Obama's Death Panels to Unravel Lightbulb Savings(Are cheating seniors from conservation rapture)

American Spectator ^ | 9/3/09 | Luminus Maximus

[bestintxas]

All of our 75 million senior citizens tossed under the ObamaCare bus have one more reason to storm the town hall meetings. Once Obama's death panels get to work seniors won't live long enough to enjoyof the energy savings they have been promised to break even from buying higher priced CFLs instead of using energy hog incandescent lightbulbs . Retailers like Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart will soon have Health and Human Services government mortality tables displayed in their lightbub aisles alongside info on lumens and lightbulb life.

Typically CFLs cost four to six times as much as incandescents but last longer and save enough energy to repay the up front higher price within a couple of years. Yet for 20 million American military veterans who follow the grim advice found in the Veterans Administration pamphlet, "Your Life, Your Choices", inspired by the Hemlock Society, there's not much point in buying light bulbs at all.

The US Congress, now despised by nearly 60% of the voting public, , in 2007 via The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 labeled incandescent lightbulbs contraband, joining the likes of heroin, automatic assault rifles, bazookas and untaxed cigarettes, beginning with outlawing the dreaded 100 Watt lightbulb in 2012.

In a thinly disguised conspiracy with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy and the Alliance to Save Energy the big three lighting giants, GE, Sylvania and Philips couldn't push the lightbulb ban soon enough, touting overhyped energy savings while ignoring the higher prices for CFLs and LEDs, another stealth tax on seniors and low income Americans. As Sylvania found out in a survey, 80% of Americans don't know their beloved incandescents will soon be banned. Hello?

[bestintxas]

This is not right, to deny these people their right to conserve.

[YellowRoseofTx]

cost four to six times as much as incandescents but last longer and save enough energy

I've got news for these people.....these bulbs do cost four times as much but do not last longer. I've had them burn out in a couple of weeks to a month. They don't burn as bright either so I've had to use two to get close to the same amount of light. I hate the things for so many reasons

[muawiyah]

Congress estimate of how much can be saved by regulating incandescent lightbulbs is miniscule in the greater picture. MOST lighting needs in this country were already being provided by fluorescent bulbs in the early 1950s. That took place when businesses and governments throughout the country INSTALLED large fluorescent systems in the ceilings of all their buildings.

There are some exceptions where exceptionally high intensity lighting was needed, but even then the chosen systems weren't incandescent.

Now if Congress really had an interest in saving costs what they'd do is MANDATE that meat and other perishable foods be irradiated. It's possible to recover at least 2 quads of energy now wasted in refrigration of products that can be adequately protected by irradiation.

[squarebarb]

You’re right, they don’t last. I was surprised.

[super7man]

But I feel so good when I just throw them in the garbage.

[grobdriver]

I wonder (but doubt) if they will also mention how the incidence of mercury posioning has gone up in China where these things are made - all to make AlGore happy...

[IYAS9YAS]

I've got news for these people.....these bulbs do cost four times as much but do not last longer. I've had them burn out in a couple of weeks to a month. They don't burn as bright either so I've had to use two to get close to the same amount of light. I hate the things for so many reasons.

I've had the opposite luck. I have two bulbs outside in semi-protected light fixtures. One has been there over two years without fail. The other, just over a year. They have survived below-freezing temps in the winter and temps over 95-degrees in the summer. I used to blow through incandescents in these same fixtures to the tune of one every six weeks to two months. My indoor fixtures would blow through incandescents in about 3 months. I have yet to replace any of the CFLs I put in these fixtures.

I have only ever lost one CFL and that was likely because I put a CFL and a regular incandescent bulb in the same fixture.

It is true the lighting is not the best for some of these bulbs, but the newer ones I just put in my kitchen light it up like daylight, better than anything I had before. There is a slight hum, and you can only hear it if you are right next to the low-hanging fixtures. The ones in the ceiling can't be heard. They are much better than my original CFLs and I may replace my old ones with the news ones soon. My only real gripe is the mercury issue.

[bgill]

In an act of defiance, I'm adding more incandescent light bulbs to the shopping list this week. Never thought I'd be labeled a contraband hoarding radical, cool!

[jonathonandjennifer]

We have a small stockpile of incandescents. I wish we had bought a spare toilet before they changed them. It really is shocking that I’m saying those things in the US.

[TexasRepublic]

The LED lights in my experience have been short-lived also. Perhaps the LED’s themselves will last 100,000 hours, but the circuit that converts 110VAC to a few volts DC does not last long. I bought an LED floodlight (Chinese, of course) for $20.00 from Walmart as a trial. Within a few months, 2/3 of the LED’s don’t light up — they seem to be grouped into segmented clusters, like slices of a pie.

I have already accumulated a lifetime supply of 100W bulbs.