Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991 TAG: 9104120163
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE MACEACHERN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A. It depends on the bulb's ballast.
A ballast regulates the way electricity reaches the fluorescent tube. Without a ballast, fluorescent bulbs would never start. There are two types of ballasts: core-coil and electronic.
Core-coil ballasts have been the standard for many years. Fluorescents containing them are heavier, take slightly longer to light up when they start and can have a faint hum. Newer electronic ballasts are lighter, quieter and start instantly.
According to Rising Sun Enterprises Inc., a company that designs and sells energy-efficient lighting systems, electronically ballasted compact fluorescents do not contain any radioactive elements. But certain core-coil ballasted compact fluorescent bulbs do contain a "very small" amount of radioactive isotopes.
The isotopes, krypton-85 and promethium-147, are sealed in a starter bottle enclosed in the base of core-coil ballasted, one-piece lamps or in the base of the bulb portion of most two-piece lamps.
Because no radioactivity can be detected outside the bulb, says Rising Sun, the bulb would have to be completely crushed to pose any danger to radiation exposure. Even then, 200,000 starter bottles would have to be broken simultaneously in a room the size of a walk-in closet to approach the internationally accepted limit set for the annually allowed exposure to krypton-85 gas.
One 18-watt compact fluorescent bulb provides the light of a 75-watt incandescent bulb and may last up to 13 times as long. Burning the extra fuel needed to power incandescents releases considerably more radioactivity than is contained in fluorescents.
For a thorough primer on compact fluorescent lighting, write for the Rising Sun Sampler at P.O. Box 1728, Basalt, Colo. 81621.
Other lighting tips
It takes approximately 394 pounds of coal to keep a single 100-watt incandescent light bulb burning for 12 hours each day for one year.
Burning the coal to produce the energy to light the bulb creates about 936 pounds of global-warming-causing carbon dioxide and 7.8 pounds of sulfur dioxide.
Twenty-five percent of the electricity generated in America is used to keep lights on. According to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in California, 40 large U.S. power plants could be given early retirement by fully using fluorescent bulbs and other cost-effective lighting strategies.
In addition to substituting fluorescents for incandescents, take these light-saving steps:
Use daylight whenever possible. It's free and doesn't pollute!
Replace fixtures that use two or more low-wattage bulbs with one that uses only one bulb. A single 100-watt bulb gives off 20 percent more light than two 60-watt bulbs, and uses less power. Just don't exceed the acceptable wattage for a particular fixture.
Don't overlight an area. Experiment with less powerful bulbs in hallways and lamps until you find the minimum-wattage bulb needed to meet your lighting requirements. Higher wattage bulbs can be used in lamps that concentrate light on your work area, reducing the need for overhead lighting.
Use dimmers. They save energy by making it easy to reduce light intensity.
Dust light fixtures and bulbs. Regular cleaning around light bulbs and fixtures will get rid of light-absorbing dirt.
For hundreds of ways to save energy on electricity, see "Cut Your Electricity Bills in Half" by Ralph J. Herbert. Available in bookstores or from Rodale Press, 33 E. Minor St., Emmaus, Penn. 18098.
Light alternatives alternatives
In addition to compact fluorescents, consider these alternatives:
Frosted bulbs. They generate more light than a soft-white bulb of the same wattage.
Reflector bulbs. A 50-watt reflector bulb can concentrate as much illumination as a 100-watt standard bulb, even though it costs only half as much to operate.
"Energy Miser" or "Supersaver" incandescents. Though they cost slightly more than other incandescents, they use five to 13 percent less electricity than ordinary bulbs.
Short-life bulbs. They actually are more energy-efficient than the so-called long-life models.
Any of these bulbs is readily available in most hardware stores and supermarkets. A company called Ecoworks sells "ecological light bulbs" that it claims last three times longer than standard 60-watt bulbs. The bulbs come two to a pack, packaged in recycled paper and printed with non-toxic ink. Contact Ecoworks at 2326 Pickwick Rd., Baltimore, Md. 21207. Send questions about the environment to Tips for Planet Earth, co Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071-9200. Questions of general interest will be answered in the column; individual answers cannot be provided. Washington Post Writers Group
Diane MacEachern is an environmentalist and author of "Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up The Earth."
by CNB