Posted on 08/23/2007 11:56:42 PM PDT by abc123alphabetagamma
WASHINGTON -- If U.S. lawmakers have their way the lights may soon go out on Thomas Edison's greatest invention -- the incandescent light bulb. The 19th century inventor brought illumination to the world's fingertips but according to Congress his invention isn't efficient enough for an age anxious about energy supplies. An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Edison figured out how to create light by feeding electricity to a slender piece of metal inside a bulb until it was hot enough to glow. But little of the energy consumed during this process is used to produce light.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Not real fond of those dem bulbs.
I have about 40 fluorescent light bulbs in my house and they are much cheaper to operate. I only use them in rooms where we spend a lot of time. Our kitchen/family room has 14 recessed fixtures. To have them all on with 65 watt bulbs would consume 910 watts. But at 14 watts each, all 14 lights consume only 196 watts...less than two 100 watt bulbs. Our five outdoor lights consume only 75 watts total. Very important in the winter when they can be on for 18-20 hours a day. The six in the master bathroom only use 78 watts total...much less than the 360 watts the old bulbs used. Our electric bill for a 2400 sq ft house runs about $50 in the summer and about $80-$90 in the winter, thanks to compact fluorescent bulbs. And the quality of the light is pretty good too.
perhaps but it Dems shouldn’t be deciding what kind of light I can or can’t buy.
Of course, the fluorescents are loaded with mercury, which creates expensive disposal problems - but then, nothing’s perfect!
I am also very happy with my compactfl bulbs.
Folks - I know the global warming weenies are wrong and are losers BUT -
these bulbs work well AND I’m saving money.
LET PEOPLE MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES !!!!!!
Just like the forcing of MTBE to added to gasoline, the forcing of the death of incandescent bulbs will become another environmental problem created by those pretending to protect the environment.
Environmentalists have always created more harm than good.
If you are worried about mercury perhaps you ought to consider the following:
The largest source of man-made mercury in the environment from from burning coal in coal-fired power plants.
If you compare the 3.5 mg that are in a fluorescent bulb that is the equivalent of a 100 watt incandescent you would find that electricity generated by coal would account for about 12mg of mercury released into the environment.
Since 50% of US electricity is generated by coal, that means by switching the fluorescent you reduce the amount of mercury in the environment by about 2.5 mg per light bulb.
Moreover, it is also possible to actually properly dispose of fluorescents whereas it is awful tough to get rid of the mercury released as a gas.
So now you can sleep better knowing that your mercury balance is actually better.
More market tweaking legislation. perfect.
I’m a lighting designer. CFLs are great in certain applications. So are LEDs, you’ll be seeing them much more in the coming months. Incandescents are also useful in certain apps, and discharge lights are too.
Politicians don’t need to concern themselves with my job. There are more factors than just wattage going into market choices. They need to butt out. The industry has standards set by the IESNA, we know what we’re doing.
If legislators pass laws that are contrary to the laws of physics and economics, we will suffer the fate of Zimbabwe and North Korea.
So what company is going to make the big splash in LEDs? Cree? Others? I agree it’s going to be LEDs in the future, I”m just wondering who is going to come on strong.
” jewed “
What happens during the ‘jewing’ process???
I am still waiting for the LED’s to come online.
There are a a few screw in LED night lights which are ok but not there yet.
No gas flicker like florescents and no anoying light that makes everything seem off kilter.
The free market is taking care of this there is no need for busy body government for any of this.
The only reason I see for this push is for the companies that make the florescents to recoup their investment developing these dead ends before the good stuff comes online.
(what happens if they find an incandecent that is as efficient as an LED?)
CFL are great; they’re not ‘loaded with mercury,’ and they don’t flicker.
A law mandating them, however, is idiotic.
I suggest you have your posted deleted. It's offensive and makes you look like a bigot.
I HATE those new bulbs. They’re ugly when they are in lights where you see the bulbs (unless your house is modern/contemporary) and I don’t like the light they give off - it bothers my eyes.
We have them in the rooms we DON’T use (kinda funny - opposite of you) and anywhere I read, hubby knows not to touch. We already had our little “discussion” about that.
I’ve installed compact flourescent light bulbs in my house too. I have only one 25W incandescent bulb left (in the TV room because it gives a warm glow and I like that when watching TV.
Unfortunately, I haven’t noticed much change in my electric bill. It seems that when the wife runs the clothes dryer or I run the AC, the energy from those sources more than makes up for the small savings in lighting.
Nonetheless, there are some benefits to compact flourescent light bulbs:
1. They never seem to wear out. No more stocking tons of light bulbs.
2. I like the white light that they give off in every application except in the TV room.
3. The brand of compact flourescent bulb that I purchase takes a minute to come up to full strength. That makes it easier on the eyes when I wake up in the middle of the night and have to navigate my way throughout the house.
If you like the boat load of regulations that the EU passes every year to control everything a European eats, rides, reads or sleeps on, you’ll just love the Dems when they get their hands fully on the levers of power.
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