PSA- Don't use CFL bulbs in your beside lamps

[mommylamb]

DH knocked his bedside lamp over last night and the CFL bulb we had in it broke... Of course, he wanted to just vacuum it up, but I convinced him that we needed to look on line at what the clean up recommendations are. OMG- cleaning up one of these things is awful. We had to shut off the heat and open the window for at least 15 minutes (first of all, it took me 10 minutes to get my cat out from under the bed, so I was in the room with the window shut for that time), then we had to put on long sleeves and pants and masks to clean it up. If our bedding had had direct contact (it did not), we would have had to throw it out, you can't just wash it.The glass shards will have to be taken away to a hazardous waste recycling place (and I've got to figure out where that is). Right now, the shards (and the tape we used to pick up any debris) are in a sealed glass jar in my garage, which is in a closed zip lock bag. We left the window open all night, and I slept in our spare bedroom and DH slept on the couch down stairs.

There has got to be a better way to be responsible about energy usage than this...

[vejemom]

I refuse to use them because the light they give off triggers migraines for me. Hate em. If they ever ban traditional light bulbs (I've heard the gov't wants to phase them out), I'm going out and buying several years' worth to tide me over. I think that LEDs are going to be the next big "energy saver" solution.

That said, I think you would have been OK with the window open for about 15 minutes. There is mercury in them, but not that much. My father is a chemistry PhD, and told me that the hazardous waste labeling is really more to keep people from dumping them into landfills in sufficient quantities to cause mercury to leach into the ground.

[lizzywednesday]

I have been warning everyone I know that CFL's may be energy efficient but PLEASE for the love of all that is holy, RECYCLE THEM WHEN THEY BURN OUT and if they break, call the freaking HAZMAT team.

It's mercury gas in there. There's got to be a less toxic conductor out there, right?

Although it's a nuisance to clean it up properly, THANK YOU for being intelligent and looking it up online before you broke out your vac!!!!!

[Joolsplus2]

We've gone with LED lamps for bedside usage now, found some relatively cheap at Ikea and Target.

Ay yi yi, I'm so sorry you've had to go through this with your CFL. Ugh.

[mommylamb]

I refuse to use them because the light they give off triggers migraines for me. Hate em. If they ever ban traditional light bulbs (I've heard the gov't wants to phase them out), I'm going out and buying several years' worth to tide me over. I think that LEDs are going to be the next big "energy saver" solution.


The phase out was signed into law in the 2007 Energy bill. It begins in 2012, so stock up. I"m not sure if those LED lights are a better alternative to the CFLs.

[mommylamb]

We've gone with LED lamps for bedside usage now, found some relatively cheap at Ikea and Target.

Ay yi yi, I'm so sorry you've had to go through this with your CFL. Ugh.

Are LED lights also a biohazard, or are those safe? I think we may need to switch...

[Joolsplus2]

I'm scouring this wikipedia article for hazards, can't seem to find them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

[Ceepa]

Besides a lone pack of CFLs DH bought in 2004 I haven't let them in the house. It's one of those trends that was superhyped as being so "eco-friendly" and then a few years later we're hearing about the negative impact on the environment from these things. Terrible.

[mommylamb]

Another stupid LED question... do you need to have special LED lamps or can you use the LED bulbs in regular lamps?

[Joolsplus2]

It's hard to tell....looks like this will probably be a popular item once it's <cough, choke> slightly cheaper, though... http://www.besthomeledlighting.com/product/A19-120-E26-9W-W
There are lots of other options on that page. My mom has loads of LED's in her house, but like, can lights in the ceiling, so I guess they were built for it when she had some construction done (???)

[Penny's Pappa]

That said, I think you would have been OK with the window open for about 15 minutes. There is mercury in them, but not that much. My father is a chemistry PhD, and told me that the hazardous waste labeling is really more to keep people from dumping them into landfills in sufficient quantities to cause mercury to leach into the ground.

:yeahthat: The EPA guidelines on CFL clean-up are NOT based upon the actual amount of mercury contained in the CFL (~4mg on average) but on data from chronic exposure to mercury (like, say, in the workplace). In other words, that clean-up procedure might be overkill.

(See http://tinyurl.com/yjqct38 and related Q&A)

Better safe than sorry I suppose, but the minor risk of minute mercury exposure is worth the energy savings. Though I also agree that LEDs are probably the next great thing in terms of safe, energy efficient lighting.

[Penny's Pappa]

Are LED lights also a biohazard, or are those safe? I think we may need to switch...


I'm scouring this wikipedia article for hazards, can't seem to find them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

Looking at the Wiki page it seems many LEDs are made from gallium arsenide (see GaAs Safety (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium_arsenide#Safety)), of which little toxicological study has been performed.

ETA: Though I guess that's for a lot of the non-white LEDs that you would be less likely to use as lighting for your home. According to wiki, white LEDs are blue LEDs (zinc selenide or indium gallium nitride) with a yellow phosphor to make them white. Don't know if those are "toxic" either.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks for the notice. We have them in most of the lights in our home and while they are okay I think I still prefer traditional light bulbs. I'll definitely think twice about putting them in the kids rooms.

[wencit]

I refuse to use them, too. My mom bought a package once, and they took FOR-EV-ER to warm up. I know you're not supposed to use them in places where you're constantly turning the lights on and off, but if I only put them in lesser used rooms, then how much energy savings can that be, really? And the minute I saw there was a mercury warning on the packaging, forget it. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with a broken CFL light bulb, and consequent hazmat issue, with a baby in the house.

OP, thanks for posting your story. What a hassle!

