US encourages Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Problem for us??
 

Hi,
California, other states, and the US gov are encouraging people to switch from our old incandescent light bulgs to fluorescent light bulbs because they save tons of electricty if everyone switches and because they can help save us all from global warming.

Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, talks about this and he and Tipper have them in their house.http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/nature/earth.gif http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/nature/earth.gif http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/nature/earth.gif

I'm all for saving the planet and all :icon_mrgreen: but couldn't I sign up for something else??
I don't want to change my lightbulbs.

Fluorescent light bulbs interfere with my body chemistry. And I think that they effect other people who are sensitive. I keep my lights off in my office at work because of the fluorescent lights. When people ask me why I am sitting in the dark, I say because it is quieter this way. I wonder what I mean by that. I think that my brain is calmer with out the fluorescent energy in the room.

Yuck. I really hope that this does not become law. Maybe a scientist out there can convince me that the new bulbs on the market are "safer" than the old bulbs in my old office building. http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/confused0039.gif

Anyone here already have them in their apts/houses?
M.



pic
http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/20...scent-bulb.jpg

http://www.uncrate.com/men/home/ligh...lbs-004212.php


gov. site:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsite...livingroom.htm

Hi Mari.....We are slowing changing over to these and it takes a little getting used to, first because they are "funny looking" and second, because they start out so dim and gradually become bright. They are also not innexpensive but they do last a lot longer and we are seeing a difference in our electric bill already.

There are some places, (our recessed flood lights in the kitchen) that I won't use them and our antique table lamps with the hurricane tops...what's the point of having something that old with something that new. :D

To me they are nothing like those fluroesence tube lights in the closet....the ones that hummmmmmmmm. *grin

Hi Mari,
Yes we have switched almost our entire house to these energy saving light bulbs. I recently replaced my guest bedroom with a brighter blueish one and it has lite up the room. we had painted it a lavender when we first moved in and now it looks so bright and pretty in there..makes me smile.
WE even have them in our tiffany style lamps they look bulbus like regular bulbs too.
I am sold on them...but I drive a hybrid car as well and even reuse straws!!!
which my hubby thinks is weird....but I am weird so....
The flourescent lights at your office do sound like the old humming kind. anyway to get a floor light that you can use to soften the area so that you are not sitting in the dark which is probably putting eye strain on your eyes.
I wish you well of course.
bizi

mari, does your office have the long tube type of flourescent bulbs?

those do emit a sound. like alffe said. and get even louder when they are going out.

i have them in some areas, but they tend to be too hot for the canned ceiling lights. i might just have a too high of watt. i will say they sure last longer than the old bulbs. cost more too. :rolleyes:

Mari:

I had a flouesant bulb in only my kitchen at the house but not here in my apartment. I liked it in the kitchen but wouldn't care to have it in the other rooms. My eyes are sensitive to light and I'll get a headache if in too much light too long.

befuddled2

Hi,I have 2 fluorescent bulbs in my kitchen too. They don't seem to bother me.

The fluorescent bulbs at work don't make any noise that my ears pick up. But they make my brain feel agitated. And they do bother me.

I'll ask hubby to buy one bulb so that we can experiement in one of our lamps here at home -- it might be true that the new bulbs are better than the old fluorescents. I'll give it a go.
Not optimistic about bulbs that GE is pushing or about ANY change really.

My sister wears prescription pink sunglasses to work -- she's that sensitive to the old kind.


M.

hi Mari

my son with Tourette Syndrome is very sensitive to the flicker that fluorescent lighting produces, and the old style neon tubes are a big no no for him

we did try the compact fluorescent bulbs but they also have a negative effect on him

the only lightbulbs that we use now are the incandescent neodynum coated "daylight" bulbs....GE and Sylvania make them......they claim to also be more energy efficient than old incandescent (tho possibly not as much so as the compact florescent ones)

Old floresent tubes are noisey to me too. So much so that I get violently ill.

I have the compact ones at home and they don't bug me at all. And they do last longer. Allthough not as long as they claim in my house. But longer than a regular bulb. (My house is 36 years old, and I think the wiring is still funky somewhere. We are almost done replacing it all. I hope that will help.)

I like saving energy. I don't like old tube lights. ick

I also like the quality of light from the new lamps. They don't seem to cover as much area; but it is easy to step up a notch since the rise in electricity is minimal (if they fit the fixture!). Reading also seems easier..

there must be a difference in the quality of some of these bulbs. I react to some of them, and develop myaclonus jerks. which means I have to exit certain stores immediately, or I'll have myaclonus for a day or two. Myaclonus is an involuntary jerking. I get it in the legs, then cannot walk. I can't stand either because of the jerking. It is annoying. Something like hiccups, only worse.