CFL bulb in range hood ?

I would never use any type of fluorescent light right next to an area where food is being prepared simply due to the fact that they contain mercury. The chance of one breaking is probably not that great...but personally , I'd just never do it.

The guy at HD was very possibly right too, they'd probably be negatively affected by heat.

I would agree with the folks at HD. It might work, but for how long depends on the heat. Is it a gas range or electric? Gas would be worse. Having it mounted sideways is OK, it's upside down that some of them don't like. Covering it up adds to the heat issue, at least usually. In your case, it might help. If it's covered up, it then depends on how much air is inside the enclosure, can some air get in from behind to move heat, etc. I have a 100W CFL in an enclosed globe fixture under a fan and it's lasted a very long time. I've had others that have failed early that were not in enclosures, so who knows. A lot also depends on the particular bulb. Which ones are good, who knows.

We have a non-vented hood and we cook a lot...and I have had a CFL uncovered in the hood for many years (I think replaced once in a span of 5 years). I never use the fan...so heat and steam from cooking doesn't seem to be a problem. If yours' is covered, heat may build-up more.

??? You mean to say that if an incandescent bulb broke you'd sweep up the pieces (or pick them out of the soup as the case may be) and go on to dinner?

If the bulb breaks, it breaks and everything in the area goes in the trash and it's a do over. Period.

I really think that in this context the only issues to concern yourself with are bulb longevity due to positioning and, possibly, heat - but the latter apparently is NOT a concern of the OP

Enclosed with the cover? That could make a difference if the electronics in the bulb overheat. Otherwise, I'd do it. Consider leaving the cover off.

No. a fluorescent would spew mercury contamination everywhere.

An incandescent...just broken glass.

Yes, you'd have to throw out any food in the area but with the fluorescent there would still be traces of mercury left behind.

Break a cfl and you must notify the authorities. They will put yellow tape around your house and send in a HAZMAT team to clean up. House may be safe to use again in about a month.

I live in Milwaukee and in one of the suburbs, Shorewood that would probably be true.

About two years ago I crushed a small aluminum V8 can on the curb to leave for a scavenger and a detective stopped me, asked for my license and started to call it in.

He was about the age of my daughter.

I then heard him cancel the call-in and he handed me my license back and said: "I probably don't have to call this in...but that was littering you know!"

guess I'm going to die then because my brother and I had a bottle of mercury that we would pour out on the table and play with when we were kids. Rolling from here to there and making little blobs out of big ones and then back to big ones. Someone please come save me!!!!!!

I was be

It sets the stage for the types of stupidity you dealt with.

I'm a retired chemist and today's chemophobia is one of my pet peeves.

yep, me and my friends all played with mercury when we were kids

and probably within the next 40 years we'll all be dead.

Also: we put our feet in those 'shoe' xray machines

Kids today are so much deprived of real fun

yes, I know you were being facetious

I am not overly paranoid about CFL's but I would not want one directly in a food area.

Hi, I put in a shatter proof CFL bulb. There is such a thing. I got couple from local HD store.

It is the oranic mercury compounds that are particularly dangerous - not the pure metalic mercury.

And we used a mixture of asbestos and plaster of paris as modelling clay.

Great idea.

This is true. I do so little cooking on the stove top, that I'm not really concerned about the heat issue, but the HD guy did make me wonder if that was a valid concern should I ever get the urge to cook. And yes, I'm more interested in the longevity/positioning angle.

Maybe I'll just go stock up on some more incandescent bulbs, since for now I'm keeping a stock pile to use with my X10 modules.

use an LED?

Hi, I picked up few so called shatter proof cfl shaped like incandescent bulb wrapped in some kinda thin clear rubbery thing. I use this. From our local HD store.