Banning the Bulb .

Right Side News ^ | 3/24/2011 | J D Longstreet

[IbJensen]

Americans have nine months left in which they can purchase 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. As of the first of 2011, no new 100-watt incandescent light bulbs (except for those left in the store’s inventory) can be sold to the American consumer. The last factory manufacturing the 100-watt incandescent light bulb has been closed and shuttered. The incandescent light bulb manufacturing business has moved the China.

The US manufacturers of light bulbs in America will make only fluorescent bulbs. You’d never guess, would you, that manufacturers will make more profit off the fluorescent bulbs than they did on the old incandescent bulbs?

Back in January of 2008, I wrote the following: “The US Congress recently passed a bill to ban incandescent light bulb use in the United States by the year 2012. (The President signed it into law.) What will replace them? The compact fluorescent light bulb. Why does this upset me? WHY, indeed?!

I’ll point you in the direction of some evidence that the fluorescent bulbs may not be as helpful and energy efficient as claimed and might even damage American’s health and contribute to pollution of the earth. You decide, for yourself, if you really want to put them in your home, where you and your children will be exposed to them, or if you want to raise hell with the Congress until they repeal this ridiculous law and give us back our tried and true incandescent light bulbs.

Did you know it required a special exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency of the US government to allow fluorescent lamp bulbs to be sold to the pubic in the US in the first place? Why? Mercury, that’s why!

“Fluorescent lights are filled with a gas containing low-pressure mercury vapor and argon, or sometimes even krypton. The inner surface of the bulb is coated with a fluorescent coating made of varying blends of metallic and rare earth phosphor salts. Fluorescent light bulbs are more energy efficient than incandescent light bulbs of an equivalent brightness, and the efficiency of fluorescent lighting owes much to low-pressure mercuryphoton discharges. But fluorescents don't produce a steady light, and they burn out more quickly when cycled frequently; they also contain items such as fluorine, neon, and lead powder as well as mercury.” (From: “Compact fluorescent light bulbs contaminate the environment with 30,000 pounds of mercury each year.” You will find it HERE. (This article -- referred to above -- was written by Mike Adams a natural health researcher and author with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company.)

Also from the same article we learn this:

“According to www.lightbulbrecycling.com, each year an estimated 600 million fluorescent lamps are disposed of in U.S. landfills, amounting to 30,000 pounds of mercury waste. Astonishingly, that's almost half the amount of mercury emitted into the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants each year. It only takes 4mg of mercury to contaminate up to 7,000 gallons of freshwater, meaning that the 30,000 pounds of mercury thrown away in compact fluorescent light bulbs each year is enough to pollute nearly every lake, pond, river and stream in North America (not to mention the oceans). “

Then, there is this. The CFL bulb “…. can cause people with epilepsy to experience symptoms similar to the early stages of a fit. There have also been complaints of discomfort from people with lupus.” Read more about this in The Daily Mail HERE.

Now… what if you accidentally drop and break one of the CFL’s? Well, you could be looking at a $2,000.00 plus “professional clean-up job”. I mean… they do contain Mercury, remember? Don’t believe me? Check this story out: The CFL mercury nightmare [break a compact fluorescent, face $2000 in cleanup costs]

HERE.

Add to this the fact, and I do mean fact… that there certainly appears to be less light output (lumens) from the CFL than from an incandescent bulb. Now… all the research I have done tells me that the CFL’s produce the same lumens as a comparable incandescent bulb. But, in practice, I have found that replacing a 60 watt incandescent with a 60 watt CFL will NOT produce the same amount of lighting. The area I am trying to light is dimmer, not lighted nearly as well, with the CFL as it was with the incandescent. I have found the same true with 75-watt bulbs and 100-watt bulbs. I have even swapped the 60’s out for 75’s and the 75’s out for 100 watt CFLs and I STILL don’t see the crisp brightness I get from the old incandescent bulb.

Now, I am not an engineer. I’m just an old country boy, who has been around the block few times, and experience tells me there HAS to be something different about the lumens emitted by an incandescent and the lumens emitted by a CFL. Is it a different KIND of light? Is that what the matter is?