[wellyes]

They make me nervous, too, but I do use them. But I only use them for lights that can't be easily knocked over by cats or toddlers. Weirdly, my house has recessed lighting in almost every room (from previous owner) & I'm not worried about those so long as basic precautions are taken when installing/changing.

It's kinda like the Prius........ there are environmental downsides (for the Prius, a really nasty battery) but overall its impact is much more postive than negative.

[daniele_ut]

Another stupid LED question... do you need to have special LED lamps or can you use the LED bulbs in regular lamps?

The LEDs are sealed inside a bulb that has a standard screw base on it. There are styles available for almost any light fixture. I work in theatre and now work for a company that sells lighting fixtures and lamps primarily to the entertainment industry. LEDs have been the huge thing in the entertainment market because they are cool to the touch, last nearly forever and use SO little energy.

A typical LED lamp will have a life of over 100,000 hours and use a fraction of the electricity that a standard A-lamp will.

We plan to put new LED retrofits in the can lights in our basement as we can afford to replace them. Each retrofit, made by Halo, costs around $100, but you will come out far ahead in energy cost savings - and they are dimmable. The dimmable fluorescents are a joke.

[Globetrotter]

I am fed up of our CFLS that keep burning out. I don't get it!

OH, I was going to post about a recent incident. We bought the dimmable Phillips CFL bulbs for recessed lighting (they have glass covers to make them more attractive). the other day one of the covers shattered (presumably due to overheating). SCARY. That reminds me that I need to contact Phillips to let them know of this.. I can't be the only one!
The CFL was intact, but the shattering glass could have been dangerous if someone was standing underneath at the time!!

[sarahsthreads]

We don't use them in table lamps or floor lamps (although come to think of it, I do have them in the floor lamp in DD2's room, but that's tethered to the wall because it's in DD2's room!) because I'm too afraid they'll get knocked over. But we do use them in all of our ceiling fixtures, and we actually have noticed a significant decrease in our electricity bills. We tend to keep the upstairs hall light on all night (DD1 is terrified of the dark, so we keep her door open and the hall light on) so it makes a lot of sense to use them up there.

I do live in fear of dropping one while installing it, though. Although that might be done with - I think at this point we've replaced all the ceiling fixtures with CFLs except the dining room which takes the candelabra style bulbs. Thus far we've never had one burn out so we haven't had to dispose of them, but our local recycling center takes them...and batteries, tungsten bulbs, etc. Love it!

Sarah :)

[wendibird22]

:bag

I had no idea! We have these all over our house. I'm not planning to switch back, but had no idea that if I broke one I needed to handle the clean up differently. I'll be letting DH know!

[michellerw]

I refuse to use them because the light they give off triggers migraines for me. Hate em. If they ever ban traditional light bulbs (I've heard the gov't wants to phase them out), I'm going out and buying several years' worth to tide me over. I think that LEDs are going to be the next big "energy saver" solution.

They trigger seizure activity for me. We haven't switched at home for this reason either and I have incandescent bulbs in my workspace at work. If the government bans incandescents before LEDs become more affordable, I'm going to be an angry person; I've already written a lot of angry letters about this issue.

[pastrygirl]

Yup, the cleanup is exactly why I'll never buy one, and why I always warn other people about them.

I've posted this link here before, but I'm curious about the bulbs listed in this article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912429,00.html

[KrisM]

This is us, too. I tried them in the kids rooms, but it takes so long for them to warm up enough to be able to read a book it's crazy. I don't want to have to remember to turn their lights on 30 minutes before story time at night!

And, we had one in the hall over the stairs, since it's so hard to replace that bulb. It lasted just under 1 year. Whoo hoo. So not worth the expense, worry, lack of light, for hardly any noticeable difference in length of use.

[o_mom]

We have them in our basement recessed lighting - there are 20+ cans throughout the basement. It is a place that we tend to turn on and leave on for long periods, though, so it works well. I did insist on leaving a regular (incandescent) bulb in the light at the bottom of the stairs, though.

I'm going to put DH onto researching the LEDs for the cans in the Kitchen. That's the place with the next most light usage and I refuse to put CFLs there.

[mommylamb]

Ya know, we never had real problems with the warm up issue. Maybe the ones I have are newer and the technology is better. Usually they turn on all the way within 3-4 seconds of switching on the light. But, at least the ones I have can't be used in lights that have a dimmer switch and they aren't 3-way. Also the light isn't as bright from them as the light from an incandescent light (and no matter how long they are on for, it never reaches that level of brightness). But by far the biggest strike against them is this clean up thing.

[mommylamb]

Yup, the cleanup is exactly why I'll never buy one, and why I always warn other people about them.

I've posted this link here before, but I'm curious about the bulbs listed in this article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912429,00.html

Those are the LED lights we were talking about. I did a search today and the cheapest I could find was in the $50 range. I'm not willing to pay that much for a light bulb.

[Penny's Pappa]

This is us, too. I tried them in the kids rooms, but it takes so long for them to warm up enough to be able to read a book it's crazy. I don't want to have to remember to turn their lights on 30 minutes before story time at night!

And, we had one in the hall over the stairs, since it's so hard to replace that bulb. It lasted just under 1 year. Whoo hoo. So not worth the expense, worry, lack of light, for hardly any noticeable difference in length of use.

This must be a problem with older bulbs because all the CFLs I have installed in my home light up to say, 90% (totally made up number) right away. Though, they may take a couple minutes to reach 100%.

The only exception is an outdoor light in the winter time. When it's cold, it takes forever to come to full brightness (if at all), so I switch that out for an incandescent bulb.