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hazard.</title></head><body>
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<div>Great stuff, Dan.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I'll add some info from a short piece we ran in HP120:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000000">"An average-sized CFL bulb contains
approximately 4 milligrams (mg) of mercury, an amount about equal in
size to the period at the end of this sentence. Standard 4-foot-long
T12 fluorescent tubes contain up to 21 mg of mercury and modern T8
tubes with electronic ballasts can contain about 10 mg per tube. By
comparison, watch batteries contain as much as 25 mg-the equivalent
of about six CFLs. Older home thermostats contain from 500 mg to 2
grams of mercury, or the amount in 125 to 400 CFLs.</font>"</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000000">"The greatest source of mercury in our
environment comes from burning coal, the most common fuel used in the
United States to generate electricity. A CFL uses 75 percent less
energy than an incandescent lightbulb and lasts at least six times
longer, so the mercury emissions that result from the coal-fired
electricity used to power it are considerably lower. If you're
relying on coal-fired electricity, over a bulb's lighting lifetime,
using a CFL produces an additional 2.4 mg of mercury emissions.
Contrast this with the 10 mg of emissions produced by using a
conventional incandescent bulb over the same five-year life span.
Incandescents produce more mercury contamination than CFLs, and this
is only gaseous emissions from a typical coal-fired power plant. You
also need to consider the mercury leachate from coal mine waste and
fly ash disposal. More coal needed for electricity translates into
more coal mined-resulting in more mercury
pollution.</font>"</div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>All animals have impact. Let's reduce ours, sensibly.</div>
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<div>Best,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Ian</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At 2:43 PM -0700 12/9/08, Dan Fink wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Woah, everyone. Slow down.<br>
<br>
Snopes is indeed a great resource. However, they, like nearly every
media article cited, completely miss the point. Compact Fluorescent
bulbs contain no more mercury than do regular tube FLs, which have
been in use in homes and offices for decades. The disposal
recommendations are no different. Ask any office building
custodian--the mercury warning is printed on the base of most larger
length T8s.<br>
<br>
Proper disposal is needed for ANY broken FL or CFL--and has been for
decades.<br>
<br>
As far as LEDs -- the reason LED lamps don't make much heat is because
they don't make much light, either. Lumen-per-watt figures for LEDs
still lag far behind FL or CFL. Yes, yes, there have been recent
announcements from LED companies -=- but take these all with a grain
of (metallic, heh heh) salt. Many of these figures take into account
only luminous efficiency, NOT real-world *total* efficiency. AND, the
high-efficiency ones are not generally available in room lighting
products yet -- they are available only as discrete LEDs.<br>
<br>
LED lamps are extremely directional. They work fine for close-up task
lighting. But I have yet to see any LED lamp suitable for area
lighting, like a living room. I have installed and tried many, for
myself (first) and for customers. The usual response, after dark, when
they see the lighting of their living room, is --"You've got to
be kidding me. I paid $300 for THAT awful lighting?"<br>
<br>
Give it a few years, and LEDs will be everywhere. But right now, they
are very marginal at best:<br>
T8 FL = up to 95 lumens per watt<br>
f40T12 FL = up to 65 lumens per watt<br>
CFL = up to 60 lumens per watt<br>
White LED = most ranging from 24 to 45 lumens per watt. Some have
reached 90 lumens per watt -- but are so far only available as
discrete components, not massed together in commercial lighting
fixtures.<br>
100w Incandescent = up to 17 lumens per watt<br>
<br>
*Again, be VERY careful of LED lumen per watt claims. All the above
numbers are actual efficiency, not luminous. Most companies that
manufacture LED home fixtures do not measure light output correctly.
Contact me off-list if you want more info on how to actually measure
efficiency.*<br>
<br>
<br>
REF:<br>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp<br>
Don Klipstein:<br>
http://members.misty.com/don/light.html</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>And almost every other page on his
website.<br>
Me:<br>
http://otherpower.com/otherpower_lighting.html<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
DAN FINK<br>
Technical Director, http://www.otherpower.com/<br>
Co-Author, "Homebrew Wind Power"<br>
ISBN 978-0-9819201-0-8<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Phil Schneider wrote:<br>
> I agree - important to understand, and LEDs are a great
alternative, with cost being the significant factor. This Snopes
article mentions the Maine DEP story:<br>
><br>
> http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp<br>
><br>
> The EPA factsheet at the end of the article has some "science"
regarding the quantity of mercury associated with a couple different
household items. It also mentions how much mercury is released
into the air by a power plant (undefined) generating electricity.
This is an interesting aspect I hadn't considered before.<br>
><br>
> P.<br>
><br>
> *Phil Schneider*, system engineer</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>> Creative Energies</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>_</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>Ian Woofenden <ian.woofenden@homepower.com>, Senior Editor,
Home Power magazine<br>
Subscriptions: $24.95 per year PO Box 520, Ashland, OR 97520 USA
800-707-6585 (US), 541-512-0220<br>
or download free sample issue at
<http://www.homepower.com></div>
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