If you’re ok with the light and price of LEDs, by all means get them. Not only do they have no mercury, they are even more energy-efficient than CFLs. Also, they last longer and break less easily.

LIGHT COLOR: CFLs now come in a range of light colors. Choose bulbs with a low Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) — under 3200K — for a softer white light. Go with 2550-2800K for a really warm color.

CLEAN-UP: Maybe my instructions sounded complicated, but the procedure is not. You just open the window, turn off any heating or air conditioning that blows air around, and pick up the broken pieces with a wad of damp paper towels. Then you put the broken pieces and towels in a sealed plastic bag. If you don’t have sealable bags (good for you), double bag the material with any plastic bags you have around.

As far as I’m concerned, cleaning up ANY broken bulb is a hassle because the slivers of glass spread everywhere. I always find it necessary to vacuum or sweep multiple times to avoid splinters. Cleaning up a broken CFL is just a tad more trouble.

DISPOSAL OF BROKEN BULBS: Yes, it’s a hassle to get to your hazardous waste drop-off site, and yes, many people don’t know where it is — but they should, and not just for CFLs. Batteries, motor oil and paint are some of the other things that should be disposed of there (assuming, of course, that your community has proper facilities).

If you can’t get there right away, put the bagged bulb outside the house until you can.

HOW TO SCREW CFLs IN: Paul, thank you for including that information! I am going to quote it in a new posting so other people will see it.

BETTER ALTERNATIVES: LEDs are the wave of the future, but they’re not as good as they need to be yet. The quality of the light is not yet up to snuff and the cost is too high for most consumers. But their time is coming soon. For more about LEDs, see: http://www.onearth.org/node/724

I would also point out that the correct way to screw in, as well as remove, a CFL is by grasping it on the white plastic base with your fingertips and carefully twisting. This is why CFLs have extended white plastic bases that go beyond the actual metallic connector, whereas incandescents do not. It is never a good idea to attempt to install or remove a CFL by grasping the glass itself and twisting. If you overdo it or if the bulb is just a little stuck, the glass can easily break at its base because the tubes themselves are so thin.

CFLs are great for bathroom lights, outdoor lights, ceiling lights and the like… where risk of breakage by accident is very low. I would not recommend them in standing lamps in houses with children. For those who are very serious about avoiding incandescents, higher-risk applications should be left to a different technology: LED bulbs. They’re expensive and little known, but they can last for decades and are even greener than CFLs.

-Paul Ronco
Fredericksburg VA

However, although I replaced all my incandescents with CFLs when they became more affordable in the last couple of years, I’m having second thoughts about the mercury, especially with a young child in the house. the risk doesn’t seem worth it to me, despite the energy savings.

By the way, what genius even came up with the idea to make a more efficient bulb that was highly toxic if broken? Talk about one step forward and two steps back!

And at the very least, call me lazy, but I don’t wanna have to drive somewhere to dispose of spent CFLs … and, by the way, wouldn’t that kind of defeat the whole energy savings thing? Burn fossil fuel to dispose of bulbs that save electricity but are highly toxic?

Instead, why not focus on developing and marketing LED arrays … way more efficient than CFLs, and no toxins.