Seriously, what is the deal with flourescent lights? Why do they suck so much? I'm more than happy to use green products, but I expect them-- with all our modern technology-- to be better than what Edison invented 130 years ago. Instead, what I keep ending up with are bulbs that either flicker as they first turn on-- making my home feel something like a haunted house-- or they start out really dim and then gradually grow to full brightness. This makes me feel, for the first five minutes or so, like I'm wandering around in the movie Gaslight or something.
They're way too expensive, but claim to last for many more years, so that should still be cost-effective. Except they never seem to last that long at all. The first bulb we ever bought claimed a life expectancy of eleven years. I remember because Craig and I joked as we installed it in Bentley's bedroom that it should last until our kid was thirteen years old! Instead, six months later Bentley managed to pull on the cord of the lamp, pulling the entire thing to the floor and smashing the bulb. So instead of testing how long it actually would last, we got to worry about the possibility of mercury poisoning in our toddler's room. Nice.
Obviously, the fact that it got broken was our own fault. But the fact that breaking it is a dangerous thing seems like poor planning on someone's part. And it's not like we can just refuse to use light bulbs in the kids' rooms!
But my experience with other bulbs-- the ones we don't manage to break-- has been that they don't seem to last any longer than the old-school, not-eco-friendly ones. In fact, Craig even took this picture as proof, he was so frustrated with them:
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| I believe Craig's words when he snapped this picture were, "Thank you, Al Gore." |
Why hasn't General Electric (or any of the other light bulb manufacturers) made a better product-- one that works well, truly lasts longer, and doesn't pose a health risk in the likely event that it gets broken? Could it be because the government already patted them on the back, told them what they had was good enough, and forced us to buy their crappy product?
Perhaps?
3 comments:
I share many of the same frustrations. They definitely don't seem to last any longer, in my experience. My mom has had better luck with some of hers lasting years.
I hear ya! You would think that we would be smarter than the average 100 year light bulb.
My in-laws house is filled with the light bulbs that don't reach full brightness for like 20 minutes. I kept trying to figure out why their light switches didn't work.
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