October 22, 2007
SFist Photo: Lights Out SF Aftermath, Let's Do the Math
Have you gotten your CFLs yet? They're practically giving them away at the Costco -- 39 cents each.
So Lights Out San Francisco is now in the history books. Some were disappointed but it was all for a good cause. Or for a crackpot idea, depending on how you look at it.
But Lights Out SF isn't about saving juice for one day, it's about raising awareness. That's why they were giving away energy saving light bulbs. Let's look at the economics of CFLs, assuming you can handle them, after the jump.
Watch the Bay Bridge lose some of its lighting here. How much energy does de-lighting save in an hour?
Assuming the San Mateo Times is correct, then the de-lighted Bay Bridge used 5,400 fewer watt-hours (600 units, 9 watts, one hour) of electricity during the lights-out period on Saturday. That's enough energy to power Al Gore's famous house (including the pool and the security system) for 10-15 minutes. Or enough to warm Dick Cheney's cold, cold heart 1/1000th of a degree, depending on how you look at it.
What if you bought ten 13-watt CFLs for $3.89 and changed them out for ten 60-watt incandescent bulbs you've been using? You'd be saving 47 watts per bulb, or 470 watts with all ten in use. So after about 12 hours of use, you'd have saved as much as was saved by turning off the suspension strand lights on the Bay Bridge.
Of course, most San Francisco-ists don't use that many bulbs at once, but you get the idea. If you can tolerate fluorescent lighting, changing out a reasonable number of bulbs can have a big effect. And these days, the cost in $$$ to buy the bulbs is not all that much at all.
What about mercury? That's some nasty stuff right there and CFLs all use a tiny amount of the quicksilver. All these tiny amounts can add up so proper disposal isn't easy. And dispose we will when LED lighting gets cheaper. LED lighting is going to rock the house.
But in the meantime, now is the time for CFLs. If you can handle them.
Or just turn out all your lights. We all feel better in the dark anyway, right?
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what is the chemical make up of CFL's? Are CFL's recyclable? What harm do the depleted bulbs cause to the environment? If we are trying to be environmental here we should be asking ourself s these questions with proven answers.
Disposal isn't "easy"? Could you elaborate? Where/How are we supposed to dispose of these things. And what hazards are there when they break? Gloves on? I know they're supposed to last a long time but not if you accidentally try to bounce one off the floor. I just put it in the trash...
Because these bulbs have mercury in them, it's certainly illegal to dump them out in the trash.
And intensely ridiculous to clean up, if you shatter one on the floor, it's a pain in the butt to clean up.
That said, mercury isn't overwhelmingly toxic. Just don't eat it. Or touch it.
(I used to play with Mercury and look at me, I came out allright. I post sensible things on SFist, duhhhhhh)
Lead, PCBs, mercury for starters.
Using electricity from coal-fired panner plants also puts lead into the environment. These days, regular old light bulbs put more Mg into the environment, on average, than CFLs. More modern CFLs are using less Mg (but power plants will also have to start emitting less Mg soon as well).
Disposal is harder than with old school bulbs. Go here:
http://www.sfenvironment.org/index.html
Choose "lighting" and add your zip to get the closest location for disposal.
Gloves? Sure, why not?
What to do:
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm#flourescent
As a rough measure of exactly how futile this CFL business is, consider that every gallon of gasoline you burn in your car is the same as leaving a 60 Watt light bulb on for 25 days straight.
To offset the energy needed to power one average motorist's yearly driving, you'd need to change more than 300 incandescents to fluorescent.
Driving is the elephant in the living room, and the CFL fantasy is part of our systematic refusal to address the problem.
Costco at 39 cents each?
I recently got mine at Safeway for just 25 cents each in a 4-pack (on sale).
PG&E sure gives a great bargain on the bulbs with those rebates, but I still hate the ads for saying that they "save the environment." They should put a disclaimer on the bottom saying, "contains mercury."
Here's a good tip, to avoid being charged for recycling those bulbs or driving to the local city dump for hazardous disposal, you can also drop it off at your local IKEA. Near the registers are a few boxes, one for used batteries, and another is for those bulbs.
I know for sure that IKEA does not provide the PG&E discount, but they do offer a wide variety of the bulbs including the ones that don't look like a twistie.
Hey people, nobody's making you switch to CFLs.
Yet.
Don't think the govmint ever will make you switch. But sales of new old-school bulbs might be banned.
Look forward to better regular bulbs, if you want.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/ge_announces_hi.php
Your average Citizen is used to throwing bulbs into the trash and I'll bet you that's what's going to happen with the CFL bulbs. There shouldn't be any ban of the old school bulbs until they start selling the LED bulbs for the same promo prices as the CFLs.
They keep trying to tell me fluorescent bulbs are as good as regular bulbs, but I still can't stand them.
The CFL's as deadly poison myth is just bullshit concocted by right wing radio talk show windbags.
We've been using millions of fluorescent fixtures in offices for, what, like 70 years? And all we have is pasty pale complexions, not mercury poisoning. And nobody has to tear down their house because they broke a mercury thermometer.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
You clean up a broken CFL the same way you clean up a broken fluorescent tube or mercury thermometer - collect the fragments, use a moistened paper towel to mop up the tiny fragments and dust and maybe a tiny droplet of mercury that escapes, wash your hands, then do whatever your trash people say to do, or just bag the debris and take it to your office building and maybe your building super can put in the pile of broken fluorescent tubes he's probably waiting to dispose of.
BTW - anybody know where they might be giving away or selling cheapo 60-watt equivalent CFLs downtown? I see the 100-W equivalents 4-for-$1.99 all the time in Walgreens and ACE hardware but no 60's.