Scaremongering

[Steve]

Front cover of the Express today. Compact fluorescents are deadly etc.

Just as people are coming round to accepting this new technology, they come out with a story about them that has been reported to death before!

Of course they contain mercury! They have contained mercury since they were invented as tubular striplights back in the 50's?!

Most people know this, and those that dont are blissfully ignorant! Why change this?

I dont understand why they ran this story on the cover. I dont see it as very important or significant. People are loosing their jobs by the thousand, and all they can come up with at the express is a scaremongering story that most people already knew about, and dont care about. Its like they dont want the world to progress.

Idiots.

 

[libby lou lou]

Steve, seen somethlng slmlLar a few yrs ago, usa,a woman phoned 911, bulb fell out, smashed, she got evacuated, blg clean up operatlon, then, lt looks Llke lt's faded away. mercury, arsenlc, other mlnor nutrlents???

 

[wotan]

Compact fluorescent lights are an infringment on personal choice, incandescent lights to be phased out in the interests of saving energy.

'Who exactly pays the energy bill? the consumer!
surly the choice should be his, as to what type of lighting he wants, why should we be dictated to by the EU, so many perfectly good things are disappearing, only to be replaced by inferior substitutes.
To name a few....
Incandescent lamps....CFL too slow to reach full brilliance light output poor in comparison.
Creosote.... replacement is just rubbish in comparison.
Tin/lead solder....... lead free solder is rubbish!
There must be hundreds of other things too.
It's about time the consumer had some say, and not just accept what the EU deem to be correct for us.

Wotan

 

[Steve]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/89185/Dangers-of-low-energy-lightbulbs

The comments made me laugh. Radiation is now coming from all my wiring cos i use CFLs. Yeah thats right, an 8 watt CFL can fill my house with radiation, yet the 400watt PSU in my computer wont . . . Apparently this radiation from wires can give me skin complaints. OKKK . . .

And how the hell can a CFL give us skin burns etc?? FFS its technology thats been around from the 50's. Nothing but fluorescent lighting is used in hospitals, schools, other civic buildings, shops, offices. Do people complain about burns there? NO! So why have all these mysterious complaints sprung up from houses . . . hmmmm.

Idiots.

 

[mlb3c]

http://www.freemarketproject.org/articles/2007/20071008160623.aspx

this article makes a point. What starts as a good economic solution, can rapidly become a hazardous "what do we do now" nightmare. Some of us are old enough to remember when plastic containers werent the end all be all...most liquids were packaged in glass. Now, plastic has become a nightmare to get rid of because it takes so long if ever to breakdown in a landfill. Now recycled glass is back. Electronics are the same....once they became the convenience that everyone wanted and became affordable for everyone...when they breakdown or are replaced with the next greatest thing....how to retire them without infecting the planet becomes a real concern. Who knew that cell/mobile phones would become the "thing" that they are now? Most everyone has one...but ....they dont keep working forever, they too are replaced by yet another technological breakthrough.

 

[Donkmeister]

I read an EU-commissioned report that CFLs carry an increased cancer risk if used at close range (i.e. a desk lamp). I don't recall, but I'd guess it was because of the UV output.

The advice given? Only use CFLs with the plastic lightbulb-shaped shroud over it. Presumably whichever lightbulb company makes lightbulb-shaped shrouded CFLs was contributing funds to the election campaign of a minister in a country far away. Oh how cynical of me!

I don't like CFLs, I put a load in my house during a feverish bout of greenieness. They've almost got rid of the flashing on-and-off/delay problem, when you turn them on, but it takes them a good 10 minutes to reach full output. They may save electricity, but do they save energy overall? in our country where houses must be heated for at least 6 months of the year, the heating system has to work slightly harder instead.

Replace your 100W bulb to a 13W bulb, and your heating needs to produce an extra 87W of heat to maintain the same temperature in the room.

 

[dave.m]

One thing that I don't think anyone has considered is the coal-effect electric fires. They usually have a couple of red 60w bulbs that not only show the colour but the heat from them turns a small spinner that gives off the flame effect. Low energy bulbs, even if you will be able to get red ones, will not give off the heat to turn the spinners.
So if you have such a fire, get a few bulbs in stock.