Do you use energy saver light bulbs?

Question

I personally dont right now, but will, but home depot in VA, has them on sale, 4 for $3.97. they are in 40W to 100W. thought i would let you all know! I picked up 4 packs for later!!!

Answer 1

Yes I do

Answer 2

i use them when i dont live on post, but i will pass along the saving, i have family that swear by them.

Answer 3

I use them selectively in places where the light will be on for more than a short time.  Stick with incandescents for spots like hallways and closets where you only turn the light on for a minute or two.

Answer 4

All they do is change the pollution from co2 to mercury. The combined total of those lights adds more mercury to the environment than coal burning power plants.

Answer 5

Are you talking about the CFL bulbs?  (compact florecent lights)

Then yes, I too got sucked into the whole "they save energy & save the earth thing."

Bought a bunch, and put them in everywhere in our house.  We have a large 3600 sq ft home.  

Power bill didn't go down...not even a tiny bit.

The suposed 7 year lifespan of those bulbs...I was happy if one of the dang things lasted 7 MONTHS, and thrilled if it managed to last a year.

By the way, we are VERY energy concious, and turn lights on in rooms we are in, only if we need to.  Our power comes from hydro, and we are in the middle of a 6 going on 7 year drought.  We do NOT waste water/electric.  Our monthly power bills are compairable with our neighbors monthly power bills....and they are just single family houses.  We live on a farm, and use the 5 horse pump in the spring/summer to irregate our pastures.  We should be using tons more energy than our neighbors, but because we are so energy concious in the house, we even out with everyone living around us.

So I did a lot of research on those CFL bulb a few months back.  They are made in China using mored electricity than they would ever save...that's even if they lived up to their supposed energy/lifespan savings, which they do NOT.

So we are switching back to Made In America, incandecent lightbulbs. I've had the incandecent bulbs with the copper bases last TWELVE YEARS before...in my barn.   No fossil fuels used to ship them accross the ocean...AND I can buy them in cardboard packages.  Totally unlike the highly wasteful, garbage producing plastic clamshells the CFL bulbs come in.  

By the way, does your package of CFL bulbs CLEARLY state they MUST BE RECYCLED AS TOXIC WASTE??   They contain mercury.  Yes coal plants release mercury.  However coal plants have scrubbers, and traps, to help trap some of those heavy metals.  Those CFL bulbs are being tossed in garbage cans accross the world.  Tiny amounts of mercury poisoning are ending up EVERYWHERE.

By the way, if you break on in your house, do you know the proper procedures, so you are not breathing mercury vapor?

Open all of your doors and windows.  Clean up the broken glass with a damp paper towel.  Do NOT use a vacuum cleaner in the area, as the vacuum can trap, and then spread the mercury everywhere.

So don't forget, when those bulbs burn out, you must be very careful with them, and take them to a recycling center that deals with toxic waste.  

I'm sure you think I'm kidding, or lying....but unfortunatly I'm not.  I did quiet a bit of research on them.  

I did find however the new LED lightbulbs (that are still about $45 each) ARE everything they say they are.  When the price comes down on LED lightbulbs we will be switching over to them.  In the mean time, we are using incandecnt, Made In America, packaged in cardboard, copper based lightbulbs.  

By the way...still no change in our power bill now that we are switching back!

We live on a permaculture farm.  We grow almost all of our own food.  We also produce our own biofuel.  My husband works on the commercial wind turbines.  We take living in an earth friendly manner VERY serriously.  Those CFL bulbs are NOT earth friendly.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 6

If you are talking about compact fluorescent bulbs the answer is

'not on your life'. Fluorescent lighting of any kind gives me headaches.