Pros and Cons of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL)

The cost of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) decreased since 1999. Now the power saving of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is more than the initial cost for installing these energy efficient lamps. The countries like European Union etc are trying to ban incandescent lamps and switch completely to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL). In this short article I am trying to investigate on the pros and cons of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) over incandescent lamps.

1. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) consume about 25% of the energy required for lighting up with incandescent lamps.

2. The life span of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is 10 times more than that of ordinary incandescent lamps.

These two aspects contributes for energy saving and lower CO2 release worldwide. Now let us compare the cons of using Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL).

1. The toxic mercury contained in Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is one major drawback. Also the lead contained in electronic circuit poses danger.

2. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) takes longer time to light up and people may incline to keep this turned on when it is not required.

3. The cost of production of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is more and the cost of recycling is also very high and this may neutralize some of the cost saving archived by CFL.

4. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) are very much sensitive to temperature variations and hence it is not suitable for external lighting.

5. In cold countries the incandescent lights contribute to room heating. This is not possible with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL).

6. With Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) dimming is not possible.

7. The light emitted by Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is confined to a smaller spectrum range and is a bit itching to eyes.

This may invite deeper thinking before implementation of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) by banning incandescent lamps. We may have to wait for Solid State Lighting (SSL) like LED lighting to save on energy and lights.