Kermit's right...it's not easy being green

Last year, I got the Green Fever.  I insulated our attic, serviced the furnace, and replaced nearly every old-fashioned incandescent light bulb in our house with the new compact fluorescent models.  Those were a hard pill to swallow at a little over $2 apiece, but I did it and felt really good about myself.  I was being a steward of the Earth by saving energy, right?  Al Gore himself would drop by any day to pat me on the back.

Those CFL lightbulbs seemed like a good idea.  Sure, they're more expensive.  But they only use about 13 watts (compared to 75 to 100 for the old incandescents) and have a life span of at least five years, so hey, I was actually saving money, right?

Wrong.

In the past week, I've had two of these new fangled units burn out.  Both of them have a nasty black spot on the inside of the twisted glass.  Thankfully that's all they did - if they had popped, we would have needed a HAZMAT team on the scene to collect all the mercury they contain.

So I'm through with these pieces of junk.  As I threaded in a trusty old thirty cent 100-watt Edison Special, I swore to myself that I'd never again get taken in by things like these that almost sound too good to be true.

At least until these CFLs come with a ten year warranty.

 

Posted Jun 26 2009, 10:38 PM by Jody Farr
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Comments

tmgo222 wrote re: Kermit's right...it's not easy being green
on Sat, Jul 4 2009 12:30 PM

Did you save the package and receipt?  Most manufacturers warrant their bulbs and will replace them.

Jody Farr wrote re: Kermit's right...it's not easy being green
on Sat, Jul 4 2009 3:17 PM

No.  I bought these bulbs over a year ago and didn't keep the box.  I'm considering writing G.E. to see what recourse I have.

regis wrote re: Kermit's right...it's not easy being green
on Tue, Jul 14 2009 7:52 AM

By the way, I know this makes me hopelessly old fashioned, but I like to listen to international shortwave and long-distance AM radio.  It can't be done if you have a CFL light bulb operating in the house.  The things put out awful RFI.  I have written to manufactureres and to Consumer Reports, asking that somewhat at least test the various brands and see which are the best shielded.  No response.  I'm not about to give up this hobby for these bulbs.

Jody Farr wrote re: Kermit's right...it's not easy being green
on Tue, Jul 14 2009 7:58 AM

You know Regis, that's an excellent point.  I'm an amateur radio operator (with no tower or HF rig at the moment) and I suppose if I ever decide to get my station up and running, I'd better build little Faraday cages around those bulbs if I'm going to hear anything on the radio.