Have you ever broken an energy saving light bulb?
 

If yes, did you followed the correct procedure to dispose of it?

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/200...01_468x622.jpg

:Oh crap

The trick is to quickly inhale any gases.


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hahaha!!!

I'll have to mention that to the maid. ;)

shit.....I had one break last week. The kids accidentally bumped in the lamp while wrestling. The dog came up and started eating the broken light bulb pieces. I pushes the kids and dog away from the mess and vacuumed.

Nothing like a little mercury to fuck up your week...

i hope youre just joking

energy saving light bulbs... helping you save the environment ...

i never buy cfls... they are dim, contain mercury and never last the proclaimed 5 years or whatever.. i've burnt out plenty of those things before saying fuck it

Good post.

Those light bulbs are retarded. Most people who buy those aren't aware there's mercury in them, most of those that are aware of it aren't aware of how dangerous it actually is so most wont clean up broken ones properly and most wont dispose of broken and burnt out ones properly. People just aren't responsible enough to have those things in their homes. We'll have mercury in our carpets for their lifetime and more mercury leaking into our water sources for generations, well after we replace dirty energy sources with green ones eliminating much of the pollution problem these bulbs are supposed to help with.

"Try not to inhale dust from broken bulb" - Sounds brutal.

You are not suppose to even throw those out whether they are broken or not.

I use the normal bulbs until the good LED bulbs start to come out.

Yes I dispose of them properly. I have yet to break one, come to think of it the last time I broke a light bulb it must of been as a kid.

I do love some of the comments in this thread though. This whole generation makes me laugh like crazy with some of the shit they can spout off with. Concerns about tiny ass amounts of mercury - much less than what was in thermometers we used to have and break all of the time, way less than the amounts in your thermostats, and well screw mercury when we all consume vast amounts of lithium and other elements in our technology and throw that shit out even faster than any light bulbs.

Hell many of you all just are in love with the assorted apple crap and you can not even replace the fucking batteries in those. Forget about that for some fucking stupid reason nobody has standardized the charging devices for assorted electronics, fuck even just one electronic like cell phones. Am glad to see wireless chargers more and more now though.

CFS just use less electricity, are just as bright, and do last a lot longer than standard bulbs. No real if ands or buts about it - unless you are retarded, perhaps from the other shit in your carpet or breaking thermometers as a kid.

I agree with that. Also, 4 of my cfs bulbs I have in my place are like 3 years old and I doubt they will die any time soon. Also, I've broken 3 of them and nothing bad happened to me. Hell, I smoke 2 packs a day. Mercury has to get in line with all the other shit I put in my body. Anyway, I don't use them to save electricity. I just prefer the light that they producer over a conventional bulb.

made a few typos I see.

tip of the day: don't break energy saving light bulbs

I remember when I was a kid, we used to play with liquid mercury in school.

Bring on the broken light bulbs!

Doesn't mercury make you kinda crazy? Sounds like some of the characters posting here... might wanna check for leaking CFLs

wow never knew crazy

I think the longest I have had one last is two weeks. I gave up on them.

We tried those lights too - not any more.

They are too dim, and the color is strange... They're not even close to full spectrum. Even if you plan to use them for regular lighting around your house, your home will seem colorless and dark, making you want to stay in bed.

They seem to last 2 or 3 times longer than regular bulbs. 5 Years? Yeah right.

So let's see. Expensive, important trade off's, and dangerous. Thanks but no thanks. Give me good old fashioned bulbs.

The same advice holds for any flourescent bulb as they all have mercury.

oh jesus christ. it's just a little mercury. as long as you're not breaking them up and sprinkling them on all your meals you'll be fine.

grow some common sense and get on with it. probably at a higher risk from mercury in your tuna fish than the light bulbs. god damn sissies.

btw. coffee can be hot to the touch. be careful and warn others.

Gotdamn, I remember hearing something about mercury in the bulbs but I didn't know the extent and the damage they could do.....What I don't like about the lights are that they are too "white"....I'm used to a more natural yellow tinge in bulbs....However, I got used to it....

Plus they last forever......And in my bedroom, in one light socket is a regular bulb and in another a red bulb....most of the time, they are on together and it helps even out the light.....When I want just red, I reach up and lightly unscrew the white bulb.

Years ago, I was trained as a neon tubebender and ran my own neon shop. As I was looking around, I saw a lot of older tube benders and many had neurological problems of one type are another. After a while, I decided that mercury contamination was probably the source of their problems and I sold my shop. I haven't placed a tube in the crossfires or on the ribbon burner in 20 years. I don't miss it.

Energy saving lamps are a fucking joke. Use LED's. They're available as 'light bulbs', as well as replacements for fluerescent tubes in offices.

The Australian Government is planning to ban the sale of incandescent light globes. There are many reasons this is a really stupid idea. Hopefully LED technology becomes "consumerish" enough by the time the ban hits.

It already is. Retailers just have to take the bulbs/tubes/whatever to sale. The prices ARE steeper than 'normal' lights, but the energy saved with LED's will be very visible in the electric bill, and they should pay themselves back within 1 year (expected usage time for a good LED light is between 50 and 70 000 hours). :1orglaugh


I know way too much about LED's, I really really do. But won't bore any of you.

we are using almost all Led bulbs right now. Have slowly replaced from standard, to CFS, to LED, just did not wish to throw out any that were still working despite the type. Plus we typically got for free at our city energy fair thanks to the rebates they gave, plus the free bulbs, then combined with store rebates.

Just waiting for 1 standard bulb to go, 2 outdoor bulbs, and the damn fridge/freezer bulbs - any idea on how long those fuckers last?

where do you guys buy the LEDs that go in regular light sockets?

Hardware stores, mail order.

The thing about these lights is not that they are dim but that it takes a couple of minutes for them to be "fully" lit. They are just as bright as the regulars as far as I can tell. I use them in my home but only in the fixtures that are attached the ceiling so they can't get easily knocked over. Main reason for using, I'm sick of paying so much in hydro for just a few lights.

Are there any dangers to LED lights? Because, yeah I don't like the danger associated with CFL either.

No real dangers with LED lights.

Though to be fair the mercury levels have been reduced several times in CFS bulbs, way lower than other household items laying around.

Am I the only one that thinks they are crap? They burn out way sooner then my regular light bulbs, at one time I replaced every bulb in my house and still noticed no difference in power consumption and on top of that they contain mercury and cost way more.

I'm pretty sure the local walmart has them but they're expensive. Last time I looked, they were roughly $25-30 I think.

I don't know what you guys are doing to your CFLs to make them burn out so fast. I've had the same ones burning for about 3½ years so far, and haven't had ANY burn out yet.

If they cost significantly more and people still need to be educated on why they're good in the long run then they're still not sufficiently consumerish. :P

FWIW, a national hardware/warehouse chain here does not appear to stock mains rated LED lights (yet). They have low voltage replacements but most of them seem to be just a bunch of 5mm white LEDs, rather than the super efficient ones such as the Cree XR units.

the funny thing is, I don't think I've ever burnt one out. I usually switch houses/offices before they're done I guess.

never realised they were so dangerous!

I forgot to buy regular bulbs in bulk. Now I'm stuck with ebergy saving ones. :(

Energy saving light bulbs contain only five milligrams of mercury but if you are still afraid why not buying a led bulb?