If you were buying fireworks, you might get a case or two, they sound pretty exciting, but we are talking about light bulbs, people!
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| Can you believe that so-called professionals are telling us this is a normal occurrence? |
Are you doubtful? Read on:
From Toronto’s BlogTO website, March 22, 2007 --
http://www.blogto.com/city/2007/03/energy_saving_bulbs_not_a_fire_hazard/
"According to Stuart Hickox of One Change/Project Porchlight (an organization giving free CFL bulbs out in Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Yellowknife), '(CFL) Bulbs burn out when the ballast overheats and an electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resister (VDR), opens up like a fuse in your home's fuse box, shutting off the circuit and generating heat and possibly a small amount of smoke. This might sound dangerous, but the VDR is a cut-off switch that prevents any hazards. The melted plastic you're seeing where the glass coil connects to the ballast is simply a sign that the heat is escaping as intended in the design of the bulb.'
"So, the burny smell coming from your CFL bulb when it dies is normal, as is the melting/overheating. Your house will not explode if you use these lights.
"Ontario's Electrical Safety Authority will be releasing a warning later this week, notifying the public of the normal, yet understandably alarming, CFL bulb expiration process."
From Toronto’s BlogTO website, March 22, 2007 --
http://www.blogto.com/city/2007/03/energy_saving_bulbs_not_a_fire_hazard/
"According to Stuart Hickox of One Change/Project Porchlight (an organization giving free CFL bulbs out in Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Yellowknife), '(CFL) Bulbs burn out when the ballast overheats and an electronic component, the Voltage Dependent Resister (VDR), opens up like a fuse in your home's fuse box, shutting off the circuit and generating heat and possibly a small amount of smoke. This might sound dangerous, but the VDR is a cut-off switch that prevents any hazards. The melted plastic you're seeing where the glass coil connects to the ballast is simply a sign that the heat is escaping as intended in the design of the bulb.'
"So, the burny smell coming from your CFL bulb when it dies is normal, as is the melting/overheating. Your house will not explode if you use these lights.
"Ontario's Electrical Safety Authority will be releasing a warning later this week, notifying the public of the normal, yet understandably alarming, CFL bulb expiration process."
From no less an authority than Underwriter’s Laboratories website --
http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/corporate/newsroom/storyideas/compactfluorescentlamps/
"With CFLs, everything consumers know about a bulb burning out changes. John Drengenberg, consumer affairs manager, Underwriters Laboratories (UL): '...the burn out of a CFL is different. The light dims over time and might produce a more dramatic pop, emit a distinct odor, and maybe even release some smoke ...the plastic at the base of a CFL can turn black, but ... this is also normal in most cases, as safety standards require the use of special flame retardant plastics in the base that do not burn or drop particles. Any popping sounds or smoke that a consumer might see when a CFLs burns out means that the bulb's end-of-life mechanism worked as it should have.'"
I guess I'm just too dumb and unsophisticated to recognize a fire hazard when I see it. What do you think?
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