Do you use floresent lighting?

reese · #61 10/20/07, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WisJim

So you would rather have the mercury in the air, instead of in the bulb? And, as I previously mentioned, the incandescents have lead in the solder in the base, so they should also be recycled.

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We made our choices not out of ignorance, as I'm sure you have as well, obviously. Just because our choices don't coincide with yours doesn't mean we made our choices ignorantly and behave irresponsibly with our choices, as I assume you wouldn't either.

Reese

arabian knight · #62 10/20/07, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaronsMom

Where do you find these "covered" CF???? I'd reconsider for my ceiling fan if they were covered

Our local Home Improvement store has them. (Menard's) So I would think ALL of them do, Home Depot, or Lowe's I am sure would carry the same covered ones. They are in the same location as the regular CFLs but these have a covering over the glass, and look similar to an egg

So they "look" very close to a regular bulb, but different

**highlands** · #63 10/20/07, 02:08 PM

The place we find CFLs don't work is in outdoor lights such as the one by our front door. For that the incandescent are better.

arabian knight · #64 10/20/07, 03:07 PM

You certainly can find outdoor CFLs now as in 100+ Wattage up to 150 Watts. All for Spotlight type lights to replace those Quartz type lights in those fixtures also.

rickd203 · #65 10/20/07, 09:05 PM

I switched to all CF lights about 10 years ago. I still have most of them. about 3 years ago I started carrying a little pocket LED for when I just need a little light for a few minutes. I have a few little 4w CF on timers for when I just need enough light to keep me from tripping over something in the house. I am looking at using more battery operated LED lighting but most of them run on AA or AAA batteries. I'm looking for Lamps that run on C or D batteries with built-in light timers.

myrandaandkids · #66 10/20/07, 10:40 PM

we bought a house that had all floresants, and after 6 months had to replace them,,,,,, prolonged exposure allowed us to find out the hard way that my son alex has a severe flouresant deficiancy, which for him got so bad he could barley see at all when he was in the house, he suffered from severe headaches, dizziness, he saw spots, was fatigued and said everything was fuzzy when he went outside, the optomistrist and his doctor both said the same thing, it was floresant deficiantcy,,,,so we got rid of the florecansts and alex stopped having problems, at his school they have installled alternatives because of his exposure for such a long time at home he really has a hard time even for a couple hours under them now, so what im saying is you might not want to go all floresant all at once, do it in some areas and see how you are affected, our doc said that 1 in 12 people are deficant and many are unaware of it because they dont spend enough time under them. oh and i agree, those long ones do slow down in the winter.

Windy in Kansas · #67 10/21/07, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doing it in NM

Windy, I believe it is NEC code 410.8 that doesn't allow incedecent in closets. Only covered flor lites. I think this is done for fires as light material and other combustables, but also in a closet that is small it is easy to bust a bulb, thus shocking things can happen. For many years incedecent was the only light source, but times have changed and we now have many sources to choose from. Granted NEC takes one incedent and makes a national code out of it, some thought thru some not, I was just giving my thoughts from wiring houses for 30 years. How many 100 watt bulbs are in fixtures that say 60 watt max?

Thanks for posting the code section. Seems it is aimed more at breakage due to the small size of the closet and close proximity, as you mentioned with only a little concern about overheating and fire. Incandescents can still be used in closets large enough so that nothing is within a certain distance from the bulb. I can sure understand the code now since you pointed it out and I've read it.

From other posts--how many 100 watt bulbs in smaller maximum fixtures. Not a one in my house. I only have 1 bulb in my entire house that is even larger than a 60 watt, and it is a three-way bulb in a lamp with 80-100-150 rating. Rarely on.

Instead of fixtures that light entire rooms I have several smaller lights throughout the entire room with the brightest where I read or am working. Task lighting is a much better option---in my opinion.

HermitJohn · #68 10/21/07, 11:50 AM

Lot fixtures wanting two 60watt bulbs where one 100watt bulb would work better and be cheaper to use. I've been known to leave one burned out bulb in such a fixture and replace other with 75watt or 100watt. Not sure how safe such is but it works.

Lighting isnt big deal for me as of right now I have all of 3 lights in house that I use regularly. first the cf in swingout lamp over head of my bed. Its been working great since May. Then a small screw in halogen in ceiling fan. And third a 100watt yellow incandesent bug bulb in lamp by computer desk. (Moths still are attracted to it but not as much as standard bulb) It will get replaced with an overhead 2 tube flourescent fixture whenever I get around to it. Fixture is upstairs leaning against wall waiting for me to make time.

I also have a 150watt halogen utility light that I use occasionally. My eyesight isnt so great anymore and I need bright light when fiddling with stuff that has small parts. I can also shine it out the window and light up good bit of front yard. The wiring going to porch light failed some time ago and I didnt bother ripping apart walls to find the problem. Probably an electrocuted mouse in there someplace.

TedH71 · #69 10/21/07, 02:14 PM

Spinner,

I used to work in construction and probably will be after 1 year of schooling in carpentry. You said you limited your hot water heater to 2 hrs a day. What you really need is an on-demand heater. Basically it's a superfast and a super energy saver. Only problem is it's often expensive to install because you have to drill thru the floor (if you have a basement) and thru all the walls and then the roof to put in the exhaust duct (if I recall the info correctly) but the energy savings are really good. Supposedly 50-75% reduction in the heating bill since it's on-demand and doesn't use gas or anything that is constantly left on to heat the water. The quote they gave us to install this was $8k! We went with a new metal water heater and it was less than $200 to get it all installed and done with. I think the on-demand is best for new houses but if you wanna install it yourself and save your $ in the process then it will be much cheaper for you to do it than hire it out to be done. I think the on-demand heater itself might be less than $400 but not sure. That was a few months ago.

fantasymaker · #70 10/21/07, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

. These electronic ballasts switch the electric current in the CFL at a many, many times higher frequency than the 60 Hz power line frequency, and much higher than what your eyes or even the phosphor coatings inside the fluorescent tubes can respond to. So this 60 cycle flicker is not present in CFLs."

interesting ..but once bitten twice shy . not sure if Ill give them a try or not.

Im a bit concerned about this

Quote:

Originally Posted by myrandaandkids

......my son alex has a severe flouresant deficiancy, which for him got so bad he could barley see at all when he was in the house, he suffered from severe headaches, dizziness, he saw spots, was fatigued and said everything was fuzzy when he went outside, the optomistrist and his doctor both said the same thing, it was floresant deficiantcy,,,,........our doc said that 1 in 12 people are deficant.......

Pink_Carnation · #71 10/21/07, 04:09 PM

We have some of the long ones in our basement...they are 'daylight' bulbs in standard fixtures and I like them. The compact flourecent ones are awful...they flicker on, some have a buzz, and they take a while to get bright enough. We still use them somewhat but some of them seem to go out just as fast as the incandecent. We got a lamp with a led bulb and the problem with that is it is very directed light so what your are reading has to be directly under it.

Dave · #72 10/21/07, 04:44 PM

All the bulbs used in my house are CFL. I think some people were turned off by the early models but the new ones are excellent. My electric bill averages $28 for a 3 person household with all the modern conveniences.