I had another CFL lightbulb burn out tonight. Once it went dark I was immediately treated to the unpleasant but all-too-familiar smell of a fried capacitor.

It got me thinking that there has to be a better way to design these bulbs. If the cheap electronics could be replaced without throwing the whole bulb away it would keep a huge amount of mercury out of our landfills (and air, and water supply, etc).

When an incandescent bulb dies there’s no choice but to throw it away, as the filament is gone and the bulb’s vacuum makes it almost impossible to replace it. There’s no reason a dead CFL bulb has to be tossed, however, as the electronics could be separated from the bulb while leaving the bulb intact. And the electronics are always the first to go on a CFL bulb.