FocusCanada Forums

This is sort of a mini rant and part warning people that maybe never realized this as I never have either.

I recently while going through costo found a big pack of CFL (compact fluorecent lights), the spiral energy saving lights. So after replacing most of the lights in my house I turned one on. Sparks flew and smoke billowed out of this spiral light, while my wife was screaming at me to turn the damn thing off. Immediatly I had just assumed that being the incapable person I am I couldn't even change a light bulb...

So after we cleared the smoke and looked at the bulb the base, was EXTREMELY HOT, and black looking on one side. Replaced with another bulb and everything was fine....

I did some research and found that some of the CFL's on the market apparently are fire hazards even though they are certified by UL, the components that make them up sometimes are not and those components can fail, sometimes causing fires (rare cases). None the less thse litle energy saving puppies can in fact burn down a house under the right situation.

I found a few places where some make bulbs are documented to be fire hazards and some aren't. So far I can see philips bulbs as being on the safe list, but who knows maybe they just don't sell as much.

Net result here is I've removed all the bulbs from my house that have documented cases of "burning" out from pre-mature failure.

Some net links if your interested, maybe others have something to add here, the first link can tell you which kinds of bulbs reported are definetly a hazard, maye a good idea to swap those out with something else, or keep an eye on them.


http://www.execulink.com/~impact/fluorescent_lights.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/12/02/...ires041202.html

Another problem they had a few years ago was that chinese companies were producing knock offs of the legitimate bulbs, and they were of far lower quality. There was a huge recall at the time, and because of the cheaper components these too could potentially set fire to your house.

Definately something you should be aware of when using the CFL's

Yeah, like Matt said... lots of companies did recalls last year. And this has been on the news big time the past week. Union Energy did a promotion where you give them your old light bulbs, and they'll give you free cfl's... but the majority of them were defective, causing the same shorting you had. Most of the bulbs we have are cfl now, some from Ikea, most from WalMart and Crappy Tire, we've checked serial numbers for bad batches last year and up until this year, and we have yet to get a bad bulb.

Wow, this must be a recent thing. When I moved in here in 2003 I replaced every incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb I bought at Costco (Total ten bulbs including 5 in a chandelier in the living room alone).

To date, no issues WRT to shorting out or extreme heat, but I certain will keep my eye on 'em :blink:

NefCanuck

Yeah if you are buying CFL's try to sticl with Sylvania or Philips. Lot of the knock off's are not good and thats why they are cheaper.

Usually Phillips and Sylvania's go for 5-10$ range for each. Knock off go for fraction of that and as you guys have mentioned they are very dangerous.

Yup.

I had the same issue with a set I bought at Zellers. Something like 6 bulbs for 9.99. It smoked and then "popped" Not cool.

So now I get them from my brother's hardware store in Grimsby. He swears by Phillips. They're an extra couple of bucks, but atleast they won't burn down my house.

Pretty much i've found the same, Philips it is. In fact my previous home I replaced every single ligth with philips CFL's and never an issue to date.

With stuff like electrical appliances and *hit, It's best to stick to brandname. If something goes worng, you have corporation to yell at. If you buy the knock-offs, calling Cambodia can be tricky.

I'm redoing the electrical in my house and the rule of thumb is if it doesn't say CSA on it I will not touch it. Do you know that a insurance company can deny you your money if it's not CSA approved.

Laterz :)

i agree i have replaced all the lights in my house (25+) with philps bulbs no problem

Most of the lights here are Noma CFL's and no problems except for one we bought didn't work, got a new one free from crappy and no problems since.

UL certified also

Since we're on the subject of fire and electricity, it's a good idea to ocassionally check http://www.esa-safe.com for alerts like this.

One of the things that concerns me is some of the non-CSA-approved infrared saunas some places are selling now....

Wow... we've been using CFLs for quite a while now... coming up on 4 years.

At least you're ok bud... it didn't take the new house with it or anything ;)

All of ours are CSA-rated. I made sure of that when we bought them. This is a great heads-up warning for all of us though.

Tell your wife if you mod the car more the bulbs will behave better :lol: :rofl:

This is why I only buy the Ikea Energy light bulbs...

Weve been using them for a while now...probably close to 3 years, never had any problems yet. *kocks on wood*

Flofocus,Dec 4 2006, 08:50 AM Wrote:*kocks on wood*
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I didn't need to read that this early in the morning. :unsure:

NOS2Go4Me,Dec 4 2006, 09:52 AM Wrote:

Flofocus,Dec 4 2006, 08:50 AM Wrote:*kocks on wood*
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I didn't need to read that this early in the morning. :unsure:
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Probably got you horny anyways.