Future looks dim for incandescent bulbs (President Bush has said he will sign this nonsense)

Hattiesburg American | 12/17/07 | PAUL DAVIDSON

[tob2]

I am currently using several compact flourescent light bulbs. The lighting is better than with incandescent and have noticed a drop in my electric bill already. FYI, flourescent bulbs cannot be used in a totally enclosed light fixture. There are also those very small incandescent bulbs which resemble candle flames for chandeliers etc. which remain incandescent.

However, does there really need to be a law about what type of lightbulbs we use? Seems like our elected officials in Washington have just wasted time on this bit of nonsence legislation.

[Calpernia]

Related:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678447/posts
Light Pollution (If you think it’s a joke, think again. The movement seeks to change laws)

[Thermalseeker]

We do composite repair on sailplanes and this time of year we often use incandescent bulbs to provide spot heat when we do small repairs. It’s way cheaper than heating the whole shop to 80F. I also use a 100W light bulb in my paint cabinet to keep the paint and resins at workable temps, a couple of light bulbs in the bathroom in the hangar and one in my well pump house to keep the pipes from freezing. Flourescents just won’t work in these applications......

[Doogle]

.......the article don’t mention that these new bulbs are made in China and have Mercury that has to be disposed of properly.
Of course China will have to build 50 or so more coal burning factories to produce the zillions of replacement bulbs....and ALGORE will head up the company that will bury the Mercury safely....probably have the company that will respond to the HAZMAT problem you’ll have when you drop one of them too

[NavyCanDo]

We have replaced about half the lights in our home with CFL’s and not for the reason for trying to save the planet or anything foolish like that, but just for the reason to lower our electric bill. I love lower bills, and with the lights, new triple pane windows, and 11 more inches of attic insulation, our consumption has dropped around 40% from 2 years ago.
There are some areas however were CFL’s can’t be used to replace the old lights like our entry chandelier, or the pair of 250 watt Halides we use on our Reef Aquarium, which when on, spin our electric meter like a 33 1/3 record. Then you have all the little light bulbs our on 9 electric train sets. They pass some stupid law; it could have some equally stupid results.

Look back at the TV’s and Radios of our past. Remember when you had to replace the tubes in them once in a while. Solid State components made the old tubes obsolete. There were No Laws banning the glass tubes. It took innovation, and that is how it should be, be it light bulbs or gasoline.

[newzjunkey]

The mercury hand-wringing is as bad as global warming hysteria. Modern florescent bulbs are good technology. The old incandescent has had its day. Time to look to more efficient technologies.

I’ve used them almost exclusively since the CA power crisis. I’ve never broken a single one and enjoyed the lower power bills.

[newzjunkey]

King George II is a vast disappointment (and I had low expectations)

Right there with you.

[Ditter]

I have been using florescent bulbs since they first came on the market and I find none of what you say to be true. Most of mine have lasted for years. I have them inside and out, up side down, in lamps and in closed fixtures and I am very pleased with the longevity and the light quality.

[Don Joe]

Don’t worry, the XXII Amendment protects you. (At least until the next one steps to the fore!)

[from occupied ga]

I use them in some places, but not in others. Like you said, they just don't work in some situations. I like halogens, but they're expensive - nevertheless, I use them in some places like reading lamps because they don't fade out with time as much as regular incandescents or the CFs nor do they develop that 60 Herz hum. I use the CFs in hallways and in more or less open fixtures in my bedrooms Now Kongress is going to ram one more thing that I don't want up my @$$ in the name of environmentalism along with their ridiculous CAFE standards.

Another problem with the CF's is that a lot of reading lamps use three way 150w or 250w max, and although 100W equivalent CF's are cheap (about $1.50 at costco) there aren't any 250W CF equivalents and the 150W CF equivalents are $10.50 plus they are too large to fit inside the harp on a lot of lamps.

[Ipberg]

As usual, a politician is not permitting the market to decide. This is one price you pay for living in an elected dictatorship instead of a libertarian democracy.

[The Great RJ]

Be prepared, these “environmentally friendly” bulbs contain a significant amount of mercury and pose health hazards if broken and of course will have to be disposed as hazardous waste when they burn out.

[the OlLine Rebel]

“It took innovation, and that is how it should be”

Everyone now thinks not only that *every*thing is possible, but that they can push it to their time-line and regulate when you will invent XXXX.

Soon we will have transporters in our houses because the Dems said so.

[cricket]

Thanks for that leadership, Mr President!

Dittos on that one. Good grief. . .GW. . .the 'algore environmentalist'. Enough to make one ill. What a pathetic, bogus issue here to give way to; and with economic implications as well. And health issues perhaps as well. Who knows; maybe 'cancer' stats will go up. . .whatever, GW is trading America OFF. . .

[the OlLine Rebel]

Is it really necessary to force things to change, though? And to make criminals of people using old technology? And to force new technology before it’s ready?

[Let's Roll]

Mercury pollution? So what - as long as whatever is proposed is an opportunity to jerk the general public around, whackos are all for it.

And the cheery warmth provided by incandescents at a time when 60% of the country is covered by snow - forget it.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I have to ask - isn’t flourescent ALWAYS “high intensity”?

Some of us get tired (literally) of the bright lights at work, which are all flourescent. Some of us don’t want our *eyeballs* burned out at home, which should be allowed to have softer, less-intense lighting to be, well, “homey”.

[Biblebelter]

Talk to teachers who may have taught twenty or more years ago. The shift from incandescent lighting affected some students detrimentally. There was a noticeable difference in concentration among the same students when they shifted from from a flourescent classroom to an incandescent one and vice versa. As a personal note, I have taken some of these very unscientific autistic tests found on the internet, and if I believe those tests I am borderline autistic. I know have been in certain environments where the “noise” or hum of the lighting has affected my concentration.

[NavyCanDo]

The place I am excited about using them this year is on my outside Christmas decorations. I have replaced nine 65 watt outdoor floods that shine on Holiday yard displays with outdoor CFL floods which I swear seem brighter, and at about 25 watts per bulb. I also went to LED for all the colored lights which use 80% less watts, and they say last much longer that the old lights sets and have a nicer Jewell like color.

I can’t wait to compare this years December bill with last years.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Last I saw these new bulb also wont work with a dimmer switch or motion light so I guess plenty of switches and fixtures will need to be replaced.