[RE-wrenches] CFL lighting and the mercury hazard.
Joel Davidson
joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net
Tue Dec 9 17:42:25 PST 2008
Re: [RE-wrenches] CFL lighting and the mercury hazard.Hi Ian,
Lighting is an important wrench design issue, but I don't want to sound like I am bitching about CFLs so this is my last post on this subject.
There are lots of lighting choices. Our home office is lit with full spectrum fluorescent tubes. Our den has mixed CFLs and incandescents that give us the fast brightness and light quality that we want. We did not like the CFLs in our kitchen so we gave them away. We haven't given up on CFLs. We want lights that are reliable, long-lasting, illuminate quickly, render color pleasantly, emit little waste heat, are reasonably priced, do not foul the environment, have reasonable life-cycle cost, reduced embedded energy, etc.and are open to suggestions.
Best regards,
Joel Davidson
----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Woofenden
To: RE-wrenches
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:31 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] CFL lighting and the mercury hazard.
Hi Joel,
(Michael, should this go to RE-Bitching or something?)
I wonder if you are encouraging your clients to use incandescents.
CFLs are not perfect, but they are a big step forward.
And there is certainly a wide variety of quality. Saying that CFLs are poor quality is like saying "cars are poor quality" -- ignoring the difference between a Hyundai and a Tesla (or something).
Also, light quality is very subjective. Some people like light on the 2700 Kelvin end of the range ("warm" yellow) and others on the 6000 Kelvin end ("cool" white).
Personally, I think the fact that the brighten up slowly is a wonderful feature. I'm glad the days of delay and blink are pretty much gone though.
If we are not promoting (good quality) CFLs (with wattage and color temperature appropriate to the client's situation and taste), we are promoting 3 to 4 times the energy use and PV system size. Hmm.
Best,
Ian
Some more added thoughts. I am all for reducing lighting electrical consumption, but only if the "improvement" is somehow better, faster, cheaper.
Almost all CFLs have poor light quality and take time to brighten up to full intensity. Also, if you don't like mercury, then thank the Bush administration for changing the Clean Air Act mercury limit from 5 tons to 26 tons per year for power plants. Sleaze like that travels all the way up and down the mercury supply line.
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Parrish
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] CFL lighting and the mercury hazzard.
Carl is correct. I would add two thoughts. We have been buying CFLs from Home Depot, Ikea and we have been getting freebies from the Los Angels Department of Water and Power. Both the Ikea and freebies fail in 1-2 years, so the story about 5-7 years life is a WAG. Second, let's all hold our collective breath: LEDs will rule the illumination market fairly soon just as they have conquered the indication market for many years now. It would be great if anyone has accumulated some lifetime statistics on LED lighting.
- Peter
Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com
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From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Carl Emerson
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:58 AM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: [RE-wrenches] CFL lighting and the mercury hazzard.
Hi there,
We have for years been advocating the use of energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) to reduce loads and reduce system cost.
A recent study by DEP in Maine has raised the alarm about mercury poisoning form these bulbs. If there is a breakage the resulting levels of mercury on the floor of the house are well above acceptable limits. Secondly there seems to be little serious effort to safely recycle these bulbs in a manner that keeps the mercury out of the eco system.
I understand that LED lamps are mercury free. This would seem to be a much safer alternative.
While many of us have mercury amalgams in our mouth the mercury is supposedly in a form that is not significantly ingested, whereas the mercury in a CFL is in vapour form when hot and powder form when cold, and therefore can pose a hazard to health.
Can I suggest some discussion on this and can we do our best to keep it scientific, I don't mean to spread emotional alarm without due cause.
Thanks,
Carl Emerson
Free Power Ltd.
Auckland N.Z.
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Ian Woofenden <ian.woofenden at homepower.com>, Senior Editor, Home Power magazine
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