Of course, the drawback is that they are 5 bucks apiece.
Posted on 03/27/2014 5:19:29 AM PDT by thackney
The Obama administration’s War on Carbon rages, but the good news is the incandescent light bulb still lives.
For the third year in a row, the federal ban on the popular incandescent light bulb — the choice of most Americans — was postponed by Republican House intervention that defunded EPA enforcement of the law.
“None of the funds made available in this Act may be used . . . to implement or enforce the standards with respect to incandescent reflector lamps,” reads section 322 of the $1.1 trillion budget signed by the president in January. The language was cheered by Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) and endorsed by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.) who has become a champion of the common bulb after infamously teaming with Lame Duck Bush and then-speaker Pelosi to kill the bulb in a 2007 global-warming-fighting energy bill.
After a firestorm of criticism from consumer groups led by Freedom Action’s Myron Ebell, Upton & Co. stayed the bulb’s sentence hours before its January 1, 2012 execution. The law eliminates the common bulb by capping the energy that bulbs can draw — effectively a mpg law for bulbs that only CFLs can meet.
The Obama EPA, greens, and their corporate-crony allies have continued to push the ban, however. As in so many of its transformation-of-America ventures, the White House has teamed with Big Business — in this case GE, Philips, and Sylvania — as they use regulation to gain higher profit margins on alternative energy and expensively energy-efficient products. Hundreds of jobs have already been lost as these companies shuttered U.S. incandescent plants to begin CFL production in China – part of the process of “transforming the global lighting industry,” as GE put it.
A ban would come at considerable cost to consumers. In the run up to the 2012 ax, retailers tried to mask the inconvenience to buyers by advertising CFLs at huge discounts. They were short-lived. These days an 8-pack of 60-watt incandescents sells at Lowe’s for $2.98, while equivalent CFLs sticker for six times more: $8.78 for a 4-pack.
Now we know why the president wants that $10 minimum wage — to help low-income workers pay for his bulb ban.
The 40W-60W bulbs not only make up over 50 percent of the market, but CFLs are not the energy-savers greens promised. CFLs are fragile — particularly when turned on and off multiple times. Meanwhile, thanks to general media silence, recent polling indicates only 28 percent of the public is aware that their primary bulb source hangs by a thread. Keep the lights on, GOP.
Or is it because most bulbs were GE and the GE CEO works for Obama and they no longer make the inc bulbs.
Gonna check my store next time out.
Nice to know.
Kind of late now, isn’t it? Home Depot, Lowes and most other stores here in IL have already sold out and are not restocking.
I’ve bought incandescents in WalMart & Target recently.
I just looked at Lowes....Incandescent bulbs are readily available. The Repubs made sure of it. Another Dem failure.
Of course, the drawback is that they are 5 bucks apiece.
FWIW, I bought a handful of LED bulbs at Home Depot(Cree, "assembled in America", according to the package) and have been satisfied, so far. Pros: They cost almost nothing to run, have a 10 year warranty, and should last for about 20 years. Cons: They're 20 bucks apiece.
I figure that they'll pay for themselves in 2 years or so. We'll see. If nothing else, I'll appreciate not needing to climb around on a ladder changing bulbs every couple of months.
If LEDs continue to work OK, I'll go through my stash of incandescents, and start migrating the rest over.
Yes, but what about the cost? Why FORCE people to pay so much more?
I’ve been using the curly bulbs for years. They do seem to last forever. Have been using fluorescent for drafting for 50 years and I love the light.>People don’t realize they had it for 12 years of schooling, at work, at the supermarket...
You save plenty in the long run.The curly jobs last freakin’ forever and they will also lower your electric bill.
Look hard and you can find 60’s, 40’s and some 75’s and 3-ways.
100’s are pretty much gone from the big boxes tho some smaller real hardware/ seed and feed stores carry them. I have a stock of 100’s because they are by gawd NOT going to TELL me what to use and not use.
I am working on my 60’s now because that IS the one I use the most. I do not want to lose access tot hose!!! Also appliance bulbs like for the range/fridge. Unfortunately many are off brands like “Sunbeam” which don’t seem to last as long as the good OLD GE’s. My Phillips are fairly good tho...
Look: I gave the cfl’s a try. They do NOT perform as breathlessly advertised. They are a 3rd world piece of crap product that give dimmer light and do not last. LED’s I am more impressed with. But sheesh...nearly $12 is a pricey lump to chunk down.
Shortly after moving in, I had a problem with one of the light fixtures. Took out the (curly) bulb and its base was all scorched. I got rid of it immediately.
However, being an engineer, and a curious one at that, I started looking at the rest of the curly bulbs in the house. *All* of them were badly scorched. Not wanting a fire hazard, I got rid of all of them and replaced them with incandescents. No more worries. Problem Solved.
I'm not sure what brand of curly bulbs were used - they were all too badly damaged to read the manufacturer stamp. They might have been (probably were, from what I've heard of the former owner) the El Cheapo knockoffs that I see at Lowes and WalMart occasionally. But, for what money it would save me, I figure it's not worth taking the chance with them again.
For what it's worth, I've been happy with the LED's so far. Just get the "Instant On" kind, so there's not that annoying delay after you hit the switch. They do great for the recessed fixtures that I have in my ceiling...and that require an 8-foot ladder to get at. If nothing else, not needing to fool around on a ladder every few weeks will make any long-lasting bulb worthwhile.
That sounds like the logic behind a hybrid car: “Let’s carry TWO propulsion systems (motor AND ICE) and TWO energy storage systems (gas tank AND batteries). That’ll reduce mass and capital cost.
Liberal logic.
My stash of incandescents will last 30 years. I’ll bequeath them to my kids. They can donate them to the museum if they want.
I am so sick and tired of Washington intruding on my life and making everything crappy, all over their damn fetish for energy and environment. Detergents that don’t clean, dishwashers that take forever to dry, yard tool gas cans that leak all over the place, LED light cans in our kitchen remodel that jacked our price up over $2,000, toilets that don’t flush, unproven plastic jetliners, space shuttle launch explosions, “spare the air” days when I cannot use my fireplace, etc, etc, etc.
BUT ...... I bought a stock of 100s, before they disappeared off the shelves. Why? Because someday, I might need one. They're good for droplights, also as a heat source. Most of all, I don't need the gov't telling me what's best for me. Fools, all.
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks that way.
Basically, I use a lot a specific type of incandescent (BR30? Anyway, the kind that goes in recessed lights). Beginning of this year I said..."Either I need to see if these LEDs will be a suitable substitute, or I need to buy a pallet of these regular bulbs and stuff them in my attic. Either way, I'm making a painful wallet extraction."
So far, so good on the LEDs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
So why don’t they also cut off funds for Michelle’s family vacations, Obamacare enforcement, etc.? The house controls all this the same way...purse strings. Yet they continue to fund the EPA and the IRS. So simple, give us the emails by next Thursday or we cut your funding 20%. Same for DOJ...if you don’t enforce immigration laws, then reduce their funding until they do. If we can do it for light bulbs, why not for something important?
OK, I’ve heard a few folks say these things last forever, and others that say they burn out quicker than an incandescent.
I happen to have experienced the latter more than the former.
I wonder if it could be an inconsistent voltage level problem or something.
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