OK... so I did a bit more research and this is what I found:

A 100-watt incandescent light bulb will produce about 1200 lumens. I read that a 20 t0 25 watt CFL will produce the same amount of lumens... but… if the light fixture you are using isn’t DESIGNED for CFLs you will get a "dingy looking" light. Not nearly as bright as the old incandescent bulb! It seems someone forgot to inform us that CFLs radiate their light differently. What that means is... that even though the CFL is producing the same amount of lumens, it may not be producing the same amount of LIGHT to the lighted area! AH -HAAA! I knew it!

Read more on this HERE.

So, besides the fact that CFLs don’t work well in cold climates… or just plain old cold weather, they don’t work well, at all, in overhead fixtures, they don’t work, at all, with dimmers, they contain poison, they do not produce the same amount of light as the incandescent light bulbs… in today's light fixtures, and ...they must be treated as hazardous waste material when you get ready to toss one out, … why… they’re just GREAT!

Why do I get the feeling I’ve been scammed… yet again?

As I write, I am in my office, and I have five different light fixtures on right now. I have CFLs in all five of them and, frankly, it is as through I am sitting here, in front of this computer, working by the light of a number of oil lamps situated around the room! The light is that bad! If I drop something on the floor, I have to get up and turn on the overhead lights, which have incandescent bulbs in them, so I can find the dropped item on the floor.

This is madness! I’m at the point, with the CFL bulbs, that I would happily see the oceans boil and keep my incandescent bulbs!

Between now and 2012, I’m going to horde as many incandescent light bulbs as I can get. Every trip to the store I intend to buy light bulbs and store them.

We should condem the Compact Fluorescent Light bulb to hell! (This article can be found HERE.”)

Although there is SOME movement abroad in the Congress to repeal this ban on 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, who knows how the unresponsive bunch of old hippies, tree-huggers, and “Gaia worshippers” will vote -- especially in the Senate!

It is time to do two things: Aggravate the living daylights out of Congress -- and the President -- to repeal this abomination of a law – and begin hoarding incandescent light bulbs every time you venture to a store stocking light bulbs. I have already begun stocking all the incandescents I can get my hands on. (Remember -- many of today’s light fixtures will not even allow a CFL bulb’s usage. They simply will not fit in them – and -- when they do … the actual lighting produced by them is so poor that you may have to set up lamps, in the same room, with incandescent bulbs in them -- just so you can see! Consider this: You may well be forced to change every light fixture in your home, your office, your business, etc, just to accommodate those cussed, pathetic, excuses for a light bulb.

So far, our toilets have to be flushed multiple times in order to remove the waste, which actually increases the use of water rather than saving the water. Our showerheads are so poor we have to install additional plumbing to increase the pressure, or drill out the holes so more water can get thru and the bather can, at least, get the soap of him or her.

Our gasoline is dilutee by ethanol, something we southern folks recognize as a form of rot-gut home distilled whiskey, which comes from corn -- and is driving the cost of food stuffs and nearly everything else sky high.

Government intrusion in our lives has reached the intolerable point and we have to fight back.

It is time to let your congressperson, including your senators, know you are sick and tired of all this BS and make sure they understand you intend to vote in November of 2012.

J. D. Longstreetis a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in "America First".· He is a thirty-year veteran of the broadcasting business, as an "in the field" and "on-air" news reporter (contributing to radio, TV, and newspapers) and a conservative broadcast commentator.

Longstreet is a veteran of the US Army and US Army Reserve. He is a member of the American Legion and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.· A lifelong Christian, Longstreet subscribes to "old Lutheranism" to express and exercise his faith.

[absolootezer0]

simple solution. remove the labelling of “incandescent light” and label them as “300btu heating elements.”

[BilLies]

When they burn out,I plan to safely wrap them and send them to my Ao Congressman. If they ban them from the US Postal Mail, I will hand deliver them to his local Federal Office.

[PATRIOT1876]

* “We’ve replaced Edison’s marvelous invention with this worthless, underpowered piece of crap puked out by the liberal pansies who rule and ruin our lives.”
VERY well said!*

It seems that every time the greenies vomit something up, it turns out to be detrimental rather than helpful to the Earth. Let the practical, thinking, Capitalist “denier” adults run things again and the environment will be clean and efficient. The pre-adolescent environut children have shown over and over again that they don’t know what to do. They can’t be trusted because they are so easily brainwashed.

