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home | technical info | safety / environmental overview Safety / Environmental Overview
Mercury / Metals Content
Ecobulb® - Working to Eliminate Mercury from the Environment
Ecobulb® products actually have a net effect of reducing mercury in the environment.
Chart from Wikipedia (Link)
For further information go to http://www.energystar.gov
Energy Mad's Ecobulb® and Ecospiral (US) products qualify as Energy Star partners in the US and NZ.
Did you know that the mercury in CFLs is very low compared to that in other household appliances?
Chart from North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (Link)
Ecobulb® – Continually lowering Metals Content
All Energy Saving Bulbs Contain Mercury, but the Ecobulb® contains the least. The New Zealand Electricity Commission will soon develop minimum performance standards for energy saving bulbs. Currently they will not subsidize a bulb with greater than 5mg mercury. The standard Ecobulb® contains 1.5mg- less than a third of this recommended amount. It is one of lowest contents of other energy saving bulbs and we are dedicated to continually trying to reduce this. This amount is so low, that if all of the Mercury from the 2 million bulbs sold to date were to be collected, one would struggle to fill a soda can.
More information on mercury in relation to personal health can be found at:
www.toxinz.com (search for 'Mercury')
Disposal and Recycling
Ecobulb® - Working Toward Responsible Disposal Solutions
Ecobulb® products are designed both to use a minimal amount of mercury (as an amalgam) and also with a unique "mercury trap" to capture the amalgam in the bulb on the event of breakage. This facilitates responsible disposal of all the materials in the bulbs.
Responsible disposal of energy efficient light bulbs is considered a top priority for Energy Mad. Energy Mad is committed to facilitating replacement of any faulty Ecobulb® (under the 2 year warranty) and eventual recycling of any expired Ecobulb®.
Despite extensive testing procedures, some Ecobulb® products do fail early or get damaged in transit. Ecobulb® has a 2 year warranty so any Ecobulb® products that fail within that period can be returned to the retailer and exchanged for a new Ecobulb®.
The standard Ecobulb® is designed to last up to 15,000 hours (approximately 14 years). Any Ecobulb® that expires after the 2 year warranty can be deposited in Interwaste collection boxes.
For a current list of participating Council locations please ring 0800 10 21 31 or contact Interwaste for recycling information: www.interwaste.co.nz
Ecobulb® – Encouraging Safe Disposal of Bulbs
Disposing of Energy Saving Bulbs at the End of their life:
Disposing of Energy Saving Bulbs if the glass breaks:
Fire Risk
Energy Mad has sold over 4 million Ecobulb® brand light bulbs and there are no known cases of Ecobulb® being linked to fires or identified as a fire hazard.
All Ecobulb® products been tested to and meet stringent product safety standards.
During normal use, an Ecobulb® generates significantly less heat than an ordinary incandescent light bulb, thereby actually making it less of a potential fire hazard under normal operating conditions.
There have recently been some reports in the media about the potential hazards from energy saving light bulbs. Some of the articles have referred to eco bulbs as a generic name for energy saving light bulbs, or compact fluorescent tubes (CFL’s). Energy Mad Ltd would like to take this opportunity to assure all customers that Ecobulb® energy saving light bulbs have been tested to and meet stringent product safety standards.
At Energy Mad we take great pride in our products and all of our current products comply with the Australian / New Zealand Standard for the safety requirements of self ballasted lamps for general lighting (AS/NZS 60968). We have sold over 4,000,000 Ecobulblight bulbs and there are no known cases of Ecobulb® light bulbs being linked to fires or identified as a fire hazard. Furthermore, AS/NZS 60968 contains a specific clause for resistance to flame and ignition that aims to ensure that energy saving light bulbs do not support combustion in the unlikely event of a failure that involves high temperatures. Similarly, during normal use an Ecobulb® generates significantly less heat than an ordinary incandescent light bulb, thereby actually making it less of a potential fire hazard under normal operating conditions.
Generally speaking, the end of life failures of energy saving light bulbs can be attributed to two causes; a tube failure or a failure of the electronic ballast (the electronics contained within the white, fire resistant plastic base). Tube failures are often cause by broken filaments, whereas ballast failures are relatively rare and usually take place at the end of the bulb’s life when an electronic component fails. Whilst this is relatively uncommon, it does happen from time to time and is nothing to worry about. In fact, all Ecobulb® ballasts contain a fusible resistor that is designed to blow in the event of excessive currents, much like the way fuses are used to protect electrical circuits in domestic switchboards.
There are several other items that are often mistaken for an end of life failure. These include the slight discoloration (browning) of plastic bases near the ends of the tubes on old energy saving light bulbs, discolouration (blackening) of the ends of the tubes over time, and the appearance of small dark spots on the tip of the spiral when viewed from below. These are all related to the aging process and are also nothing to be unduly concerned about with Ecobulb® light bulbs.
At Energy Mad, we have invested a considerable amount of time and effort into developing an energy saving light bulb that provides class leading levels of performance and meets all mandatory safety requirements.
As further evidence of our confidence in the Ecobulb® brand of energy saving light bulbs, all Ecobulb® light bulbs are provided with a two year warranty.
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