oudeis on 4/11/2009 at 06:14
Does anyone use compact fluorescents at home? Is the light as horrible as it appears in the commercial fixtures?
june gloom on 4/11/2009 at 06:52
Depends. The one in our cellar is awfully dim, but the ones in our living room put out a nice solid white light.
thefonz on 4/11/2009 at 07:02
No joke - at the weekend i sat outside and read my book by the light of the moon.
:thumb:
heywood on 5/11/2009 at 18:35
Quote Posted by oudeis
Does anyone use compact fluorescents at home? Is the light as horrible as it appears in the commercial fixtures?
I've tried them. For general room lighting, the soft white (low color temp) spiral shaped ones are OK. They don't look much different from soft white incandescent bulbs when used in a lamp with a shade or a fixture where they're behind frosted or coated glass. No way would I use them for reading though.
I don't like the full spectrum or "natural light" versions. They look bluer than natural light to me and always seem dimmer than their rated output would suggest. I also have one ceiling fixture and a torchiere style lamp which use the miniature straight tube shaped flourescent bulbs. They're both slow to warm up, dim, and flicker.
I would just trust your eyes. They'll let you know what's best for you.
Thief13x on 6/11/2009 at 00:08
I used blacklights for a few years which makes the contrast between the black letters and white paper pretty intense. Did give me a headache after too many hours though:erg: great until then though
Martin Karne on 13/11/2009 at 23:10
Yeap instead Gallium arsenide kills you instantly.
Well that at least was true from infrared, red, orange, and yellow LEDs.
Martin Karne on 14/11/2009 at 22:02
Quote:
How much mercury do CFLs contain?
Up to 5 milligrams - a tiny amount when compared to the 3 grams in a mercury thermometer, says Adrian Westwood, from the UK Environment Agency. Fluorescent strip lights contain similarly tiny amounts, reduced from the 100 milligrams present in first-generation CFL bulbs.
Couldn't we do without mercury in household lighting?
Not in a fluorescent light. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) don't contain mercury, but they're still costly, and researchers have only just begun working out how to diffuse their focused light to suit household lamps.
Old-fashioned incandescent tungsten filament bulbs don't contain mercury either. But more mercury is emitted by fossil-fuel fired power plants when producing electricity for the incandescent lights, than for the energy-saving CFLs.
What danger is there if a CFL breaks?
'No amount of mercury is good for you, but the very small amount contained in a single modern CFL is unlikely to cause any harm, even if the lamp should be broken,' says the UK Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra).
Their advice for cleaning up a broken bulb:
Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous waste and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of hazardous household waste.
Just making sure thick people cannot miss this article.
