Tossing some old thermostats
- Thread starter mrvm
- Start date
Twice a year our county in Nj holds a bring all your hazards stuff (car battery, motor oil ,spray cans etc. They announce it on line in the spring and fall no cost ( our taxes pay for it) but one stop is convenient. Check with your town hall to see if they offer the drop off day and place.
Yes Mercury thermostat is concidered hazardous
Yes Mercury thermostat is concidered hazardous
RegeSullivan
Well-known member
I don't know about proper, but I'd save the mercury.
Ok I’ve been hanging onto these thermostats for 20+ years and I’m working on reducing my hoarding. So what am I going to do with these mercury tubes?
Does your municipality have a hazardous waste drop off? that's where I'd go with them
RegeSullivan
Well-known member
They (mercury bulbs) should be disposed of at a facility that accepts hazardous waste. I was kidding, kind of, about keeping it. As a kid one of my favorite toys was a jar of mercury my grandfather had. Very heavy... weighed a good 5lbs. I often wonder what happened to that jar.
chris142
Well-known member
Save the mercury for a gold prospector friend. I still use it.
Also, leave the thermostats assembled.
I worked for a HVAC wholesaler and we took in recycle mercury thermostats, as long as they were assembled. We could not accept the bulbs as it fell into some other DOT regulation. Some thing to the order of thermostats versus vials of mercury.
I worked for a HVAC wholesaler and we took in recycle mercury thermostats, as long as they were assembled. We could not accept the bulbs as it fell into some other DOT regulation. Some thing to the order of thermostats versus vials of mercury.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
As others have said, most areas have a procedure for recycling thermostats. Check with your local recycling center or city/county government.
klassenl
Well-known member
Put all of the mercury in a jar and give it to your local high school science teacher.
finn
Well-known member
Good way to get the teacher fired when , not if, there’s a spill.
gizardlizard
Well-known member
25 years ago, I was cleaning underneath a workbench at work and something was stuck and wouldn’t move. Turns out it was just really heavy. It was a 64 ounce jar of mercury. I ended up leaving it right where it was lol.
Yep, HS science has changed a lot in 70yrs. They tend to not keep hazmat around anymore
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Anything can be thrown away if it's in a trash bag...
J/k, of course
J/k, of course
Yup! Years ago mercury was cool stuff to have around. Today it is a serious hazmat issue.
I sold HVAC equipment for years. I was surprised by the number of contractors that had jars of mercury sitting on the shelf. They would break open the bulbs in mercury thermostats and save the mercury. I always wonder what happens to that mercury if the business closes or gets sold. I can not imaging trying to get rid of it.
I sold HVAC equipment for years. I was surprised by the number of contractors that had jars of mercury sitting on the shelf. They would break open the bulbs in mercury thermostats and save the mercury. I always wonder what happens to that mercury if the business closes or gets sold. I can not imaging trying to get rid of it.
It's a lot cheaper then solid Mercury, have you ever tried to buy that?
Snapped-off
Well-known member
Recommend double or triple bagging for liquids.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
And asbestos.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Wait til you see the price of mercury plasma... Inflation is a *****
Ha! Never thought of it like that. When I went to college for chemistry interestingly instead of saying elemental mercury we always seemed to use the term liquid mercury for elemental mercury even outside of normal STP state of matter.
On July 25th 1978 Janet Parker spent an extended time in the photograph research room at the University of Birmingham ordering photographic materials because the financial year was about to end. That same day just below her; Henry Bedson, head of the University Birmingham Medical School microbiology department was running tests on Smallpox without approval or proper safety equipment. Previously the World Health Organization (WHO) had rejected Henry Bedson's application for his laboratory to become a Smallpox Collaborating Center in 1977. Bedson misled the WHO about the volume of work handled by his laboratory, telling them that it had progressively declined since 1973, when in fact it had risen substantially as Bedson tried to finish his work before the laboratory closed. There were safety concerns and the WHO wanted as few laboratories as possible handling the virus. A later investigation determined Smallpox had leaked from Bedson's test on July 25th and traveled up the air vent to the room Janet Parker was in that same day.
