In 1976, the non-profit
National Lighting Bureau (NLB) was founded to educate lighting decision-makers
about the benefits of using what has been termed, "High-Benefit Lighting®".
The NLB helps guide many a professional society and trade association and manufacturers,
utilities, and agencies of the federal government alike. The latest argument :
are compact-fluorescent lamps (CFLs) safe-especially when they reach the end of
their useful life? The NLB is taking a
hard look at this as speculation is abound that speaks to the contrary. Even
NLB Chair Howard Lewis has recently described such claims as "Absolutely,
categorically untrue. An urban myth."
There are documented reports that the basis of the rumor might very well be the normal performance
of well-designed CFLs’ fire-safety systems. In most CFL end-of-life situations,
these safety systems remain dormant, Lewis said. “Most commonly, CFLs get
somewhat dimmer as they enter failure mode, and then expire or, in some cases,
expire with a popping sound similar to the sound made by an incandescent bulb
when it ‘gives up the ghost.’”
In some cases, however, capacitors, resistors,
or other electronic components located in the CFL's ballast may fail in such a
way that they make a slight sizzling sound and/or cause odor or smoke. It’s
even possible for the ballast housing to discolor or deform, principally
because of the fire-inhibiting chemicals incorporated into the plastic that the
housing is fabricated from. Such reactions pose no danger.
“What it really is,”
he noted, “is a demonstration of the CFL’s remarkable fire-safety design working
exactly as it’s supposed to, to protect consumers and keep them safe," said Lewis.
In a 2010 report,
Underwriters Laboratories said that CFL bulbs may emit a bit of smoke at the
end of its useful life including a more "dramatic pop". Additionally, the National Geographic Green
Guide says that CFL bulbs “burn out when the ballast overheats and an
electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resistor (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.” In some cases, the ballast’s plastic
housing can melt slightly where the glass coil connects to the ballast, the
Green Guide states, noting that this “is simply a sign that the heat is
escaping as intended in the design of the bulb.”
Simply put-CFL bulbs may emit a bit of smoke and smell and
have burnt looking bases when they die, but that's as it should be. There is no
fire danger. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to be on the
look-out for such activity. The Commission
started an online complaints database in March 2011-in that year there were 34
complaints about CFLs emitting smoke or a burning odor and four reports of the
lights actually catching fire.
For years, CFLs have
been touted as the bulb of the future because it uses about a fifth of the
power than a regular bulb and is reported to have a life six to 10 times as
great. The Energy Independence and
Security Act has mandated the gradually phase out of the once touted "traditional
bulbs" since 2012. Funny-the incandescent bulb has not changed much since
Thomas Edison patented it in 1879. Few are aware that the federal government
passed a bill in 2007 that makes the sale of incandescent light bulbs illegal.
Fires from the old incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, were virtually
nonexistent.
The fire hazard concern with CFLs is not a new issue. In a
past recall, Trisonic Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs were recalled due to fire
hazard by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in October of 2010. In 2009, standards
were revised for materials used in the plastic housing of the base of CFLs sold
in North America. However, millions are still in use that were produced before
the change.
Want to change? There are other solutions, such as the light-emitting
diode (LED) light. GET, LLC can assist you with that choice. Give us a call at (671) 483-0789 or check us
out at www.get-guam.com for more information and put the fear aside and move
ahead with the future of lighting-LED.