Computer Question for You Experts

[Jack from Ohio]

Funny you should bring that up. because 2 years back my incandescent bulb in the basement right on top of the washer exploded and there was a pile of clothes on top of the washer. The hot filament and glass fell on it and made a burn hole. Luckily I was there to react quickly.

Since then all the bulbs in the house are CFL and have not had that issue. My only complaint with CFL is that it takes a minute to get to full brightness.

You need to upgrade your CFL technology...

I have personally had 2 different CFL units stop working and begin smoking in their sockets. Fortunately, we were home and detected the smell very quickly.

I have gone to the black market to get 100 watt incandescent bulbs.

[Guest Taxed]

You need to upgrade your CFL technology...

How do I do that? I buy my CFL bulbs from Home Depot or Costco??

[JohnH]

If one of those CFL bulbs got broken over your laundry, I think the EPA would want you to destroy all the clothes the fragments fell upon.

http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl

I've installed a few LED bulbs in my house and I like them much better than CFL's. LED's are more directional, but they are great in table lamps and can light fixtures. Prices still need to come down some more to make them truly economical, but I think that will come about over time.

[Guest Taxed]

Last Christmas I picked up a Led table lamp for my desk and i love it. It is so tiny, yet the brightness is good enough for checking the returns.

[Jack from Ohio]

LEDs are the answer. It will be another year or two before it becomes money smart to install them everywhere due to the prices for the bulbs still being high. Competition in the marketplace will bring that down soon.

[Guest Taxed]

If one of those CFL bulbs got broken over your laundry, I think the EPA would want you to destroy all the clothes the fragments fell upon.

http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl

In my town we have a special collection for batteries, CFL and that sort of things. I do NOT want to dump lead or mercury back into the soil to pollute the groundwater.

The EPA may want me to destroy those clothes because they are plain ugly, and causes eyesight pollution

[kcjenkins]

Good excuse for a shopping trip?

[Guest Taxed]

Good excuse for a shopping trip?

As long as EPA buys me some sexy outfits

[JohnH]

H-m-m.

Hadn't thought of that.

I think I'l buy my wife a CFL bulb for our laundry room.

[Guest Taxed]

H-m-m.

Hadn't thought of that.

I think I'l buy my wife a CFL bulb for our laundry room.

CFL won't work. As Jack mentioned all it will do is just smoke in the socket. You need that old fashioned 100 W bulb.

[JohnH]

I keep a hammer in the laundry room.

[kcjenkins]

Taxed, you missed the joke. If he breaks the CFL bulb over a pile of clothes he wants to see gone, they will be contaminated and dangerous, and MUST BE DISPOSED OF AS HAZARDOUS WASTE.

[Guest Taxed]

Yup missed that one for sure

[mcb39]

To take it one step further, I really believe that John wants his wife to get some new sexy outfits. At least, that was my first take on it.

[Catherine]

Ignoring the running gags about sexy clothes and CFL's...

It can be dangerous to put CFL's on dimmers -- make sure the ONLY CFL on a dimmer is one rated for such. Otherwise you do have fire danger. Ditto LED's; they must be dimmer-rated.

If you have a CFL that breaks, for best practice you are supposed to call the hazmat squad to clean it up because of the mercury. We haven't had any break that I recall but I'd probably clean it up myself -- after playing with liquid mercury decades ago I highly doubt the microgram in a bulb is going to hurt me -- but the bulbs all must go to the hazmat pickup.

And TV's *are* on their own version of "standby" all the time -- that's why the picture comes on so quickly. And why they sell the power-off power strips, to make them actually turn off if you want to save that tiny bit of energy.

[Jack from Ohio]

And TV's *are* on their own version of "standby" all the time -- that's why the picture comes on so quickly. And why they sell the power-off power strips, to make them actually turn off if you want to save that tiny bit of energy.

It would take 10 years of electric saving from a power off strip on the TV to recoup the cost of the strip. The TV in "off" mode uses about 3-4 watts or less. Less than a nightlight.

[jklcpa]

after playing with liquid mercury decades ago

Me too, Catherine, as a second grader! I still remember it rolling around on my desk splitting apart and going back together. Each of the students in my class had mercury on our desks that we played with. How crazy is that?!

I did not know about the CFL bulbs being hazardous or how disposal is a problem. I haven't had one go bad yet. I did recently break a brand new 4' fluorescent tube that scared me when it exploded and went into a zillion tiny pieces. I dropped it in trying to get it out of my Mom's car.

[Guest Taxed]

Correct if I am wrong, but when we were kids, didn't we get dental fillings made with silver and mercury amalgam?? So that junk was inside your mouth for years. I think I still have some.

I know the fillings now are some kind of resin polymer.

[jklcpa]

Yes, I still have one filling that is the amalgam too. It's been in there so long I don't remember when I got it, but it's not coming out until I have a problem with it or the tooth.

[Jack from Ohio]

Entirely different thing, pure mercury and mercury amalgam. Mercury Amalgam is a mixture of Mercury and other metals. Not toxic. Pure mercury, in large amounts is toxic. Amalgam fillings are still used.

[Guest Taxed]

I found out some thing new about this board:

""You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day""

Sorry Jack, I was going to like your post but the system is preventing me!