by: Jake Szarcosi
In the advent of global warming and the rise in the cost of energy, people are looking for ways to save the planet and save money. If you intend to reduce either carbon footprint or your monthly electricity bill, compact fluorescent bulbs are a good choice to meet your needs. Compact fluorescent bulbs have several advantages over conventional light bulbs. Their long life and low operating costs make of these compact fluorescent bulbs an ideal option for private dwellings, street lighting, car parks as well as businesses.
Compact fluorescent bulbs contain small amounts of mercury at the centre, which burns to release gas in the fluorescent bulbs. The result is a bright white light and less waste of energy. Instead, the bulk of the energy is converted into heat, like a glowing, which then creates light. This in turn means more light per watt of compact fluorescent bulbs as compared to other bulbs and lamps.
Prior to the invention of the compact fluorescent bulbs, if you wanted to have fluorescent light bulbs in your house, you would have needed special arrangements for them. But now the compact fluorescent bulbs can be screwed into any socket for incandescent lamps.
However, the compact fluorescent bulbs bear one major disadvantage. Because of the presence of mercury, wasted compact fluorescent bulbs must be managed carefully. Since it is well known that mercury can affect human health, these bulbs must be directed to recycling plants. Compact fluorescent bulbs should not be thrown at random or dumped because this could lead to leakage of mercury, which may be washed away into domestic water.
It is also essential that the compact fluorescent bulbs are allowed to cool down at regular intervals between the cycles of heating and lighting. It might be a good idea, for instance, to have another source of light in the same room where the compact fluorescent bulb is being be used so as to alternate between the two. A halogen lamp, for instance, should be considered as alternate source of light. This approach will ensure the best in energy efficiency and lifespan of the compact fluorescent bulbs. On the other hand, if for instance you are the owner of a factory where the amount of lighting is important, then you should not go for halogen lamps, which can heat up to very high levels when turned on. In such cases, compact fluorescent bulbs are the best options.
Of course, you also need to consider other less technical aspects such as finish, color and style when making your choice of lighting bulbs. Compact fluorescent bulbs may not always be producing the desired effect. If you are not sure these aspects, you can always seek expert advice. With regard to installation, you can just follow the instructions on the packaging of the compact fluorescent bulbs and this can become as easy as child’s play. The guidelines should be fairly easy to follow and installation should not be much of a hassle.
Jake Szarcosi is a writer with over 15 years writing experience. Jake is presently engaged as a technical writer with the fuzing.com portal and has become the in house guru on energy saving solutions. Take the time to visit our very useful website for additional information on Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and Cfl.
