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CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) eyed for fire danger
MassLive.com ^

Posted on 12/28/2011 7:37:38 PM PST by matt04

Compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, have been counted on to light the way to a more energy-efficient future.

Compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, which will gradually be phased out starting in January, CFLs use about a fifth the power and have a life six to 10 times as great.

However, since the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched its online safety complaints database in March, there have been 34 reports made by people about CFLs that emitted smoke or a burning odor and four reports of the devices catching fire.

As perspective, though, 272 million CFLs were sold in 2009 in the United States.

Nevertheless, the complaints are a cause for concern, according to Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fire Services.

“In 2008, the state fire marshal’s office office first alerted the fire chiefs that CFLs could smoke” at the end of their life, she said.

“I’m not aware of any fires that fire departments in the state have responded to that were started by CFLs, but, as a consumer, it’s a good idea to be vigilant,” she said.

An incandescent bulb typically ends its life when the wire filament, which glows to produce light when electricity passes through it, burns out and breaks. Fires from this are almost nonexistent.

A CFL uses electricity to heat an element in the lamp’s base that excites the mercury vapor gas in the coils so that they emit light. When a CFL can no longer produce light, the electronics in its base will still try to function, sometimes leading to overheating, smoke and fire.

(Excerpt) Read more at masslive.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cfl; clf; environmentalism; epa; incandescent; mercury
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From the CPSC via the article:


1 posted on 12/28/2011 7:37:43 PM PST by matt04
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To: matt04

When I still used CFL’s I had one in a lamp. All of sudden I head a pop, the light went out and a horrible smell filled the room. The glass had broken off the base and the base was in the process of melting into a pile of sludge.

I bagged up the lamp and shade and disposed of it, along with every other CFL I had at the time.


2 posted on 12/28/2011 7:38:28 PM PST by matt04
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To: matt04

Now in economic arson sizes.


3 posted on 12/28/2011 7:39:38 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: matt04
All I've run for the last 10 years is CFLs without issues. Your anecdote doesn't make a systemic problem.

/johnny

4 posted on 12/28/2011 7:41:16 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: matt04
I will however, defend to the death, your right to use carbon arc lamps, if you want. Or regular old Edison bulbs.

To each their own. Devil take the leftists.

/johnny

5 posted on 12/28/2011 7:43:53 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

I like the CFLs for some things too. They are a fine “Choice” for those who want them.


6 posted on 12/28/2011 7:48:11 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: JRandomFreeper
That's because you don't install them like you toss a dart. Think about it. You can still get 150’s and 75 100 150 bulb if you have the three way.
7 posted on 12/28/2011 7:53:36 PM PST by Domangart
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To: matt04

I’ll say one thing for the CFLs, they are an outstanding way to introduce more mercury into the landfills. A big thank you shout out to the dumbass environazis!


8 posted on 12/28/2011 7:57:03 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Stop BIG Government Greed!!!!!)
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To: cripplecreek; All
Instead of discussing relative merits of light sources.... we should be discussing why we have a federal government that thinks they have a say-so.

And whether, such a government, so constituted, should remain in power. Or whether it's legitimacy is long gone.

"--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

We get a do over if we don't like it.

Personally, I have no use for a Federal government outside of protecting the borders. States do well at laws.

But the whole meddle in our business thing?

Out. Right out.

/johnny

9 posted on 12/28/2011 7:58:30 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: matt04

This lone “data point” has had multiple personal experiences with fried/scorched CFLs that fail scarily. No fires, but they wouldn’t surprise me a bit. Fluorescents’ actual failure rate (among dozens in my home) is extraordinarily high compared to the promised lamp life.

They really stink.


10 posted on 12/28/2011 8:03:28 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed (Author of BullionBible.com - Makes You a Precious Metal Expert, Guaranteed.)
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To: Domangart
3 way light bulbs... Gone the way of the 8 track and virginity.

/johnny

11 posted on 12/28/2011 8:05:01 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Fred Upton is the next district over from mine but I can’t decide whether to lay siege to his district or Ann Arbor on the other side.


12 posted on 12/28/2011 8:05:01 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: JRandomFreeper

So in the entire 10 years that you’ve had CFL’s, you’ve never had to change a single one? Because that’s what the pro-CFL crowd claims. I write this in the dark because my CFL’s tend to burn out every 2-3 weeks.


13 posted on 12/28/2011 8:09:56 PM PST by Question Liberal Authority (I also think that Obama should be defeated.)
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To: matt04
“have a life six to 10 times as great”

Not true for us. Personally, we replace our CFLs because of failure at a rate about the same as we did when they were real bulbs.

I've stockpiled incandescents. Putting a CFL, that takes a minute or two to fire up, in places like closets or bathrooms is silly. And, putting them in places where a bulb can can get broken is nuts.

14 posted on 12/28/2011 8:10:10 PM PST by Proud2BeRight
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To: JRandomFreeper

I saw two cases at home depot last week.


15 posted on 12/28/2011 8:12:03 PM PST by Domangart
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To: cripplecreek
:) I think we've had this discussion... Depends on how much forest you can clear-cut for trebuchets.

But it should never come to blows. One of our founding documents says that we have a right to modify our government.

Or remove it completely.

Of course, the people in charge of the current government get pissy about it.

But I'm for non-violent change. It's a shame Geo. Wash. had to get scrappy about it to get left alone.

/johnny

16 posted on 12/28/2011 8:12:34 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Beelzebubba

At least half of the twisty bulbs I’ve used, get a toasty brown base when they die, and many smoke or fill the area with a burnt odor.

I wonder if a dirty little secret is that they are not rated past 120 volts. When it’s common today to get household voltages up to 130 in newer neighborhoods where the power distribution has been upgraded for all the McMansions that were expected.


17 posted on 12/28/2011 8:15:32 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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To: Question Liberal Authority
So in the entire 10 years that you’ve had CFL’s, you’ve never had to change a single one?

Whoa, nelly... I never said that.

I've had a few burn out. Less, actually, than tubes in my Drake receiver.

And if you buy crappy chineese stuff, expect to change the bulbs a lot.

Cheap is expensive. Pry open that wallet and look for quality instead of best price.

/johnny

18 posted on 12/28/2011 8:15:57 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: matt04

When are the rules for disposing of used up CFL’s going to be coming out?

I expect a fee for their disposal because of the toxic mercury they hold.

Also——Who here on FR wants to use such a bulb OVER their cooking areas????


19 posted on 12/28/2011 8:17:40 PM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: JRandomFreeper
Pumpkin Guns
20 posted on 12/28/2011 8:18:20 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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