You may want to wait on LED's - incandescents might be back!

On all the rabbit trails of this thread:

I've always hated CFLs. Count me among those who can't figure out why they fail so quickly when they are supposed to last for years. We are replacing the ones in our kitchen light and basement light on probably a yearly basis. I chucked them and went back to incandescents for now.

If a very efficient incandescent came along, I'd gladly use it. But for my RV, I'm sticking with the LEDs I bought last year to replace all the incandescent bulbs. As others have said, I'm sure it will be years before we see anything available commercially.

About mercury: In 5th grade science class, we built a barometer, which had a large glass tube about 4 foot high sitting in a large beaker full of mercury. We'd take the mercury out and pour it on the table - one huge blob and poke at it...with the science teacher right there encouraging us. She lived to a ripe old age and I hope to as well.

One thing I never see mentioned about LED lights is that they don't emit much heat.
This was brought out in a few towns in snow country that installed LED traffic and pedestrian lights. The old incandescent lights created enough heat to keep themselves clear of snow. The LEDs did not, and were immediately clogged with snow in the first storm. IIRC, they had to install electric heaters in the light housings to keep them clear of snow. LOTS of energy savings there!
There are still a few pedestrian lights around here that get totally blocked by snow.
Oh, well, back to the drawing board...

Tvov wrote:


Of course, growing up as a kid, I remember breaking the silver mercury thermometers and playing with the cool globs of mercury. Didn't seem to have to call out the fire department and seal off the town back then. Oh well. So I don't know what to believe.

And don't forget the asbestos curtain behind us as we pledged allegiance in the lead paint school auditorium. Ahhh the good old days:W.

I will stick with LED's till something better comes along for most uses.

The thing about incandascents, which I still use exclusively in some places, is this.. When they talk about an efficency of 2-3 percent they are talking about turning Electricity into light..... So what happens to the other 97-98 percent of the energy.. HEAT of course.

Sometimes.. What I'm looking for is heat (Which the light will become when it is absorbed by assorted non reflective/transparent stuff) so I use incandescents' for heat Work great.

But for lighting it's CFL or LED. I really like my LED's.

Tvov wrote:

Seamutt wrote:
CFL have mercury in them and should be disposed of safely. Do a search on how to clean up a broken CFL, its a jaw dropper.

Due to the "push" to change lightbulbs, the hazard materials rating of CFLs were downgraded. It was "decided" by the powers that be that the environmental advantages of CFLs were better than risk of poisoning by mercury.

Of course, growing up as a kid, I remember breaking the silver mercury thermometers and playing with the cool globs of mercury. Didn't seem to have to call out the fire department and seal off the town back then. Oh well. So I don't know what to believe.

:B

That's the first thing that entered my mind too. We also coated a dime or two we had in our pocket with mercury to make them shine like brand new coins. Oh, how are we still alive and in good health!

Two years ago, someone dropped and broke a small thermometer with mercury in it at our local school. The school was evacuated and a hazmat team was called in to clean it up. Talk about overboard panic and expense..........

One advantage of LEDs that most people don't know is they don't emit the spectrum of blue light that is most attractive to bugs. So you can get a good white light without a lot of the annoying flying insects.

I wonder how heavy duty that new filament will be? LEDs seem to be able to take a lot of punishment and keep on working. That is an advantage over filaments that people sometimes forget about.

Seamutt wrote:
CFL have mercury in them and should be disposed of safely. Do a search on how to clean up a broken CFL, its a jaw dropper.

Due to the "push" to change lightbulbs, the hazard materials rating of CFLs were downgraded. It was "decided" by the powers that be that the environmental advantages of CFLs were better than risk of poisoning by mercury.

Of course, growing up as a kid, I remember breaking the silver mercury thermometers and playing with the cool globs of mercury. Didn't seem to have to call out the fire department and seal off the town back then. Oh well. So I don't know what to believe.

I can't remember the last time I replaced/bought a light bulb.

I changed over to CFL 10 years ago and have added new LED fixtures since they
came down in price. As I get older and my night vision degrades, I do find that the "white" LED lights do help me see better.

I changed al the lights in my TT to LEDs and I can definitely see better in the evenings and can read more easily.

Thanks for posting the link.