On Monday 11 September 11th 1978 at 3:50AM Janet Parker, a British medical photographer, died of Smallpox, and is the last recorded person to die from the Smallpox disease.
Wear double rubbers and have your mother on speed dial for safety! No?
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
I’m positive when in school we used to chase the Mercury around with our finger. 
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
Many of us did, but we didn't know what we didn't know back then. I saw a photo in an old textbook once of a man laying on his back, floating on top of a huge vat of mercury.I’m positive when in school we used to chase the Mercury around with our finger.
RegeSullivan
Well-known member
Some mercury can get through skin but rarely enough to do harm. Mercury evaporates so most of the danger is breathing over open containers. Don't injest it... your body will absorb it quickly. If you think this stuff is so deadly keep in mind silver dental fillings, amalgam, are about 1/2 liquid mercury (by weight) the rest mostly silver, copper, zink and tin.
As a child my grandfather had a heavy jar of it. Sometimes he would dump some out and us kids would push it around the just cleaned kitchen floor with scrapers or "pushers" cut out of cardboard shoe boxes. The exciting part was always gathering it all back together and lifting back into the jar.
As a child my grandfather had a heavy jar of it. Sometimes he would dump some out and us kids would push it around the just cleaned kitchen floor with scrapers or "pushers" cut out of cardboard shoe boxes. The exciting part was always gathering it all back together and lifting back into the jar.
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Lassen Forge
Well-known member
Wish I hadn't gotten rid of our old thermostats - the electronic ones replacing them have been nothing but trouble. The mercury switches don't short, don't arc, no software or chips to fry and fail, they just keep on keeping on...
Call you local auto salvage yard and ask them if they want the mercury viles out of them ?
Call your local HVAC contractor, we have a tote that all the old mercury stats go into and every so often it gets sent in to be recycled, we have no problem taking complete thermostats from customers.
Note they want it shipped as a complete stat, don't cut the bulbs out.
Note they want it shipped as a complete stat, don't cut the bulbs out.
That's a new one.
What do they do with them?
Last bunch of thermostats and thermometers I got rid of was at an annual hazmat waste collection sponsored y the regional waste commission. They've since added a permanent facility at one of the facilities, you can call and make an appointment 3 days a week. I think each facility still collects thermostats, I know they do bulbs and e-waste.
Recycle them. They are supposed to pull the engine hood lights and some of the trunk lid lights before the car is crushed. They use mercury switches in them.
Guy that owns local wrecking/scrap/recycling yard explained it to me a few years ago. They pull them, wrap in paper/bubblewrap and package for shipping in a smaller bucket like 2-3 gallon size, sealed. He told me the previous dollar amount he made off it. I forget what it was but a nice little chunk of change.
reader2580
Well-known member
A local parochial school about a dozen years ago had the janitor find an old item with mercury In it. He somehow spilled some of the mercury on the floor. It became a major hazmat incident. The cleanup closed the school for a week and cost about $100,000. Luckily, some government program covered most of the cost.
jimf909
Member
Somewhat related, I had a 1/2 ton of lead-acid batteries to recycle. I called a few recyclers to see if they'd pay more for the lead if I dissected the batteries and brought in only the lead. The answer was that they could NOT take it at all because the lead outside of the battery was a different classification of hazardous waste.
Crazyjake8493
Well-known member
Our landfill has a trailer set up for fluorescent bulbs and other regular hazardous wastes. I think they want mercury thermostats in there, too.
ArcReactorKC
Well-known member
Has anyone suggested throwing them into a very hot burn barrel yet?
You know one with the high flames already going, really rolling that good sooty smoke.
You know one with the high flames already going, really rolling that good sooty smoke.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
It's often difficult to tell when people are serious or when they're joking in online posts. It can help if you include a smiley emoji or something.
orangeblood
Well-known member
just curious, why do you have so much mercury and how do you store it?
NHtoolguy
Well-known member
I'd salvage the mercury switches and toss the rest of the thermostat. The mercury is perfectly safe if enclosed in the glass tubes.Ok I’ve been hanging onto these thermostats for 20+ years and I’m working on reducing my hoarding. So what am I going to do with these mercury tubes?