What to do with pigtail CFL's?

[longbow]

Since the ban for the old style bulbs is kicking in soon, what are you going to do with the mercury packed CFL's when they fail.

The old bulbs were safe to throw away. The new ones appear to be hazardous waste.

I say we send them to your favorite democrat for proper disposal. Maybe they will get the message and see how dumb the ban is.....

 

[theweakerbrother]

I'll probably just continue to snort up the broken ones.

 

[rambone]

EPA says to either recycle them, or seal them in 2 zipped plastic bags and throw them in the trash.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf

 

[Cwood]

Throw them in Hippies yards!

 

[ghostinthewood]

EPA says to either recycle them, or seal them in 2 zipped plastic bags and throw them in the trash.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf

But that is such a pain in the ass.

 

[Beau]

Wait, the EPA wants up to use not one but TWO plastic bags just to throw something away?

 

[Ash]

The other day, while standing in line at the Returns Desk at Lowes.... I noticed that they have a bin out where they accept CFL's for recycling.
I guess I'll take them there now instead of shattering them on the creekbed.

 

[Leadeye]

Like 9 out of 10 households they will go in the trash like the old bulbs.

 

[Hotdoger]

I say we send them to your favorite democrat for proper disposal. Maybe they will get the message and see how dumb the ban is.....

And look for a charge of "attemped assassination of a public offical by hazardous material"

 

[$mooth]

I just keep em in a cardboard box under the sink and take me to Lowes when it fills up. Its been a few years and I only have a handful of them. The ones indoors seem to last forever. The ones I have outside (porch lights) only last about a year or so, but I have them on 24/7.

 

[jason867]

I don't like the darned things to begin with. Every single one I've had has had the following problems:

flickering
popping and sizzling noises
the base gets really frickin' hot! I've had some start to turn brown from the heat!
Not lasting as long as advertised. I've never had one last longer than a year, definitly not 4-5 years. Normal bulbs seem to last longer for me.
When they do burn out, it usually produces a loud, unnerving "pop" sound.

I think they're a fire hazard...

 

[Andre46996]

Every bulb in my house is a CFL and has been for over 4 years now, the only ones I have ever had burn out were the "decorative" ones I used in the lights above the vanity in the bathroom. Those are normal bulbs again as I just didn't like the overall look.

As for recycling them I brought those to Lowe's with me when I was heading that way. I realized a decrease in my electric bill when I started using them it has been a long time so I don't remember how much but it was significant.

As for the GOV outlawing the incandescent bulb that is a crock of !! If it wasn't for the fact they do save me money I would switch back to them just because some A-hole in Washington caved to some lobbyist and now says " They are bad, think about the children."

 

[$mooth]

As for the GOV outlawing the incandescent bulb that is a crock of !! If it wasn't for the fact they do save me money I would switch back to them just because some A-hole in Washington caved to some lobbyist and now says " They are bad, think about the children."

+1. Even the "warm" colored ones bother my eyes. How about we get to choose what we want to spend or save on?

 

[rambone]

I like CFLs. I buy them in packs of 10 from Costco, you get them much cheaper than buying them individually. The brand is called Conserv-Energy, and I haven't had any problems to speak of. Only one of them has burned out and it was 2 years old. They use 1/4 the energy of an equivalent incandescent bulb.

The ban on incandescent light bulbs is idiotic. I am against bans on anything. Knives, guns, throwing stars, cigars, weeds, light bulbs, baby cribs, whatever. These are just laws that control freaks get off on.

 

[SmileDocHill]

Does anyone see a benefit to keeping a stash of incandescent light bulbs? It isn't really something the average joe can make in their garage so at some point they are going to become rare.
If you look at it in very general terms (don't think light bulb for a second) from the perspective of say >/=10 years from now, it has the description of something that that is valuable.
--Fragile, breaks easily so many didn't survive in good condition, everyone stopped making them all of a sudden, everyone had them before they stopped making them (market group of people that remember them is pretty much everyone), it was replaced with something significantly different, before they became unavailable they were of little value so nobody felt the need to keep or collect them, an iconic expression is associated with it (light bulb/good idea connection), cool history tied to its invention....
When I watch auction, antique, or collector style shows this type of description usually is followed by a surprisingly large dollar figure.

It just seems like one of those little things that will give away the era that a picture was taken. You don't think about it so much now but looking at you photo albums 20 years from now they will stand out. It will conjure up a "I remember those" from everyone even though they are not the main subject of the picture. The reverse is true too, seeing a newer style bulb in a picture someone is passing off as old is kind of like seeing a jetliner white streak across the sky in an old western.

 

[hornadylnl]

Wait, the EPA wants up to use not one but TWO plastic bags just to throw something away?

Kind of ironic isn't it?

 

[jedi]

When do the incandescent bulb become a "banned item"?

 

[rambone]

When do the incandescent bulb become a "banned item"?

100W Incandescent bulbs became illegal to sell as of Jan 1st 2011. (I believe)

 

[Martin Draco]

Wait, the EPA wants up to use not one but TWO plastic bags just to throw something away?

Thats just in case the glass breaks, so nobody gets cut.

Believe it or not the CFL bulbs are responsible for less mercury into the environment than incandescent bulbs. That is part of the reason their use is encouraged. Power plants put a much greater amount of mercury in the water and air with the additional demands caused by incandescent bulbs. I'm no expert on this, I'm just an electrician thats done a lot of research on this years ago when these came out, due to my own skepticism over those ridiculous looking pigtailed bulbs.

 

[cburnworth]

stock up on incandescent bulbs. black market. internet purchases. i agree send all bad cfl to the congressmen & senators.