[Moonman62]

An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

And the article is wrong about LED light. They come in warm colors just like incandescents.

[nickcarraway]

Is there an LED light that gives natural spectrum light?

[Billthedrill]

An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

True story - I'm re-plumbing the cabin when I first got it and the contractor ended up throwing up a well-house over my well on very short notice. We got it done before dark and it was starting to get cold. He told his son to stick a light bulb inside for overnight heat until we got the heater wired in. Morning comes, water's frozen. What the heck? And there, reposing in splendor, was a CFL bulb giving off plenty of light..."but Dad, they're more efficient", the kid said later. "Are you related to me?" he sez...

[Bobalu]

An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

Totally correct!

U R wise :-)

[Bobalu]

E-Z-Bake-Oven ...lol

My sister had one... we made a tiny cake using the heat from a 100 Watt bulb :-)

[Democratic-Republican]

An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

That's a fact, Jack ...

Precisely the kind of fact that makes liberals and econazi heads explode. When it is like 10° above zero F, like it is right now here in NY, those bulbs are a godsend. Ironically, when the alternative is a house full of LED lights the poor bastard needs to walk over and jack up the thermostat so that the furnace blasts out more warm air - but NOT to just where the humans live ( like a localized incandescent bulb ), but to all the places that the ductwork supplies. Liberals have once again mucked up science and common sense.

They can never understand how this can be, that an incandescent can be more efficient than an LED. They have no clue that heat is not wasted up here in the higher latitudes ( unless these bulbs are recessed in a ceiling or outside, but in the latter case there are bugs and critters who might disagree ;-) but then again they also don't understand the effect the difference that makes in angle of obliquity for solar panels and duration of daytime length either.

Forget about the basics about efficiency too, like the fact that LED's as implemented are throwing away some energy striking phosphors to create "white" light from blue, but also that they are radically heat-sinked to toss away their own heat from overdriving them to get useful lumen equivalence AND from voltage regulation circuitry and/or resistors to ensure the constant current that diodes require and to prevent thermal runaway failure.

~sigh~ Brain-dead liberals got lost somewhere above at the picture of Dr. J.

P.S. It is true that Pelosi and Reid pushed this crony-capitalist gift to General Electric into law, but it was Bush43 who happily signed away Edison's most famous development. In a twisted way, it was actually a gift to oil companies as well since many homes up this way use fuel oil for furnaces, and the thermostat controls that directly ( something else that liberals can never understand ).

[cynwoody]

An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

It is electric resistance heat.

Generally not the most cost-effective source of heat, unless you've got the juice to burn.

Better is an efficient light source (such as this new MIT invention) plus a cheap source of warmth, such as coal or nuclear or anything else that annoys liberals.

[cymbeline]

I’ve gotten a few LED bulbs and love them. I didn’t know how I’d like them until I gave them a try.

The quality and quantity of the light is great and they instantly come to full brightness.

Regarding the quality of the light, LED televisions use LEDs as the backlight so the light quality must be pretty good to render all of the colors.

Go to Wikipedia, “LED lighting” to read up on the properties of the light that is created.

[poconopundit]

...An incandescent used in a home that needs heat is 100% efficient already.

Interesting.  I never thought of it that way.  But you are right, the heat is not wasted.  The only question would be the cost per kilowatt compared to other ways of heating.

I use a wood pellet stove to heat my home in the Northeast.  But recently I've begun to wonder if I wouldn't save money using propane.