First, a replay of what most of us know. The Compact Fluorescent Light has improved significantly in performance, dropped in price and been boosted by utility company rebates and discount coupons in the past three years. These miserly spirals use about 25% of the electricity of comparable incandescents, saving $50 or more over the life of the lamps. How many incandescent bulbs are lighting your business right now?
Now, the more arcane. Some CFLs are EPA Energy Star qualified, and these are the ones to buy. They start and warm up faster than non-qualified CFLs, and meet higher Energy Star standards for life span, color rendering, and mercury content.
Since CFLs contain about one to five milligrams of mercury, strictly speaking, they should be recycled. Ask if your recycling provider will take them. If not, you can take them by the batch to Home Depot or IKEA, or visit www.earth911.com to find a recycling center near your business.
Here's a tip I just learned. To get the full hours of promised life, you need to burn a CFL in for 24 hours. Plug in a lamp base or wire up a line of sockets you can leave on for a day. It's well worth the extra step: a burned-in CFL can last 8,000 hours, compared with 2,000 for a long-life incandescent.
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