How do I clean up a broken CFL bulb?
Have people and pets leave the room and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Download the entire PDF on how to clean up a broken CFL bulb
CFL FAQs
What is a watt? What is a lumen?
A watt is the measure of power consumption, and is the common way incandescent light
bulbs are identified -- for example 60-watt, 75-watt and 100-watt. When purchasing a light
bulb, however, what you really should look for is lumens, which is the measure of light output.
When you purchase a 60-watt incandescent bulb, you are getting about 800 lumens. By
selecting a 13-watt ENERGY STAR qualified CFL instead, you can still get 800 lumens, but it
requires much less power.
Download the entire PDF of CFL Faqs.
CFLs and Mercury
Do CFLs contain mercury? If so, why?
The amount of mercury in the most popular and widely used TCP CFLs is minimal, ranging between
1.5 mg and 3.5 mg. That is lower than other CFLs on the market, which generally contain approximately 5 mg, roughly the equivalent of the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older home thermometers contain 500 milligrams of mercury and many manual
thermostats contain up to 3000 milligrams. It would take between 100 and 600 CFLs to equal those
amounts.
Download the entire PDF about CFLs and Mercury.
The Twisted Truths of Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs)
Twisted Truth #1- CFLs are not as bright as incandescent / only come in one color temperature.
The correlated color temperature, or CCT, is a measurement used to describe the relative“whiteness” of a light source. CCT is defined in degrees Kelvin where the higher the temperature,
the cooler the color. Unlike incandescent bulbs that only come in one color, CFLs come
in a variety of color temperatures. CFLs currently come in 2700K, 3100K, 3500K, 4100K,
5500K, 6500K.