Steve Crook

I see that Bryan is having a rant in The Spectator.
I agree with him about energy-saving lightbulbs. I have a very good local electrical retailer and I've got them to check out a variety of energy-saving light bulbs. Despite their advertised light rating (e.g. "equivalent light output to a 60w incandescent bulb") they are obviously nowhere near it.

I have stocked up on incandescent bulbs just in case anyone does try to ban or even restrict their sale. I use energy-saving bulbs in all the rooms where I don't read much. But were I do read I have an incandescent bulb that I can switch on to read by.

I think it's all a conspiracy by the opticians

Steve

Dame Starry

...and I think that the government has invested in the companies that make energy-saving light-bulbs.

Without exception, all the energy-saving bulbs I have ever tried have cost twice as much as the old ones and lasted half as long.

YDSL x.

Steve Crook

They cost more because they are supposed to last a lot longer (10x as long).

Steve

Dame Starry

Yes, we know what they're supposed to do - but they don't!

YDSL x.

Windthrop

and don't break them because theres mercury in them

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

Steve Crook

Mine do. I was bought my first one by one of my nephews well over 10 years ago - and that's in a light I use every day

But then again there are always tales of "rogue" incandescent light bulbs that last for decades despite being used every day

Steve

Steve Crook

Is that mercury any more dangerous than the mercury in a thermometer? I don't recall any life threatening warnings about those should you ever break one

Or what about the other heavy metals in a fluorescent strip light? No warnings about them

Steve

batman

The old mercury thermometers (and BP machines) have been withdrawn from hospital use 'cos of the mercury in them. We now have super-duper electronic ones which don't work half the time!

Bats.

I'm the cutest bottom judge!

alan gowdy

The issue of mercury vapour in energy saving lightbulbs is not a new one - after all they are just compact fluorescent tubes and the full size ones have been around for many decades. Incidentally, I understand that the white powder coating which glows (is there a chemist in the house?) is decidedly unhealthy too, so if you do break a bulb or tube, be careful.

Windthrop

The main issue is regarding the bulb/tube breaking in a confined space like a room in a house with limited ventilation (i.e. the window is shut).

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

Steve Crook

Neither of them were ever thought to be very healthy and it was known that long exposure or inhalation wouldn't be good for you. But now they give out warnings that make you think that if a fluorescent light breaks in the same county then you're almost certainly going to be extremely ill, if not die because of it.

Steve

Dame Starry

I'm sometimes utterly amazed that anybody from our generation are actually still alive; what with mercury, lead paint, all the childhood diseases, swings, slides, roundabouts - the trees that HAD to be climbed, the walls that HAD to be tightrope-walked and all the dirt we ate.

And here's the REAL puzzler: however did we manage to survive before anti-bacterial spray?

YDSL x.

Windthrop

Because our exposure in early life to such substances (indeed a hugh variety of substances) meant we were able to build up a resistance. To often nowadays we live such hermetically sealed existances that resistance does not occur. Look in any school and see just how children are puffing away on inhalers. Extremely cleanliness in its own way can be just as detrimental as carelessness with hygene.

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

Steve Crook

There' an old saying "You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die".
But of course hardly anyone nowadays knows how much a peck is.

It's actually a dry volume measure and is equal to 16 dry pints. So imagine 16 pint pots full of dirt. That's how much you should eat before you die! Mind you, if you eat it all in one sitting then you'll probably be glad to die

The peck also appears in the old tongue twister "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"

Steve

batman

But I love you a bushel and a peck!

Bats.

I'm the cutest bottom judge!