Reply #16: I tried to be all green and everything--but one day about 6 weeks [View All]

[tblue37]

ago, one of my compact fluorescent bulbs in the bathroom just freakin' exploded! Half of the bulb exploded into a bunch of tiny pieces, flames shot out as it exploded, and smoke poured out of what remained. The remainder of the bulb was still screwed into the socket--and still extremely hot--but I felt I had to get it out of there before more toxic smoke poured into the bathroom. (I feared it might harm my cats.) I got a dishtowel, folded it, and used it to remove the rest of the bulb--no easy task because in addition to being hot, it was all sharp broken glass.

I ended up replacing all my compact fluorescents with old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. Suppose I had forgotten to turn off a light when I left the house sometime and another compact fluorescent bulb had exploded while I was away from home? I shudder to think of what might have happened--a fire? Cats dead from toxic fumes? I honestly had no idea they could explode like that--and I wonder whether other people relaize it.