CFL bulb in range hood ?

[Irreverent Maximus]

I have had a CFL in my range hood for 3 plus years. Zero issues with it and I have yet (knocking on wood) to have to replace it. CFL's are a crapshoot. GE and Phillips are now manufactured in China, I believe. The quality control from anything in China is suspect, at best. My experience with those brands is more on the disappointing side. However, at the box stores they are the brand that usually has the cheap multi-packs for sale. One might get lucky with them and have an attrition rate that is acceptable.

I have not purchased a CFL in quite some time. All of the ones I currently have are at least 3 years old. From what I hear Sylvania has the best quality, along with the highest pricing. So, choosing brand is your only concern. My friend is switching out to LED's, and I am quite surprised on how bright they are.

As for mercury? Worrying about one breaking is rather pointless. I have never heard of a lamp breaking on its own, and unless you are doing Ginsu maneuvers on the stove, concerns are minimal. Not to diminish the threat, but trace mercury exposure from a CFL seems a bit harmless. Repetitive exposure is what will give you heavy metal poisoning, not a one time trace amount.

Clean up of the problem, if it happens, is rather easy. "Proper" disposal is something else. Unless you keep the light on 24/7, just use a regular lamp or get a small, encased under cabinet fixture. Those lamps are cheap and if they burn out, replace.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Remember the '50's? Wasn't it mandatory to have a two or three ringed fluorescent fixture centered over the kitchen table? Fluorescent fixtures beneath the cabinets over food prep areas? Fluorescent fixtures (tubes) housed in decorative fixtures?

They looked like crap and I wouldn't want one in the kitchen solely for esthetic reasons.

The only real problem I have with CFL's is that they look terrible. If they had true color rendition and looked like incandescent, it wouldn't be so bad.

The mercury is or can be a problem but when you raise that issue, the Greenies are quick to point out that "incandescent bulbs are just as bad" Really? or that just more bullshit from the "do as I say crowd?"

[The Daring Dufas]

I recall reading about a young woman scientist working The EPA who told her superiors that there was only one form of asbestos that was a health hazard. Her superiors told her to shut up because the people who were forced by the government to spend billions to remove or replace asbestos in their products would show up at the door with pitchforks and torches.

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

That's silicone rubber and regular incandescent bulbs coated with clear silicone rubber have been on the market for years. They are usually rough service bulbs for uses in trouble lights which might be dropped and the silicone keeps the glass from coming out of the fixture if the bulb is shattered. ^_^

TDD

[Paul Drahn]

I am sure someone will correct me, but I remember reading that incandescent appliance light bulbs will always be available. These are possible too low in wattage for what you want.

Paul

[gregz]

I did it. Never yet had a problem with overheating, even in an outside globe, in summer sun, left on 24/7 . I like protected housings. That outside light lasted for it's expected life.

Greg

[gonjah]

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

"Six minerals types are defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as "asbestos" including those belonging to the serpentine class and those belonging to the amphibole class. All six asbestos mineral types are known to be human carcinogens."

I have heard that because it's a naturally occurring mineral there is no way to escape exposure in certain areas unless you wear a respirator 24/7.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I Put in a shatter proof CFL. I got it from local HD store. It is wrapped in a clear some rubbery Silicon(?) stuff I suspect.

[mroberds]

I have been using a CFL in my range hood for about 4 years now without any problems. When I moved into this house, it had the circa-1969 basic Roper range hood: lamp, two-speed fan, grease filter. I think it may have originally had a plastic "shade" over the lamp, but by the time I got here, that was gone. I used that lightly for about a year - mostly for illumination, not because I was cooking.

As part of some kitchen improvements, I swapped out that range hood for the basic ~$80 NuTone range hood from Home Depot: lamp, two-speed fan, grease filter. This one has a plastic "shade" over the lamp, but it only completely encloses the lamp on the bottom side (towards the stove); it goes about 2/3 of the way up both sides of the lamp, but is open above that and on top. So, I'm not too worried about heat buildup.

In both hoods, I used a 60 W equivalent CFL (13 W), "Great Value" brand from Wal-Mart, which I think are made by TCP. I think the lamp that's in there now is the one I installed with the hood in 2010; if not then I've only replaced it once. The lamp ends up nearly horizontal; the screw base is very slightly higher than the lamp glass, because the socket isn't completely level. It hangs down maybe 5 or 10 degrees from horizontal.

The only thing I've noticed is that when it's cold inside the house, the CFL in the range hood flickers for a second or two at startup. That CFL didn't do that when new; it gradually started doing it over time. Other CFLs in the house from the same batch haven't started doing this.

I wouldn't recommend running without the "shade" - one of its jobs is to keep cooking grease off of the lamp. Wiping off a regular incandescent lamp is not too bad of a job, but completely cleaning a spiral CFL takes some work.

