Recently I had a economy bulb over heat to a point where it could have caused a fire, but we smelt it, before it did any dammage. Interested to se why it got so hot I took it appart. I was amazed by all the stuff in the base of those bulbs, there are enough eletrical components you could build a simple radio! Capacitors, transistors, coils, a transformer, resistors and all sorts of other little goodies, not to mention the bulb and the plastic housing hiding the circuit board. My point is there are a lot of components that have to be made, the raw materials have to be mined, transported, processed, assembled, transported a few more times, shipped around the world, used to make light for a while then dumped in a landfill. The old style bulbs are simple they are a glass bulb with a tungsten fillament and not a lot else. I have not done any research on the subject, but I'd be interested to see a comparison on these different bulb types and their environmental impact from cradle to grave, not just during the time they light out homes.
I still use Economy bulbs, but am pondering switching to old style bulbs for bulbs thet don't get much use, like in the bathroom and storage rooms.
