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Answer by Prophet 1102
Because they are flourescent bulbs – which require a certain voltage level to react – then it’s all or nothing.

Answer by macroeye
all energy saving lamps, or CFLs are actually compact fluorescent lamps. they do not work on a dimmer and require the voltage specified, usage of a dimmer will seriously damage the lamp & cause it to fail. for usage with a dimmer, only conventional bulbs or halogen ones will work, but if you ask around, dimmable CFL can be found but they are costlier than standard ones as they are fitted with an electronic ballast.

Answer by sensible_man
Dimmable CFL bulbs are available now. More costly though. I think I even saw them at Walmart.

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Answer by Christine
Kinda, because instead of running 2 bulbs, you can combine it into one. I 2 Mercury Vapor bulbs for 12 hours a day and they only cost about 7 dollars a month to run.

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Answer by michael_lovin
Are Mercury Vapor lights energy efficient?

Whoa….no way! They suck electricity like pac man gobbles dots!

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Answer by tmcblue
well i instlaled them in each single socket when i moved into this home so i did not see a drop because it was before i got my first bill but i hope they work!!!

Answer by Grand pa
you have to look at the extra cost of the bulb… The erffect on the enviornment..Unless you have lots of bulbs the savings in money might be small

Answer by tacmedwarrior
I switched out all my bulbs, and wrapped my hot water heater, and sopped all my toliet leaks. I did notice a small drop in both elect and water bills. But mainly it made me feel good to know I was doing my small part to help mom earth.

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Answer by Kimberly
they do work to conserve

Answer by bestonnet_00
They’d only get 7 years with occasional use though you should be able to get at least a year out of them.

If not then you either purchased cheap lights with badly designed ballasts or you are abusing the lights by putting them in a dimmer circuit or enclosed fitting.

In terms of money saved, the light itself costs more (even taking account of how much longer it lasts compared to an incandescent heater) but the lower energy usage means that you come out ahead of the incandescent in the end (even with cheap electricity).

Answer by ?
My dad decided to go green before going green was popular, so when we built our home 7 years ago he put in the “swirly” light bulbs and they are still working.

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Also I know they contain mercury vapour, and I was wondering whats the chance of suffering mercury poisoning?

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Answer by The Man In The Box
Put on rubber gloves, sweep it into a plastic bag, seal bag, place bag in trash, wipe/sweep the floor where the bulb was. That is it! The amount of mercury in the bulb is so incredibly minuscule that you’d basically have to inhale the broken glass, stick your fingers in it and then lick them, or perform some other incredibly stupid act to be affected by it.

And no, you do not need a haz-mat license to handle a broken light bulb! Ha, ha!

Answer by Bubuh
If it contains mercury theres mercury cleaning kit you could probably find.

Answer by williambrown55803
According to the laws in most states, you need a HAZ-MAT license to handle the broken bulb because of the mercury. A few colleges have done a study on clean-up of a broken CFL bulb, and it’s actually quite a process to do it safely. It will be the new Asbestos in 15 years…….

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Answer by R.N.
sure you can. Also, you might get some lettuce, tear into small pieces. Put the tore up lettuce on top of the dirt, under the leaves.
Do not do anything else to them. Watch them take off in about a week.

Answer by Cakes
tearing up leaves, she means putting nutrients to the soil and it takes a few inches piled all around plus healthy soil to do it. it is simple but is not instant.

fyi, the swirlies are called CFL.

the important thing about using lights is getting them the right distance from the plant. so your wattage of the bulb can tell you somewhat the distance, but then you have ambient air flow that can cool or add to heat and, so, distance can vary.

the weaker CFL will be about 3-5 inches away depending how weak they are but 42W can be farther. generally if you can hold your hand there a long time without burning then it’s ok but if you see leaves starting to scortch then move light a tiny further.

maybe look for various colored CFL. because they come in different spectrums. the redder ones are most common and stated to be good for flowering but bluer ones can make compact plants, some growers switch from one to the other but other people use combo, it varies. but nice to know why the plants are lanky maybe, it might be because of all reddish lights.

red is usually around 2700K. blue is like 6000K or above and in between is 4100K or such for “daylight”. the bulbs can tell their colors in ways other than K temperature so keep ur eye out and there is texts on the web to tell u if u have to.

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They give off UV, that is the same harmful waves the sun gives off.

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Answer by Black Cat
I do not believe that they are strong enough to do that, but interesting theory.

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Answer by Kay H
The only good example that i can give you is that when i changed to energy saver bulbs, my light bill went down $ 20.00 the next month.

Answer by jones0220050001
Well before I switched all of my light bulbs to energy saving my bill use to be like 130.00 now with all energy saving bulbs including porch lights that stay on all night my bill is now 79.00 a month.

Answer by Tristan H
It saves you quite a bit, sometimes $ 20-$ 40 a month. However, be aware that the CFL bulbs contain mercury, and pose a severe environmental risk should you break one. As long as you have no kids, are not clumsy, and do not put them in standing lamps or anywhere around carpet, you will be fine.

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Answer by .:kid:.
cons:
less light
costs more(i dunno if i does than more money and paper used)

Answer by Laura M
pros: they save energy

cons: they can brake and it will cost a lot for chemical clean up

Answer by linlyons
they are more costly to buy.
they do not work on dimmer switches.
they contain a small amount of mercury.

however, if you break one, i’d recommend you not go ballistic.
when i was in school, we all handled mercury.
and we do not seem to be much the worse for it.

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