Home Garden
# Home & Garden >> Home Design & Decor >> Lighting

Fluorescent Light Questions

Though traditional fluorescent lighting comes in the form of a long tube, many consumers seek out compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, which work in essentially the same way but screw into standard-sized light sockets. These bulbs use significantly less energy than incandescent types. CFLs, however, are not quite the same as incandescent bulbs and do pose some hazards, so you may have questions about ensuring their safe operation

  1. What Is a CFL?

    • The CFL bulb is a piece of hollow glass containing coiled tungsten filaments, which glow when an electric current flows through them. The inside of the glass bulb is coated with a phosphorous substance. The light that the filaments emit is ultraviolet, which is invisible to the human eye and hazardous to human health. This on its own would make for a useless light bulb, but the phosphorous material converts the ultraviolet light into a useful, plain white light. The bulbs are named after this conversion process, which is called fluorescence.

    What Are the Benefits of Using CFLs?

    • Compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs, CFLs use up to 75 percent less energy. Because the power needed for light in an average home accounts for about 20 percent of the electric bill, this can amount to some significant energy savings. CFLs also last about 10 times longer than a traditional incandescent bulb, which means that they don't need replacing as often. This also saves you money and the time that it would take to change bulbs.

    What Are the Hazards of a CFL?

    • CFL bulbs contain mercury, which is a metal that is liquid at room temperature. This metal is toxic in any form but is particularly harmful if it is in particles fine enough to be inhaled. That can happen if a CFL bulb is broken. The amount of mercury in a CFL bulb is very small, but it is not an inconsiderable amount, particularly if you have pets or young children in your home. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has some guidelines that you can follow regarding safe cleanup of a broken bulb. These include ventilating the room for 15 minutes, putting on protective gloves, scooping up fragments into sealable, doubled-up plastic bags and using sticky tape to pick up smaller bits.

    How Should CFLs Be Disposed Of?

    • Because of the mercury content, safely disposing of burned-out bulbs is a concern. It's best, if possible, to not throw it in with your regular household garbage, and CFLs should not be put into an incinerator. If you must put a CFL in the trash and it's allowed by your local environmental regulatory agency, put it into two plastic bags to help with containing the mercury. Some solid waste management districts will collect hazardous waste, including CFLs, for a fee. There are also some retailers and manufacturers that accept and recycle old bulbs.

Previous:

Next:

Lighting
  1. Fluorescent FUL Vs. LOA
  2. Fluorescent Wall Wash Lighting
  3. Daylight Bulbs vs. Bright White
  4. Installing Fluorescent Lights
  5. Fluorescent Fixture Types
  6. Information on Aqua-Glo Fluorescent Light Bulbs
  7. Fluorescent Light Components
  8. How to Mix Light Bulbs
  9. How to Dispose Properly of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
  10. T12 Fluorescent Vs. T8 Fluorescent
  11. Standard Florescent Light Fixture Lengths
  12. The Cheapest Ways to Dim Fluorescent Lights

Home Garden © https://www.98905.com