How Big is Your Carbon Footprint?

How big is your carbon footprint when you use CFL bulbs instead of standard incacndescent bulbs and your house burns down ???

Below is a picture of a CFL light bulb from a friend's bathroom. She turned it on the other day and then smelled smoke after a few minutes. Four inch flames were spewing out of the side of the ballast like a blow torch! She immediately turned off the lights. But I'm sure it would have caused a fire if she was not right there. Imagine if the kids had left the lights on as usual when they were not in the room.

She took the bulb to the Fire Department to report the incident. The Fireman wasn't at all surprised and said that it was not an uncommon occurrence. Apparently, sometimes when the bulb burns out there is a chance that the ballast can start a fire. He told her that the Fire Marshall had issued reports about the dangers of these bulbs. Upon doing some Internet research, it seems that bulbs made by “Globe” in China seem to have the lion’s share of problems. Lots of fires have been blamed on misuse of CFL bulbs, like using them in recessed lighting, pot lights, dimmers or in track lighting. Hers was installed in a normal light socket.

she bought these at Wal-Mart. I will be removing all the Globe bulbs from my house.

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Penny and Doug
cupenny@tds.net
Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry





Quote of the Day:
"[H]is was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quite and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example." --Thomas Jefferson, on George Washington in a letter to Dr. Walter Jones, 1814