Thread: Green Products - Where to Start?

Hi Shannon!
Thanks for posting this link. Very appropriate.

I have bookmarked it for future use.


Thanks,
BBH

Not here. Read this while I'm up here in Maryland. It's something I didn't want to see. I knew about the dimmers, but didn't know about timers. Since I'm away for two months, I plugged two lamps with CFLs into timers. I hope I have a place to come home to.

Published: April 30, 2008 09:36 am

Blaze underscores need for CFL bulb education

CUMBERLAND - When Rick Jenkins began replacing the common, incandescent bulbs around his house with compact fluorescent lamps about 12 months ago, he didn't give much thought about saving the environment.

Instead, the truck driver just wanted to stop buying light bulbs so often. Any environmental benefit, he figured, was a side effect.

That was then. A week has passed since a fire destroyed his split-level home on View Crest Drive. Rick Jenkins, wife Angie and 6-year-old daughter, Haley, lost everything but their family pooch, a 2-year-old goldendoodle. Fire investigators determined the fire was caused by a CFL connected to a dimmer switch. Packaging on many types of CFLs includes a warning not to connect them to dimmer switches. Now, just the notion of twisting in the curlycue bulbs is a real-life nightmare.

"I wouldn't recommend them to anyone," Jenkins said Monday afternoon, bearing a strong odor of smoke after meeting with contractors at the site of the fire. "They aren't worth the cost."

Damage to the Jenkins home is estimated at $165,000. While friends and loved ones are aiding the family, Jenkins is a bit in awe about how the fire started in the first place.

Deputy State Fire Marshal Jason Mowbray said CFL-related fires are "certainly not a trend."

"I had it unofficially reported to me that even nationally, very few of these incidents are known to have occurred," said Mowbray, adding he has more than a half dozen CFLs installed in his home. "Certainly there's a lot of variables and considerations that go into any of these types of situations.

Jenkins said many packages containing CFLs promote in large letters they can replace a "standard" light bulb. The fine print, however, includes some of the conditions in which they must be operated.

Great Value, a Wal-Mart brand, first lists on its packaging that the bulbs could cause interference to "radios, televisions and wireless devices. Also, "do not install near maritime safety communications or other critical navigation or communication equipment operating between 0.45 and 30 megahertz."

Only after the maritime warning does the packaging warn that outdoor lights must be enclosed and not to use them with "emergency exit fixtures or lights, electronic timers, photocells or dimmers."

Philips brand CFLs also include warnings on the outside of the package while GE prints a warning on the bulb itself. On much of GE's packaging, the bulb can be seen without having to be opened.

Despite a very difficult week, Jenkins doesn't blame the light bulb for the fire. He said he's "not the type" to file a lawsuit over the issue but that people should be careful - and read the warning label - when buying anything that gets plugged in.

Going green

I believe that most of us 'want' to go green as much as possible. We make baby steps, then wonder if the steps we made were really steps forward, or were they backward. I use CFLs, but not totally. Have heard/seen debate about the mercury content (?) and possible contamination from same. Also heard/read about about how much fuel it takes to make bio fuel (more than what saved?) The same could be said about a lot of different things.

I am NOT against going green, conserving fuel, alternative sources or any of that. What I am is a middle aged man concerned about spiralling cost, increasing pollution, and the world my potential grand children may face. That worry/concern/fear balanced against sometimes conflicting information from the "experts"

Even an old fool like me knows that oil/gas is a finite resorce, facing an exploding demand. Something has to change, don't need an expert to tell me that as common sense should validate that equation. I do worry about trying to do something that in the long term does more potential harm than good.

For me a windmill in the yard is no problem, or solar panels for that matter. darn sure do not want a well/well head in the front yard. A complete cultural/technical shift in the world is required for our long term survival.

Not sure that I will live long enough to see it happen, and that concerns me as well.

Very intersting information. I do not ue CFL's merely because of the mercury, (instead I have several LED bulbs to help conserve) but was not aware of the fact that they should not be used with dimmer switches. Thank You for the information.

Such a sad story.

Rockhill, We are all trying to implement as many green practices into our lives. Every little bit helps. We do the best we can. I, too, am middle aged and am very concerned about my daughter's world. But more recently I have felt very hopeful about many obstacles we face. I am inspired by the fact that I see more people unifying efforts to make it a better world for our kids.

But, there are other options for savig money on energy, especially in Texas.