CFL bulb with safety skin keeps mercury inside

(Credit: ClearLite)

Florida-based lighting company ClearLite is introducing a new CFL bulb with an unbreakable safety shell that prevents mercury from escaping, a feature that addresses some health concerns with CFLs.

The SX-4000 silicone skin remains intact even if the ArmorLite bulb inside shatters, according to ClearLite, which is rolling out its bulb in December and January.

Not everyone is aware of the danger of broken CFLs. Because of the small amount of mercury in them, current EPA guidelines call for evacuating people and pets from the area where a bulb has shattered.

(Credit: ClearLite)

They also call for the room to be aired out for 15 minutes and the air conditioning to be shut off.

The 9-watt (40-watt equivalent) and 14-watt (60-watt equivalent) ArmorLite bulbs look somewhat like incandescents and can be used for 10,000 hours, according to ClearLite. They contain amalgam, an alloy of mercury, in solid form.

CFLs can usually be recycled at retailers or municipal hazardous waste programs, though the silicone skin in ArmorLite bulbs will require extra steps or a special program to process.

The 800-lumen bulbs are Energy Star-rated and will be available in "natural soft white" and "natural brite white" varieties, with a suggested retail price of $7.99.

The silicone skin may have some effect on the perceived color of the light. There's limited color temperature information on this page, and a bit more information about ClearLite bulbs in this video.

ClearLite plans to produce other varieties of ArmorLite bulbs such as a bathroom-use vanity globe. Samples of the A-shape bulb are already available.

[Splashes]

Lipstick on a pig.

CFLs are for tree-huggers who value good intentions more than reality itself.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Exactly...Liberals trying to push their agenda on us.

[ikramerica--2008]

Those wattage numbers are a joke. I replaced CFLs that were in my place with incandescents because the CFLs were so dim. The 100 watt equivalent floods were WAY dimmer than the 65w real bulbs I put in to replace them (not to mention casting a greenish light that made everything look crappy). You'd need more like a 200 watt equivalent CFL, which would hardly save any electricity over a standard 65 watt flood. It's all a scam, being forced on us by building code boards (non-elected) around the nation, with the cooperation of the EPA (non-elected).

[zyxxy]

If you buy cheap CFLs, you get cheap light. If you spend a little extra money, you get good quality light. I agree that this causes issues, because nobody is tracking what the good and bad ones are. If you look at the package, its says clearly what the output is in Lumens, and a true 75 watt incandescent needs a 23 watt CFL to replace it.

I have some warm white CFL R30s mixed in a room with 75 watt Halogens, and once the CFLs hit their warm up temperature, you cannot tell the difference. They are very good. That said, in a craft area, I have installed 'daylight' CFLs because the color rendition is much better than warm white or incandescent, even Halogen. It comes very close to matching natural daylight. You can find several good brands, but expect to pay at least $7 per bulb. If you are paying less than that, you are buying junk bulbs, and should not expect good quality light.

Another energy saving route is the new IR coated high efficiency Halogens. I just installed one as a test. A 48 watt puts out the same light as a traditional 75 watt Halogen. The problem is they cost as much as a good quality CFL, I paid $10 for one bulb, they don't last as long as a good CFL, and they use about twice as much energy, 48 vs 23 watts. The up side is that they are dimmable and they turn on instantly. They also work in the cold. The warm up time for CFL in cold weather is a drag.

My biggest peeve on CFLs is that the dimmable models are a joke. If you need dimming, go with Halogen.

Also, LED lighting is currently a joke. The Lumens output is pitiful and the color rendition (CRI) is laughable. Much worse than good quality CFL.

[ejhayes76]

I am a liberal and a tree-hugger and I hate CFLs.

[Alberto Enriquez]

You're kidding right? Insults are not a substitute for reason. I've replaced nearly every bulb in my house with these CFLs and there's been a noticeable drop in my electric bill.

These bulbs come in different "temperatures" now, with whites ranging from bluish to pinkish to yellowish. So color rendition is no longer a problem. Take your pick. Shop at a place like Lowe's or Home Depot and you're free to exchange them for the one that's right for a particular room's color scheme.

CFLs are far safer than the super-hot halogens that have burnt down many a house??and should never have been approved. I believe Canada resisted the industry pressure to sell those bulbs of mass destruction. Halogens can set a drape ablaze instantly upon contact.

