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Corey Deitz
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It used to be when someone said ‘CFL they meant the radio
station, WCFL in Chicago. It’s long gone now but at the height of its
popularity, it was a 50,000 watt AM Top 40 giant. Now, CFL means
Compact Fluorescent Bulb and if you care about the planet, you will have
already chucked your old incandescent light bulbs and replaced them with
these things.
Did you know that by law, incandescent light bulbs will start being
phased out beginning in 2012 and new efficiency standards will force a
majority of earth-deathstar light bulbs to be obsolete by 2014?
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The Sylvania light bulb company did a national study and found
that “…78 percent of Americans are unaware of the federal legislation…to
phase out the incandescent light bulb…” So, you’re really not going to
have a choice in the matter unless you’re fond of candles and flashlights.
Personally, I may start hoarding incandescent light bulbs. Sure, I
will have to toss out some of that freeze-dried food and ammo in the
underground shelter hidden in my backyard but, light bulbs – my kind of
light bulb - is a priority. I can see it now: zombie neighbors attacking me
after the total breakdown of society bent on taking my cache of
incandescent bulbs. It’ll be like a horror movie: Light of the Living Dead.
“They came to steal his bulbs and all he could do was reload and
aim.”
Anyway…one day I decided to see what the CFL was all about so
I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a few. First, they’re expensive
compared to the Earth-slaying bulbs I usually buy. But, I figured it would
be worth it since they are touted to use about 75% less energy, operate
with 75% less heat, and are supposed to last up to 10 times longer. Wow -
that’s sounds like a good investment.
I replaced the old bulb in my office lamp with a shiny CFL and I
felt like I was working in a Jiffy Lube. The only thing missing was the
bouquet of recently opened cans of oil. Regular CFLs don’t give off a
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