California regulates 'energy vampire' appliances

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 12/15/04 | Don Thompson - AP

[Malsua]

I've just discovered how much power I saved by switching to compact fluorescents instead of incandescents

The only issue I have with that is the color of the light. I'm a blondish haired guy of primarily German ansestry and a German sized fellow who burns in 10 minutes of direct sunlight. I think I'm 10% vampire(mostly because I see the neck of nubile young women and I want to suck on it, but that's besides the point) but the real issue is I look deathly ill under those lamps. I really like those Reveal bulbs because they make me look human.

Do they really make a difference? I am willing to toss a couple of them around the house.

[FreedomPoster]

They do make a big difference. I use them in lights that are on a lot, like the lamp in the living room that's on a timer to make me look home.

[Calvin Locke]

Each GFIC outlet draws ~2w/hr, just sitting there, active.

The clocks in the nuker, stove, etc., draw about 5 watts, each.

Wall-warts are notoriously inefficient. Without a load, they still consume 40-60% of the rated output wattage.

[SedVictaCatoni]

Do they really make a difference? I am willing to toss a couple of them around the house.

The math is pretty simple - a 15 watt CFL gives equivalent light output to something like a 70 watt incandescent, because it isn't wasting power generating heat in addition to light. The bulbs are practically cool to the touch even after they've been running a while - and they don't heat up the room anymore. And forget buzzing or flickering - that's fluorescents from 30 years ago.

And, even better, they now have full-spectrum ("Reveal") compact fluorescents, which is what you're looking for.

They also last much longer. I was talking to somebody who moved recently - he unscrewed all his CFL bulbs and brought them with him, because they still had something like three years of life left. You save money both on the power consumption and on never having to replace them. I've replaced about 300 watts of incandescents so far with 75 watts of CFLs, so that's almost a quarter of a kilowatt saved every hour they're on. It'll also be nice not having to run the AC as hard in the summer to compensate for the heat from the lamps.

[MarkL]

Wait till you see the price tag for these new appliances before you tell them they are saving money. Saving electricity yes, saving money, I doubt it.

No kidding... I was looking into getting one of those new water saver clothes washing machines, and maybe a high efficiency dryer to go along with it... Then I saw the price tag. Those "saver" washers run nearly $1000! I'll stick with my 12 year old washing machine.

Mark

[MarkL]

I also use the compact florescent bulbs where ever I can at home. I have some fixture that they simply won't fit into, and in my kitchen ceiling light fixture, I've got 1 incandescent and one florescent bulb. I really like them, however, I've seen that the advertised "brightness" is pretty optimistic. I find that to get the brightness of a 60 watt bulb, I need to use the 75 or 100 watt florescent equivalent (I don't remember the actual rating). When I tried using one of the 60 watt equivs, I found myself sitting in the dark. Well, at least "dim."

Mark

[beaver fever]

I had a discussion about conservation with a friend of mine who told me that he never shuts his computer down because it doesn't use much electricity. I asked him how he knew that because be both live in the same building and the electricity is included in the rent. He looked at me like I said something incredibly stupid.

I got my revenge when the fan on his machine failed suddenly after running 24/7 for three years. The fan failure cooked his motherboard taking the drive with it and cost him $600 to retrieve half of the files. He's a 3D artist and lost a ton of irreplaceable stuff. What goes around comes around. The moral of the story is that your expensive appliances will last long if you don't let them run while you're not using them. Would you run a bench grinder 24/7? Would you buy a bench grinder that did,t have an off button?

[zarf]

Just imagine how much more you can save by disconnecting the doorbell and making visitors use the knocker instead!

Don't give me any ideas. I'm so cheap I forced my ex-girlfriend to stick her head out of our moving car to dry her hair instead of running up our electric bill using a hair dryer.

[this_ol_patriot]

I will have to try those Reveal CFL lights. I have the normal compact fluorescents bulbs everywhere except where color quality matters, they just give everything a ghastly yellow/red tinge. I haven't seen the Reveal ones yet are they available at Wal-Mart or Lowes?

[paul51]

Bureaucrats sitting around calculating how much all their new regulations will save us. Ah...what's wrong with that picture. After the great gas regulations that drive those prices higher than just about anywhere else in the country, I don't know if I can afford any more savings.

[TASMANIANRED]

Listen folks, profit from their insanity. Invest in companies that manufacture these ultra low watt products.

No one in Ca is going to do without these things, Guaranteed automatic sells of millions of units over the next 4 years.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Once-Ler]

I'm not happy about the regulations but I am constantly marveling at the innovative ways that mankind finds to clean up after ourselves. I never even thought about all the devices I have plugged into my house. I rarely even think about turning off lights much less unplugging stuff. It is great that business is figuring out ways to conserve energy so I don't have to think about it.

[supercat]

Idiot. What about the price increases in appliances? Do they think that by simply waving their hand they can have appliances that use fewer watts when they're turned off?

Probably. And they're probably not 100% wrong. I would suspect that the increase in demand for efficient off-line switchers is going to cause more companies to develop inexpensive ones. There may be some market inertia, but I suspect there are some definite improvements to be made. That having been said, things like clock displays are going to use power regardless of the supply efficiency.

[SedVictaCatoni]

I haven't looked for them at the stores yet. I know you can order them online. Just check for "full spectrum" - that's the generic name for Reveal-types.

[Melas]

Manufacturers will just stop selling appliances and cars in CA. It's not worth the trouble.

Not a chance in hell. There are 36 million people in California, or over 12% of the population of the entire United States. That's just too big of a market to ignore. If you want to talk about a market that's not worth the trouble, check out Wyoming.

[general_re]

Mandating lower power consumption is going to cause some pencil sharpening in the engineering and marketing departments.

Attention, citizen! You are in violation of Section 304 of the Mandatory Conservation Act of 2006! Surrender your electric pencil-sharpener at the nearest CalPower Reclamation Center!

;)

[freepatriot32]

I'm so cheap I forced my ex-girlfriend to stick her head out of our moving car to dry her hair instead of running up our electric bill using a hair dryer.

if you get a large dog with a big tongue from the pound for 25 bucks or so you never need to wipe your hands off on paper towels saving a fortune every year plus less space is used in the landfills :-)

[Melas]

Leaving your computer on is a mixed bag. Turning your computer on is the biggest stress that a great many of the internals of a computer, like your motherboard, sound card, and RAM chips ever face. On the other hand, running stresses other components like fans and power supplies, and these components benefit from turning your machine off.

[Jaysun]

Probably. And they're probably not 100% wrong. I would suspect that the increase in demand for efficient off-line switchers is going to cause more companies to develop inexpensive ones. There may be some market inertia, but I suspect there are some definite improvements to be made. That having been said, things like clock displays are going to use power regardless of the supply efficiency.

Maybe, but this isn't a demand created in the marketplace, it's a regulation. I've been in a factory that makes electrical boards, zillions of them. They're cheap because they've been making them forever and they're readily available. When they're changed to consume less watts it'll have a major impact on those factories - and for what? To whose benefit? Supposedly it'll benefit the consumer, but the consumer isn't asking for this.

I can see some obvious benefits if they make this work, but I always cringe when I see government mandating this and that on an industry without considering the implications.