Maria,
I had copied some material from a very general article on the light bulb changeover to post here but
I didn't get to it.
Yes, it is really important ! I quite agree with your mother ; I feel the same way.
I need more 60's though ! I focused on the 100 watts so much, then slacked off.
Suddenly the 60s and 40s are not imported into the country any more after January 2014.
I think Halogens are GREAT ! Incandescent halogen bulbs, I mean. They are supposed to last
much longer. But some I have tried go out right away ; I think they are delicate.
It is the Compact Florescents known as CFLs which are driving the population crazy, based on
the angry comments to this article. Nearly every person who wrote in hated them and preferred the incandescents.
People use them for heating chicken coops, I learned, and
all sorts of purposes which require heat as well as light.
The CFL's contain MERCURY, which is highly toxic. They are subject to breakage, in which case the entire
household will be at risk. Let alone little children who might be tempted to play with bulbs and drop them,
causing a serious problem.
Hence, CFLs are terribly UNsafe for the ecology. To think they are forced on the US without even
being recyclable ! One has to take them somewhere special, and no one is going to wrestle with that,
especially if a bulb has actually broken.
The LEDs are also being heavily pushed as alternatives to incandescents. But so expensive and who knows what kind of malevolent effects they have on
health ? i read once that LED lights have the affect of interrupting sleep.
There may be much worse results of having them around everywhere in one's environment than has been
considered yet, as they are relatively new.