Anyone who still believes in AGW has an opinion that cannot be trusted. ESPECIAILLY if the topic has anything to do with science.

[BilLies]

I see more and more LEDs, in the form of bulbs, in the Big Box stores. Have bought one yet,

[anonsquared]

If I recall correctly, this entire CFL requirement was pushed by General Electric which would profit handsomely from its passing.

While shopping for incandescent bulbs the other day, I noticed that the largest watt bulbs GE was selling was 75w. Since I no longer buy GE products, I passed.

Then I noticed that Philips is now selling a 95w bulb so that’s what I stocked up on. I think they probably came up with the 95w bulb to still be legal (it’s not 100w!) and screw with GE. Everyone should help them out and buy Philips 95w bulbs. No doubt GE will try to get legislation passed to shut them down.

[BilLies]

Insert “Not”.

[CedarDave]

You forgot to mention washing machines — the new top loading ones are crap (so says Consumer Reports) but, hey, they are energy efficient.

[Marmolade]

This is the last year for 100 watt bulbs. Next year is the 75 watt, then 60 watt, then the 40 watt. By 2014 the bulbs will be off the market - at least that’s the plan as I understand it.

[jda]

From the EPA:

Fluorescent light bulbs contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. When a fluorescent bulb breaks in your home, some of this mercury is released as mercury vapor. The broken bulb can continue to release mercury vapor until it is cleaned up and removed from the residence. To minimize exposure to mercury vapor, EPA recommends that residents follow the cleanup and disposal steps described below.

This page presents only the most important steps to reduce exposure to mercury vapor from a broken bulb - the detailed recommendations are three pages long.

Before cleanup
- Have people and pets leave the room.
- Air out the room for 5-10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outdoor environment.
- Shut off the central forced air heating/air-conditioning system, if you have one.
- Collect materials needed to clean up broken bulb.

During cleanup
- Be thorough in collecting broken glass and visible powder.
- Place cleanup materials in a sealable container.

After cleanup
- Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.
- Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
- If practical, continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the heating/air conditioning system shut off for several hours.

Sounds like there is no problem if you break one, as long as no one (including pets) touches it or breathes the air.

[LoneStarGI]

I’ve noticed that as well, places like Home Depot are finally starting to stock a decent variety. I’ve personally replaced almost every bulb in my house with LEDs. I’ve noticed a big power savings in my electricity bill. And it’s like nothings changed, which is the best part. I’ve got dimmable LEDs and because I use the ‘indoor LEDs’ in the house which produce the soft white light (yellowish light), it’s the same as a soft incandescent. The outside LEDs are ‘outdoor LEDs’ which have a much more brilliant white light with illuminates really well in my light sconces and security flood lights.

[Iron Munro]

Our asinine federal government is dedicated to making life as miserable as possible for citizens until they finish their work in totally destroying the economy and consigning us to permanent 3d world stature.

They are elected to represent their constituents but as soon as they are sworn in they start representing every interest except those of their constituents.

The republicans and democrats are often criticized for not being able to cooperate, but on issues like this, that raise our cost of living and add to our discomfort, they show an amazing ability to reach bipartisan concensus.

Incandescent 100 watt bulbs were recently on sale in my area at $ .75 for a pack of four - about 19 cents each.

A 100 watt equivalent, 26 watt CFL runs $2 to $3 or more.

Amazon sells the 100 watt equivalent Maxxima BR40 LED Light Bulb for $59.99. But shipping is free! I will never

I have incandescent bulbs that have lasted for too many years to count. And I have had some that burned out quickly. But What The Hey! - It’s only 20 cents for a new one.

I had a pack of CFL’s given to me and two of them burned out in a matter of weeks. They’re in the landfill now.

I will never know how long a $60 LED will last because I will never own one.

[Steely Tom]

Remember the good old R-12 refrigerant? Well, it seems that all the patents expired on it, and it became relatively cheap to manufacture. So competitors were cutting in on US company profits. The new stuff had valid patents and was more expensive to manufacture.

You may be surprised at what's coming next from that industry. And it'll be coming from the US.

[gogogodzilla]

LED lights aren’t yet bright enough or cheap enough to compete.

