thanks for the reminder. All fluorescent bulbs, going back to the long ones, are hazardous. I did not know this and outside broke one in a garbage can. There was a plume of white smoke that looked hazardous. We use many hazardous products, some we know about and some to be discovered in the future.
> On Sun, 13 Jul 2025 at 20:11, William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Do you smell "burnt plastic" from your LED light bulb?
>> If not, then what brand/store are you using?
>>
>> Background:
>> -----------
>> For longest time, I've been smelling "burnt plastics" in the house. At
>> first, I thought some neighbour's wood stove... exhaust goes up, drifts
>> over to my house, cools, and comes down. But, it's more "plastic"
>> burning, not "wood" burning. It's bad enough to irritate my throat and
>> interfere with my sleep. I've been opening all my windows at night, daily.
>>
>> I checked everything... water heater, furnace fan, refrigerator, my
>> computer. I finally found the culprit. LED bulbs. The plastic base
>> gets hot and emits that smell. Over time, it accumulates inside the house.
>>
>> All my LED bulbs were bought from Canadian Tire. So, I bought 2 bulbs
>> from Home Depot (Ecosmart) and Rona (Valu+). And, they don't smell, at
>> least after 1 day of use. Maybe it's too early to tell.
>>
>> I don't care about "longevity" or "efficiency", at this point. I'm on
>> the verge of going back to incandescent bulbs.
On Sun, 13 Jul 2025 at 20:55, Don Tai via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
>
> I don't have very many LED bulbs, and none of them have a burnt plastic smell. I still use many compact fluorescent bulbs. It's probably not wise to keep using them. Maybe take them back to CanTire? Your Cantire LED bulbs are lacking in quality.
>
I've had a mix of LED bulbs from multiple sources: Phillips, no-name,
and Amazon Basics, possibly others. It's a new technology, and
initially their reliability was shit - but it's improving. However,
I've never encountered the smell of burning plastic from them, and I'm
inclined to agree with Don's assessment: I would suggest changing
brands.
Don: be incredibly careful with the compact fluorescents. They
contain mercury, and if you break one in your house it becomes a
contaminated zone that should be decontaminated by people in HazMat
suits. I wish I was kidding. For the same reason, dispose of them
(preferably in their original box to prevent breakage in transit) at a
place that accepts hazardous waste. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp#Mercury_content
)
I blame David Suzuki: he's all for the environment, but somehow he
pushed them really hard. He thought the lower power consumption of CF
bulbs was more important than the fact that they're a disposal
nightmare and environmental disaster in every other respect.
--
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr@gmail.com