When Your Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Finally Burns Out
Thursday, May 8, 2008
If you have already replaced your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), then you’re enjoying all of their benefits. According to the EPA’s Energy Star program, a CFL uses 75 percent less energy than a standard bulb, generates 75 percent less heat and lasts six to 10 times longer. Each CFL saves about $30 in energy costs and prevents more than 400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the bulb.
In fact, if every house in this country replaced one incandescent bulb with an Energy Star qualified CFL, that would save “enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars,” according to www.energystar.gov.
Although earlier CFLs took a long time to get to full brightness, many CFLs today turn on in less than one second. And they come in a range of colors from warm yellow-white to cool blue-white. By looking at the color temperature on the packaging, you can choose a bulb that matches the color of other bulbs in your house.
A 25-watt CFL will produce as much light as a 75-watt incandescent bulb. What allows a CFL to give so much light at such a low wattage is related to the use of amalgam in the bulb. Amalgam contains a small amount of mercury — about 5 milligrams in each bulb — although CFLs produced after 2007 should contain even less. As long as the CFL stays intact, the mercury is sealed in and poses no health hazard.
If a CFL breaks, you should follow the guidelines shown on the Energy Star web site to safely dispose of the CFL. Basically, that means scraping up the fragments with a piece of disposable cardboard and using a piece of duct tape, not a vacuum cleaner, to pull up the smallest pieces. Seal the pieces in a plastic bag, and seal that bag inside another bag before putting the fragments in an outdoor trash can.
“Using a regular light bulb takes about three to four times as much coal to produce the same amount of light as a CFL,” said Lily Lodhi, Temple’s director of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety. “And burning coal releases an amount of mercury significantly higher than the amount in CFLs. So the benefit of using CFLs is clear, and they can be recycled.”
The EPA’s disposal guidelines also recommend recycling CFLs when possible. For more information about CFLs and how to dispose of them safely, go to www.energystar.gov, and then, under Products, click on Lighting, and click on CFLs on the left side.
This article is part of an ongoing series dedicated to raising health and safety awareness across the Temple community. For further information contact Environmental Health and Radiation Safety at 215-707-2520. If you have other health and safety questions, suggestions, or concerns, e-mail the Health & Safety Committee at safetyawareness@temple.edu.