CFLs also much cooler than incandescents. No child will ever burn a hand on one. They provide good light, at a fraction of the cost, and because they last for YEARS, there's less ladder-climbing to replace ceiling or porch lights. The latest models still take a moment to get to full radiance, but then they easily compete with the "65W flood".

Down the road, we'll soon have LED house lighting which will make even CFLs look about as efficient as gas-hog Caddys. As for being a tree-hugger, if you "support our troops," you support energy efficiency. It's possible within the next 10 years to get entirely OFF oil with current alternatives and end our huge and unnatural subsidy to Middle Eastern oil producers. It's not "cheap" to be resource wise and think about whom your habits support. Change is always difficult for some, but conservation can do more than Predator drones to cut off terrorism at the source. That's one reason Australia recently OUTLAWED the incandescent bulb.

[DarkHawke]

Yes it IS possible to get off of foreign oil in 10 years, but if you think things like these types of bulbs and "alternative" energy sources are going to get the job done, think again. Well, assuming you want a current or better standard of living. Most third-world nations don't have a foreign energy importation problem, but you probably wouldn't want to live there. That's what schemes like wind and solar power and "cap and trade" (read: cap and tax your bee-hind off) will do to this country. If full exploitation of ALL domestic energy sources were allowed (coal, nuclear, off-shore oil reserves), you betcha we could tell OPEC where to go...and we'd STILL have to be involved in the mid-East for a whole host of reasons, beginning with, y'know, foreign terrorist strikes on the homeland? Remember that one? Yeah, kind of a biggie, that.

[gerrrg]

Aren't Ikea's CFLs that are enclosed, covered with some sort of silicone skin? I was playing around with one once, peeling the skin off...not sure if it was meant to protect the bulb from leaking when broken.

[niteside1]

Hah, I was thinking the same thing when I was reading this article and I've had some of those Ikea bulbs for years.

[HeavyJim]

This is really nothing new, there have been bulbs with a coating like this for the food industry for years. Used to use them in my shop as rough service bulbs too. Switched to fluorescent lights because they are cool to the touch.

[DarkHawke]

Well, yippie. So now if the INNER bulb breaks, it gets caught by this whiz-bang-nifty coating. And if the whole damn shootin' match breaks, like if it gets dropped or stepped on? Is this wondrous silicone layer okay then?

[zyxxy]

If you are using enclosed CFLs (R30, R38, or 'A' style enclosed) then the silicone covering is not that big a deal. I have yet to break a single CFL, but I only run bare CFL "twisties" inside enclosed fixtures. All my bare bulbs are either R30 or 'A' style bulbs, so they are self enclosed.

[PhoenixFiresky]

It's a good idea to add protection. I read about one woman who had an unprotected bulb break and the mercury escaped - it took $5000 and a hazmat team to decontaminate her home. Considering the number of bulbs that probably break in U.S. households annually, I've never understood how the government could have thought that requiring the use of these things would be a good idea. It's just not practical. On the other hand, that kind of mandate obviously spawns innovation, which is a good thing.

[saychzz]

i am a little puzzled by their product. they say that they use amalgam instead of liquid mercury. if that is the case than why do they need to promote the "safety" coating unless it is just another marketing ploy to use shop lights. with the amalgam there is no risk of mercury contamination if the bulb should break because all the mercury is contained inside the pellet of amalgam.

[saychzz]

i am a little puzzled by their product. they say that they use amalgam instead of liquid mercury. if that is the case than why do they need to promote the "safety" coating unless it is just another marketing ploy to use shop lights. with the amalgam there is no risk of mercury contamination if the bulb should break because all the mercury is contained inside the pellet of amalgam.

[theparisapartment]

It takes so much more energy to create these bulbs and dispose of them that it has to cancel out the couple amount saved on your energy bill. Most DO have Mercury which is fueling our Global need for it once the countries all synch up and ban the incandescent if we allow such a travesty.
The disposal is ludicrous as we only recycle 1% of what can be now, what are the chances of entire countries disposing them with plastic bags, duct tape, glass jar and gloves? Why should we have to when that in itself creates waste exponentially. This particular company says their recycling is even more involved than just getting them to the local Hazardous Waste site:

'CFLs can usually be recycled at retailers or municipal hazardous waste programs, though the silicone skin in ArmorLite bulbs will require extra steps or a special program to process.'

An incandescent can tossed in the trash. And does not risk poisoning the water with mercury if something it broke on gets washed. Or require so much energy to make that Ohio factories have to close while GE moves jobs to China. When was the last time you had to change an incandescent bulb anyway?