lightbulb

Energy Efficient light globes are harmful

I have long suspected that the claims made for energy efficient light globes is nonsense so armed with google I did a bit of research

The claim for energy efficient globes (Compact fluorescent lamp)

  • More environmentally Friendly

  • Use less electricity

  • As good as existing light globes
  • Last Longer

Let me take these items one at a time

More environmentally Friendly
These bulbs are much more energy and resource intensive to manufacture and they also contain mercury making them difficult to dispose of properly.
Use less electricity
They do use less electricity however they are basically using the same technology as old fashioned fluorescent strip lights and they share the efficiency profile of these. If you turn these lights and never turn them off they use about a quarter of the energy of a conventional bulb. However if you turn your lights on and off frequently (like we do) then the efficiency goes right down because these bulbs (just like fluorescent strip lights are a lot less efficient when being turned on and off).

As good as existing light globes
I hate the light from these (the wave spectra is different). They also take a while to get to full brightness. They have also been shown to cause epilepsy and they can buzz. The EPA take the safety and disposal of these pretty seriously if you break one you need to evacuate the room for 15 minutes and dispose of the bulb in a glass jar
Last Longer
I suspect if you have a modern house with electrics then they would last longer but I frequently have these (expensive) babies blow on me. Also as they get older they get less bright. The life is also dramatically shortened by turning them on and off.
 
SOURCES – WIKIPEADIA
 
NEWS ARTICLES
 
democracy

Isn’t democracy Brilliant

Now I am an Australian citizen I was keen to take my responsibilities seriously.

On Saturday I voted in the election for Moreland. (Brunswick)

I was going though the leaflets by the voting building. There were 2 green 1 socialist alliance and 3 labour candidates (no liberal). As I was going through them one of the guys handing out leaflets asked me if I had any questions. I asked him lots of stuff and eventually he said he couldn’t help so he called the candidate and I spoke to him on the phone – It was great!
I then spoke to another candidate (who was there in person) called Christopher Anderson (see his bog)
He was a really nice guy that I felt genuinely wanted to improve things. It was really good of them both to take the time to go through the issues.
I voted for Chris