Matt Roberds

[ChairMan]

I sure the f*ck hope so, I''ll damn near be a hundred by then

I was just telling my grandson that the other day. I use to carry a pocket knife to school and even took my shotgun into shop class because the shop teacher wanted to see it.

[The Daring Dufas]

The story could have been or was apocryphal but it had information about different forms of asbestos where one was rod shaped and another was shaped like a pigtail or curlicue. The story went on the say that only one of the types was dangerous. It's been a long time since I read the story but I suppose I could search the web for it or something like it. ^_^

TDD

[willshak]

I am 76 years old. When I was a kid and they had mercury in thermometers, we used to break them and play with the mercury.

[willshak]

As a kid, I used to throw broken asbestos siding into a trash fire barrel, and after a minute or two they would blow apart with a bang. In the Navy in the late 1950s, I used to work on ducts that were insulated with asbestos without any protective clothing, pulling off the asbestos to make additions to the ducts. I also wore an asbestos fire suit and hood during helicopter landing operations. It was itchy during and after wearing it. I was supposed to run into the fire to rescue occupants of the helo in case of a crash. Oh, and like I said before, I'm 76 years old.

[gonjah]

I read part of the article in your first link and it is interesting. I don't see how it makes disturbing asbestos "safe" which I believe is the main concern with it. As far as imbedded asbestos, in say a piece of siding or insulation, it's probably just as dangerous as naturally occurring asbestos. Maybe more so.

[trader4]

Voer 3 dedades ago I went to a lecture at college given by David Baltimore, who won the nobel prize for his work on cancer research. At the time, he told us that he was not optimistic that a cure for cancer would be found within our lifetimes. One interesting fact I still remember was him describing how you could take pieces of glass and insert them in lab rats and at the same time, insert ground up glass in other rats. One group of rats developed cancer, the other did not.

So, I would not be surprised at all that some forms of asbestos are more dangerous than others. Anyone that thinks there is great danger because there is siding on a house which contains asbestos, is IMO, nuts. The health dangers from asbestos were first found in ship workers and other who were breathing it in during WWII in environments where it was so dense in the air you couldn't see. From that, it's gone to an ambulance chasing bunch of lawyers, who try to claim that if you're sick, it must be from just looking at asbestos for two months when you had some particular job.

[gonjah]

Sure, leave it alone and there is no problem. True with a lot of things. Wild animals, rip tides, cliffs, etc....

The problem is when you have it in your house, school, workplace etc.....

"When materials in your home become damaged or disturbed, microscopic asbestos fibers can become airborne. When this happens, health-risks become a factor as inhalation of these fibers can cause them to be trapped in the lungs, to accumulate, and cause scarring and inflammation." etc....

We could outlaw cfls for the same reason 25 years from now. Maybe not because the exposure is so minimal.

[The Daring Dufas]

You're too ornery to die. I was sent home from the hospital to die and put in home hospice care then dropped after 6 months because I wasn't dying fast enough. I wasn't declining and my visiting nurse would get mad at me for going out and pushing myself to work as hard as I could. Folks die when they give up and don't fight it. You could be one of the growing number of Americans reaching 100 years of age. Of course, with this Obamacare nonsense it won't be allowed. o_O

TDD

[gonjah]

It's idiotic statements like that that have undermined the tea party movement.

[The Daring Dufas]

Everything in our environment is dangerous in some way or other, I simply use common sense. If I ever do anything that would produce a cloud of dust, I wear a respirator of some kind. Back in the late 1970's there was a large forest fire in the next county and the smoke was blowing our way. My nose actually started bleeding but I'm quite allergic to things like that especially tobacco smoke. I think the danger of asbestos in things like shingles or brake shoes is from any dust produced by such products when they're broken up, sawed or ground into dust in some way. If you're familiar beryllium and how dangerous it can be, you will notice that no one pays much attention to it because of all the howling about asbestos. Ignorance of beryllium is rife in our society even though it's all around us in electrical and electronic equipment. If you work with electronics you must be careful with any parts made of beryllium because you don't want cut, file or saw the metal because could produce dust or particles that may get into your lungs. Anyway, if people knew of all the things in our environment that are toxic enough to make you ill or kill you, they may stay in bed and pull the covers over their heads, which could be dangerous in some way too. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

What on earth does not dying have to do with The Tea Party? Perhaps you are humor and irony impaired and didn't notice a dig at the cluster coitus know as Obamacare and the rumored "death panels" where who will live and who will die is decided by some committee. It appears to be happening in other countries which have government supplied health care so it is actually a real concern of some people. I'm not a member of The Tea Party nor do I even know anyone who is a member. The only group I belong to is humanity but there are some who even question that fact. ^_^

TDD