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*Question & Answer Lighting*

Dear Bob

I have high hats in my den that keep turning off by themselves. I replaced the bulbs but it still happens?

Dear VL

High hat light fixtures are thermally controlled. This means that if they get too hot they shut off. They get too hot when a bulb is of too high a wattage. This is a built in safety feature to keep it from possibly starting a fire. The inside of the high hat should have a sticker of some kind indicating the recommended wattage for the fixture. You should change the bulbs to the correct ones.

Dear Bob

Your article on CFLs was very informative but you fail to make much of an issue over the fact that they contain mercury.

Dear JS

A typical CFL contains 4 milligrams of mercury, so you do need to dispose of it properly. Keep in mind however that a coal burning power plant emits 10 mg of mercury to produce the electricity to run an incandescent bulb over its lifetime verses 2.4mg for a CFL. So to make a long story short, CFLs actually do keep mercury out of the environent.

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