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Originally posted by samerulesapply
I noticed the other day that the bulb I put in my kitchen was flickering at a fixed frequency - the light was off, but at a rate of perhaps once every 2 or 3 seconds it would flash on,, for a tiny fraction of a second then go back out.
Still, it kinda got me thinking, these energy saving bulbs are expensive, and I don't really know circuitry well enough to guage whether or not these are merely built-in ballasts/transformers, they could have anything in them.
why are they so determined to eradicate the old style light bulbs, I find the energy saving type bulbs quite horrible, take a while to brighten up, the light they emit is quite bad...gives me headaches, I don't like 'em!
I'm just wondering if anyone has any knowledge on these things, and if anyone with good knowledge of electronics has actually dis-assembled and studied the circuitry inside them?
Even if they're harmless ballast/transformet-type circuits, the potential for them to develop into something more sinister is very real...any thoughts?
Originally posted by Hopechest
Well, that may not be true anymore if your house is lit with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Last month, researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook showed in a paper that tiny defects in the bulbs can let through UV light that can damage skin cells and lead to cancer.
Originally posted by samerulesapply
I agree LED's are a lot better, for sure. You can power a LED with a small voltage and don't necessarily need complext circuitry/ballasts to do so.
The light they give off is better, too. Good call.
Originally posted by DeReK DaRkLy
Not to mention all the mercury that will leach into the ground when not properly disposed of.
If that gets into the groundwater in concentrated levels, we'll all be Mad Hatters!
edit on 14-2-2013 by DeReK DaRkLy because: appended
Originally posted by samerulesapply
Particularly the response by Pilgrum, which gave some specific technical details about the circuitry...I'm not goilg to blindly accept that they're great just because I'm told they are. I just wanted some input from someone who has some knowledge of electronics.
So thanks, I appreciate the input and have learned a little something here.