City
Energy Saving Bulbs Not A Fire Hazard
A misleading report on 680News has some Torontonian's concerned over the apparent fire hazard of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL bulbs). 680News issued the report this morning, after CBC.ca informed us that these bulbs do not pose a threat, but do have an interesting end to their seemingly ever-lasting life.
According to Stuart Hickox of One Change/Project Porchlight (an organization giving free CFL bulbs out in Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Yellowknife), these energy-saving bulbs have been around for years, and have been thoroughly tested. My guess is that environmentally aware folks, who purchased these bulbs when they first became known for decreasing energy consumption levels, are just now witnessing the bulbs inevitable "light at the end of the tunnel".
The science behind it tells us this:
"Bulbs burn out when the ballast overheats and an electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resister (VDR), opens up like a fuse in your home's fuse box, shutting off the circuit and generating heat and possibly a small amount of smoke. This might sound dangerous, but the VDR is a cut-off switch that prevents any hazards. The melted plastic you're seeing where the glass coil connects to the ballast is simply a sign that the heat is escaping as intended in the design of the bulb."
So, the burny smell coming from your CFL bulb when it dies is normal, as is the melting/overheating. Your house will not explode if you use these lights. The ballast of the lights should be made of a UL approved plastic (Underwriters Laboratories), ensuring that the base can tolerate the amount of heat emitted when the bulb's life span is over (you can check your bulbs, it should have the letters "UL" on it). Ontario's Electrical Safety Authority will be releasing a warning later this week, notifying the public of the normal, yet understandably alarming, CFL bulb expiration process.
What you do have to be concerned about is the proper disposal of these bulbs. They contain mercury, and they should be brought to your nearest solid waste drop off depot (disposal is free, I called to check). You can also bring them to your local Community Environment Day event to get rid of them. The mercury from the bulb can be collected, distilled and reused, so no toxic materials end up in our landfills and water systems. No three-eyed Blinky's for us!
Photos: servicelighting.com and capefeare.com
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ESA did release the warning I mentioned stating that CFL's should not be used in totally enclosed recessed fixtures, with dimmer switches, in touch lamps with photocells or with electronic timers, where exposed to weather, or where exposed to water.
Here's a link to the warning PDF:
http://www.esainspection.net/pdf/Safety_Alerts/07-03-AL.pdf
There's a confidentiality agreement between UL and its clients, so no info is readily available about test results.
I think you can purchase an outline of their testing procedures though...
I did a search on Google to see if there was any info out there about the toxicity of the smoke, but I wasn't able to find anything.
<blockquote>Bulbs burn out when the ballast overheats and an electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resister (VDR), opens up like a fuse in your home's fuse box, shutting off the circuit and generating heat and possibly a small amount of smoke.</blockquote>
This is unmitigated nonsense. If there is a voltage dependent resistor, it is for surge protection, and they do <u>not</u> "open up like a fuse". There may be a <i>fusible resistor</i> in the circuit, but this is to protect house wiring from a possible short circuit within the CFL.
Secondly (and as acknowledged), there most certainly is a fire risk if the CFL is used with a dimmer (even if the dimmer is kept at the maximum setting). This information is depressingly hard to find.
For those interested, I suggest that they read the article on my website ...
http://sound.au.com/incandescent.htm
The article is rather technical, but this is a technical topic, and there is a great deal of misinformation sprouted on websites and by politicians.
We are not hearing the whole story here from the manufacturers and government.
The fire departmant came; took several hours to get to the soruce of our 'smoking gun' was the bulb! The bulbs were being used in 2 ceramic fixtures in which 1 got to hot and stared smoldering.
The police chief told us that he knew of 3 fires related to these kind of light bulbs overheating and starting a fire source.
No more energy bulbs for me.
naturally I thought it was burning out...
It went out, and a few minutes later I began to smell burning plastic.
I looked at the ceiling light and smoke was pouring out.
The base where one side of the bulb goes into is all charred and black.
This bulb was purchased 2 years ago from extra Foods.
it was a 'Everyday Essentials' brand (store brand).
It was a sylvania energy light. I am going to be sending off my complaint to the company and government...
The Sunbeam representative I just connected with, after a 30 minute wait, is going to send me literature which describes that this is the normal way in which the light bulb expires. I can't believe that products are 'designed' to cease the productivity in such a manner. Something is very wrong with this picture.
How many lives have been lost by fires caused by these products?
I think it is horrible that the UL and all the green companies want us to buy these Curly Q bulbs as my son calls them when they are obviously NOT safe for us our homes or our children. I mean really who reads that closely when they buy light bulbs to see no dimmer no three way no recessed fixtures etc. Lastly, who wants a 10 step clean up for if they break. Good grief!
Good luck and stay safe everyone.
I have received many bulbs that have failed in similar ways.
I will continue to teach my fire safety classes to treat these as candles and don't leave them on as security lighting in your home.In the event that these bulbs "just smoke" or "melt down" they still produce enough heat to ignite paper,cloth, and other normal combustibles. Please use caution when and where these bulbs are used. (See the October issue of Consumer Reports Magazine for additional information.)
I wouldn't have these bulbs if m apartment didn't come with them.
I live in a high-rise apartment and I've got the bulbs in a couple of ceiling fixtures (two in each with heavy glass covers that clip on over the top).
I might get in touch with my superintendent/mgm't company as they themselves have installed CFL bulbs in the common areas of the building.
The good news is that the L(ight) E(mitting) D(iodes) light is already available (to be followed by the OLED, but in the same family [O for Organic]) which will replace them all. No ballast.
With LED the light is bright, the light output remains constant over time, the shade of white light appears clear and consistent over time. efficiency is as good as or better than fluorescent lighting, light comes on instantly when turned on, no flickering, the bulb does not use power when it is turned off.
The bad news with LED bulbs is that they are still expensive, but like CFL used to be, they will go down in price over the years.