GE Compact Fluorescent Bulb Failure

My own experience saw the first batch of bulbs burn out after about a month. I tried another set and so far working great after . . . so many months I forget. That's good but . . .

There has been some negative buzz. The bulbs contain mercury, which is a deadly toxin. If you accidentally break one you are supposed to leave the area immediately and not return without a ventilator. This is especially true for pregnant women and children.

If I remember correctly, one drop of mercury can contaminate 10,000 gallons of water. Each bulb contains an amount equivalent to the head of pen. Multiply that though by hundreds of millions. You are not supposed to throw them away but recycle them, but there is no real recycling option available in most of the country. And even if one comes online, either through the actions of some entreprenuers or government intervention, are we going to have to set up actual recycling police to make sure people don't just throw them out? This will have to involve increased costs over and above the costs of the bulbs.

Once again we learn there is no panacea, only trade-offs.

Too much danger. I installed it one in a small table lamp. Dog antics knocked over the lamp, and the bulb broke while it was on, which is the worst time for it to break because the mercury is a gas. I immediately ventilated and closed off the room, and days later (i.e. when I had time) I went in and spent two hours or so cleaning up (and even then I didn't go to the lengths that were recommended).

I do not need that.

Also, about half of my lights have the dial light switch, which lets a continuously variable amount of power through the bulb, and CF bulbs are not made for those.

I replaced it with an appliance bulb which I expect to outlast me.

By the way, the metallic mercury as found in a cfl is not very dangerous. It is the organic form that kills people these days.

What struck me most about the article is that you rarely sleep more than 45 minutes at a time. Is that by choice (you find yourself more productive and enjoy this schedule) or is it a case of insomnia?

I finally have my first failure at about 20K operating hours. For a total of about $45 for about 12 bulbs

What did you do with the bulb that burned out?

Had a bulb go out yesterday. Funny how it happened just as we were discussing this subject. So now what do I do with the bulb? There is no recycle option where I live.

I was in the bedroom adjacent to the bathroom. I had left the light on in the bathroom; it had probably been on an hour or longer. In the bedroom I began to smell an odor like electrical wiring overheating. I started going thru the house to see where the smell was coming from, as soon as I left the bedroom I knew I was heading in the wrong direction. I returned to the bedroom. Was it the DVD player, the clock, the TV that I smelled? No. I entered the bathroom. It was coming form the GE Helical 20W bulb in the light fixture. I flipped the switch off and waited a few minutes before removing the bulb. When I removed the bulb I found that both places where the tube enters the base were blacken and smelled like burnt wiring. This is a new way of having a bulb burn out and pretty scary too! By the way it hasn’t been five years since the bulb was installed. Has anyone else had a similar experience? The Bulb I remove has “MADE IN CHINA” stamped on the base, maybe they used too much lead.

We had the exact same failure. My son turned on a bathroom light. It is switched, not on a dimmer. The bulb smoked and he smelled burning wires. He turned off the light and called me. Our light is blackened where the tubes enter the base as well.

This bulb is about 14 months old. It was put in after we remodeled the bathroom.

I too have had terrible luck with the GE Helical. The light in my bathroom left a burn mark on the glass fixture cover, and who knows how much garbage we may have breathed in.
Maybe it has to do with the humidity in the bathroom.
Regardless, another of these bulbs just burnt out on me, and I'm a bit burnt out on the low quality of these bulbs that are supposed to last for years!
Has anyone bothered to get their money back from GE for the faulty bulbs?

We just had the same scary situation happen last night!! My two children on second floor, adults on first floor, smoke detector goes off, (thankfully detector just two feet above hall light fixture)- it was the bulb that had orange glow which was small fire. The smell was horrible, but the idea of a lightbulb catching fire is my main concern here! The idea of saving energy at the risk of losing our home to possible fire?? No thanks, I'm pulling them all!! I intend to contact GE for explanation - try to let you know how far I get!

It is not only GE that had a fire case...

Search... CFL fires..... its more common than you think!

Mainly China sourced ones

I was hoping to find some other having the same problems with these bulbs. I have had two catch fire, and just luckily was home, and the bulbs were not around any other flammable items. The bulbs first flicker on and off, then you hear and arc or shorting out of the wiring, then the flame and smoke. Just luckily turned things off, and removed the bulb. After 3 of these doing this, I have removed all the bulbs.
I am still investigating the fire incident, and checking to see if any home losses have came from this situation in my State. Hope to see what anyone finds out from GE?
Fire Chief
WV

I own and operate a B&B and have the subject bulbs through out the home...I have decited that the removal of these bulbs are a must...This is after one of the bulbs shorted and a flame cause damaged to the lamp shade...Luckily, We were in the room when this occurred, otherwise, this would have been a major disaster...Does GE want these dangerous bulbs returned????

