Fire hazard fears over compact fluorescent lamps - after they've stopped working

Fire hazard fears over compact fluorescent lamps - after they've stopped working

Compact fluorescent lamps, which will gradually replace traditional incandescent bulbs, are a fire hazard that could burn down your home, experts have warned.

The lamps (CFLs) use electricity to heat an element in the lamp’s base that leads the mercury vapor gas in the coils to emit light. 

But when a CFL can no longer produce light, the electronics in its base will still try to function, sometimes leading to overheating, smoke and fire.   

ان بلبوں سے انتہائی خطرہ ہے چاہے یہ استعمال میں میں نہ بھی ہوں تو بھی آپ کے گھر کو آگ لگا سکتے ہیں

Safety concerns: There have been reports of smoke coming from the bases of compact fluorescent lamps that are no longer working

Fires from the old incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, are virtually nonexistent, masslive.com reports.  

The bulb ends its life when the wire filament, which produces light when electricity passes through it, burns out and breaks.

CFLs have been touted as the blub of the future because it uses about a fifth of the power than a regular bulb and have a life six to 10 times as great.