Lightbulb police? (was RE: Anyone off to VCF-UK)

Zane H. Healy wrote: I've got no hard figures; I've tried asking over the years, and nobody seems to know for sure. My gut feeling though is that fluorescent are a lot worse when you think of the 'big picture' and include sourcing of the materials, manufacture, shipping*, and eventual safe disposal. * the shipping's perhaps irrelevant because I bet that incandescents are made overseas too - but I suspect that they could be made locally far more easily than fluorescents if the desire was there, reducing shipping impact. I've had plenty of fluorescents that barely outlast incandescents, despite manufacturers' MTBF claims. Plenty more that exhibit weakened output after a few months. All of them seem to have output even when new that's vastly less than the "incandescent equivalent" rating claimed on the packaging. (Waters are even further muddied up here in northern MN where we have electric heating that's on for over half the year, because during those months any energy that bulbs lose as heat is still doing useful work; there's no waste) cheers Jules