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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] CFL testing in progress / another rocket mass heater update

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] CFL testing in progress / another rocket mass heater update
  • Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:37:57 -0500

On 12/12/2011 7:59 PM, paul wheaton wrote:
Here is a podcast that went up a few minutes ago. Permaculture
Podcast #100 exposes that CFLs are far, far nastier than you ever
thought.

Many who use CFL's will handle them with care and dispose of them when
they no longer work responsibly. There are many more people who will not do this, like a ratio probably of 1:10. This means that mercury pollutant from broken bulbs are going to 1) get into their living space and maybe even traces into their food and drink, unintentionally but unavoidable most likely and 2) into the environment which means, soil, water air. There's no mercury in incandescents. CFL's, all of them, are quite fragile and if encased in a plastic protective cover are significantly dimmer. They do last a long time though and have a lot going for them, if properly handled.

How about designing, building and adapting to living and working in dwellings and offices with plenty of illumination from the sun while using incandescents in fixtures that work with good reflectors and adequate heat ventilation? Use industrial grade worklights or outdoor lights that have 1) thicker glass 2) sturdier filaments 3) rubberized, abrasive resistant, shockproofed coating on the outside surface of the glass. These bulbs should be readily available from supply houses, Grainger, MSC, Dillon, J&L and many others servicing various industries.
They last forever and are not that expensive. I am sure that LED's will be the way to go sometime in the indeterminate future but for now they are quite costly.





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