLs have created, the millions that have been sold and are in use today and are helping us reduce our reliance on our utility services (they typically last seven years).

LEDS OF THE FUTURE

However, the real light at the end of the network dependency tunnel will be that of LEDs. They are expensive now, just like CFLs were a decade ago and they still need to be more consumer friendly. What is your advantage over CFLs? They can be clear (where CFLs can’t come in a clear bulb), they can be easily dimmed (using a standard dimmer), they run even cooler than CFLs, they use even less power (a comparable 60 watt LED uses watts as in compared to 14 watts used by a CFL) and the bulb life of an LED is 35,000 hours compared to 10,000 hours for a CFL.

As new products are developed to alleviate our growing reliance on our utility sources, there will no doubt be those who lament the imminent extinction of technologically old, high-temperature, short-lived, and highly inefficient incandescents.