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That is mostly a ridiculous set of arguments, at least on the surface. Fluorescent bulbs last a LOT longer than incandescent bulbs--although perhaps not quite as long as claimed. They save a LOT of energy and can be bought with various brightness and color specifications. These comparative results are hardly valid reasons to avoid them.

The bulbs do have mercury in them, which is a significant concern if you break them. Don't break them. Do recycle them.

by asdf on Mon Nov 17th, 2008 at 09:31:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Do standard-issue fluorescent bulbs have gotten rid of the long heating up time ? It can be very annoying in some particular rooms (say, the toilet...)

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Mon Nov 17th, 2008 at 09:39:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
They appear to.
My kitchen one is 6 years old, low price, and indeed takes a long while (almost a minute) to reach full brightness.

The entrance and bathroom (as in bath room, American readers) ones seem instantaneous.

In the living room there are two. One looks pretty much instantaneous. Strangely, the other one seems to vary, it sometimes take a while, but the immediate light is quite enough to be useful.

Now, none of those was sold as having no significant heating up time. You can get some of those, but they don't have quite the same energy saving so I didn't.
On the other hand, I'm not sure about the power conversions. The manufacturer will claim it's as bright as a so many watts incandescent bulb, and sometimes I'm not too sure it's quite true.

I've never had to change one.

LEDs are brightest of all, by some distance, and last forever.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

by Cyrille (cyrillev domain yahoo.fr) on Mon Nov 17th, 2008 at 09:46:51 AM EST
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