I’d like a 150-watt incandescent bulb equivalent in an LED form, but they don’t exist.

[gogogodzilla]

Well, if we had a million man march into Washington where everyone brought just one flourescent bulb.

And if they surrounded the Capitol building and en masse broke the bulbs underfoot.

We’d see the Capitol rendered a toxic waste site, unfit for human habitation.

Which would then shut them down for a while.

:-P

[Will88]

This is the last year for 100 watt bulbs. Next year is the 75 watt,...

That's odd. What about those variable wattage lamp bulbs, such as the 50-100-150?

[backwoods-engineer]

The stuff in the article about 100W incandescent bulbs being no longer available is not true. You can still buy "industrial" 100W bulbs from "industrial" suppliers like Grainger:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/GE-LIGHTING-Lamp-5V600?Pid=search

A little pricey - $0.63 each, but hey, at least you can still buy them. Make up a company name if you don't already have an LLC.

[Jack Hydrazine]

You can purchase incandescent bulbs rated for 25,000 hours that are called Decade Bulbs because if you use them for an average of 7 hours a day they’ll last almost 10 years. They are used by the hospitality industry and the company I purchase them from is National Hospitality Supply. You can get a 24 pack of standards frosted light bulbs for $25.00 before shipping.

Stock up while you can.
http://www.nathosp.com/product/25k19_c/standard_incandescent_light_bulbs

[Jack Hydrazine]

And LEDs produce a cold, blue white light spectrum. Now that makes me feel good all over!

[hoosierham]

The NATURAL light we see every day is produced by a giant nuclear reactor(the Sun!) and is yellowish and warm.

I have some white LED lighting for safety but must turn on the incandesent to find things and see natural colors.

The phaseout occurs over several years because an abrupt total ban WOULD have stirred even passive Americans to action.

[sten]

you can get an LED bulb that will produce the same number of lumens as a 150 watt bulb... but it'd only use 20% of the power. you should try to think in terms of lumens of light instead of watts, since watts indicates the power used.

there have been some great advances in LED tech in the last 10 years. read thru the chart, some very interesting data. makes you wonder why the hell we don't move to them.

this data came from here (link)

Pearl-30 LED

Energy Efficiency & Energy Costs	Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)	Incandescent Light Bulbs	Compact Fluorescents (CFLs)
Life Span (average)	50,000 hours	1,200 hours	8,000 hours
Watts of electricity used (equivalent to 60 watt bulb). LEDs use less power (watts) per unit of light generated (lumens). LEDs help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and lower electric bills	6 - 8 watts	60 watts	13-15 watts
Kilo-watts of Electricity used (30 Incandescent Bulbs per year equivalent)	329 KWh/yr.	3285 KWh/yr.	767 KWh/yr.
Annual Operating Cost (30 Incandescent Bulbs per year equivalent)	$32.85/year	$328.59/year	$76.65/year
Environmental Impact
Contains the TOXIC Mercury	No	No	Yes - Mercury is very toxic to your health and the environment
RoHS Compliant	Yes	Yes	No - contains 1mg-5mg of Mercury and is a major risk to the environment
Carbon Dioxide Emissions (30 bulbs per year) Lower energy consumption decreases: CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide, and high-level nuclear waste.	451 pounds/year	4500 pounds/year	1051 pounds/year
Important Facts
Sensitivity to low temperatures	None	Some	Yes - may not work under negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit or over 120 degrees Fahrenheit
Sensitive to humidity	No	Some	Yes
On/off Cycling Switching a CFL on/off quickly, in a closet for instance, may decrease the lifespan of the bulb.	No Effect	Some	Yes - can reduce lifespan drastically
Turns on instantly	Yes	Yes	No - takes time to warm up
Durability	Very Durable - LEDs can handle jarring and bumping	Not Very Durable - glass or filament can break easily	Not Very Durable - glass can break easily
Heat Emitted	3.4 btu's/hour	85 btu's/hour	30 btu's/hour
Failure Modes	Not typical	Some	Yes - may catch on fire, smoke, or omit an odor
Light Output
Lumens	Watts	Watts	Watts
450	4-5	40	9-13
800	6-8	60	13-15
1,100	9-13	75	18-25
1,600	16-20	100	23-30
2,600	25-28	150	30-55