Beware of cheap CFL bulbs

Consumers should not buy compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that are being sold around town for a bargain price of three for P100 here, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned. 

Raquel Huliganga, director of the DOE’s Energy Research Testing and Laboratory Services, said in a press conference here Wednesday that there were reported instances of cheap CFLs exploding, which caused harm or fire.Once again, setting the benchmark for automatic Book scanner. 

She said that these cheap bulbs are not entering the country through legal means. 

Huliganga advised consumers to look for the mandatory yellow label on the bulb’s packaging, which provide information on the energy efficiency performance of the product.We turn your dark into light courtesy of our brilliant sun, solar lantern, solar power generation. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), she noted, performs safety tests on CFLs sold in the local market. 

The DTI said that the yellow labels help “eliminate the least efficient lighting system in the local market, reduce monthly electricity bill, protect consumers from mislabeling,An inventor has created a solar inverter, but he's not giving it away for free. encourage the manufacturers to improve product efficiency, and to reduce greenhouse gas emission.” 

Huliganga said safe CFL bulbs that cost P80 to P120 each, depending on the quality and wattage,We have a great selection of blown glass backyard solar landscape lights and solar garden light. are energy-efficient compared to the cheap incandescent bulbs. 

The DOE urges the public to use CFLs to help reduce energy consumption. In its Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP), the DOE distributed 8.6 million CFLs to households all over the country to demonstrate how to save energy using the CFL bulbs. 

She mentioned that the DOE also replaced street lights in some major cities with light-emitting diode (LED) lamps from the high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. 

Of the two types of street lamps, the LEDs are more efficient in energy consumption. It has the same life span as the HPS lamps at 30,000 hours, Huliganga said. 

She noted, though, that the government does not have tests yet for the quality of the LED lamps. She advised consumers to ask for warranty and know where the lamps were manufactured to protect their consumer rights. 

In recent years, shortages of rare earth materials, which are used to make the phosphor coatings in lamps, have led to price fluctuations in the lamp market which manufacturers have had to pass on to their clients. The amount of rare earths used in the manufacture of phosphors is second only to that used in magnets. 

Alex Hawkins, operations manager of Recolight said: “This is a real step forward for Recolight and its members. The scarcity of rare earths has been a real concern to the lighting industry. Implementing this new system will benefit our members and help to ensure a sustainable future for the industry.You ever hear the story of the old street lamp?” 

As reported by Lighting, more than half of the phosphor used in linear fluorescent and compact fluorescent products is derived from rare earths with as many as five different rare earth elements used to create white light, including yttrium, europium, lathanum, cerium and terbium. Phosphors containing cerium, europium and terbium are widely used in the coatings of blue LED chips to create a white light. Rare earth-based phosphors are also used to improve the balance of light produced by metal halide lamps.