I also will no longer use CFL bulbs. The Environmental Protection Agency or some governmental consumer protection or energy information source has an obligtion to inform the public about the fire danger. Perhaps a media source? I started researchng this topic because last night a CFL burned and smoked as described in other comments on this site. I am a senior citizen. Luckily this occurred in the evening and the crackling sound and smell alerted me.

I also have had only a 4-6 month CFL bulb-life useage in a kitchen fixture which admittedly is frequently turned off and on. As I write this, the government is dealing with a fuel spill off the Louisiana coast which was not supposed to occur. Are these CFLs another problem in the making?

We too had one of these CFL bulbs burn out and start smoking just this week. It happened in the master bedroom. Thankfully, my wife was at home and noticed the smell right away. Sure enough, there was smoke coming from the CFL (it had just burned out) and the place where the tube enters the ballast is black. Even the ballast looks like it had smoke damage. The CFL was made by Lights of America. Googling complaints of CFLs mostly center on them burning out too soon, so I'm glad someone has put a board out there for potential fire hazards. We've had several of these CFLs do this over the years. Unfortunately, I can't tell who to contact except the state fire marshall.

We had a similar experience regarding a burning bulb. We smelled a strong odor of an electrical fire in our kitchen. After searching for 20 minutes we discovered it was our kitchen light fixture. Two of the five 20 watt bulbs had black and brown singe marks where the glass coil meets the bottom plastic (?) part of the bulb. We immediately removed the bulbs. I called GE to complain and after prodding the CSR she finally admitted that she has taken calls in the past about smoldering bulbs although she said that they will not catch fire and are made of self-extinguishing materials. Great to know, but if you have a lamp shade or something that is flammable in your light fixture the bulbs are a definite fire hazard. The CSR said that occasionally when the bulb is about to "die" but before it burns out completely there may still be electricity running through the bulb. This in turn can cause the bulb to smolder (her words exactly) until the bulb dies. This is very disturbing. Potentially any of your CFLs could smolder until they burn out. She said it doesn't happen all the time but does occasionally. Well, it only takes one occurance for someone's house to burn down! I've contacted our local news station and they're going to do an investigative report on this next week.
Very scary.
GE's solution- sending me a form letter and some coupons. No thanks!

This just happened to us so I started checking for other incidents. Our GE bulb was being used in a surface mounted ceiling fixture, with a glass globe over it. We were standing in the room with the overhead lights on and we smelled electrical burning. We traced it to the light bulb, which was then unscrewed; the base was too hot to touch. It did not reach a point of melting or fire because we were standing there when it happened. I don't know if the bulb was burned out when we turned the lights on and entered the room. Ironically 2 days after it happened I received an email going around about Globe brand CFLs (made in China) which have had flames shooting out of them (after being used properly. The homeowner was home and tragedy was averted. The email also contained this info: "I took the bulb to the Fire Department today to report the incident. The Fireman wasn't at all surprised and said that it was not an uncommon occurrence. Apparently, sometimes when the bulb burns out there is a chance that the ballast can start a fire."

So glad this page is here!
Just a few minutes ago, our master bedroom CFL burned out while I was at the switch. I want to say it was as I was turning it off, but I was so surprised that I can't say for sure. As I was at the switch, I heard the sound of arcing,then the bulb flickered noisily before observably burning within. Immediately, the noxious smell poured out. When it seemed that it was done dying, I opened the window, then came to the computer to search for any dangers aside from the apparent fire danger with these bulbs. Didn't think to close off the room until I read it. (Duh.)
I am concerned about the effects of the fumes on the asthma condition I have. Also, I'm concerned about leaving the house and forgetting to turn off a light switch that may start a house fire.
When he gets home, my husband will test the fixture for electrical problems. But we've lived here for years and not had a problem with this light fixture, although when we moved in we discovered a few miswired outlets.
I'll check back here for more experiences that people write about this subject.

I have replaced almost all the old bulbs in my house with CFBs since four years ago. About 6 out of 25 CFBs already burned with plastic burning smell. I think they are overheated all the time and the weakest ones are failing first.
I think saing a few bucks a month by risking my house and my family does not make any sense. I you have infants or pregnant women at home. You should really consider removing them.
I want to save the earth by comsuming less energy. Hopefully LED lighthing will become cheaper soon.