Posted on 04/24/2009 5:32:13 AM PDT by reaganaut1
TUNBRIDGE WELLS, England — On a quaint lane called Camden Street, the sidewalk easel stands out for its apocalyptic tone: “100-WATT BULBS IN STOCK. (FOR HOW LONG WE DO NOT KNOW)”
“Let some government official come in and tell me I can’t sell these,” Jonathan Wright, who has owned Classic Lighting for 40 years, said defiantly as he surveyed his warren of upscale light fixtures and shelves filled with neatly stacked bulbs. “I’ll find them wherever I can get them and sell them for whatever they cost. People are buying in bulk because they want them.”
Mr. Wright says that in the last two months he has sold 3,000 of the 100-watt bulbs — the traditional mainstay of British light fixtures — more than 30 times the usual. People are buying 10 at a time, the limit per customer, even though their price is nearly 50 percent higher than it was a year ago.
Mr. Wright’s store is on the front lines of resistance to controversial global efforts to end the era of energy-gobbling incandescent light bulbs by phasing out their sale to encourage (or in Mr. Wright’s view, force) people to turn to more efficient compact fluorescents.
...
Countries like Australia, Canada, the United States and the European Union nations have drafted varying plans to ban or restrict the sale of incandescent bulbs in the next few years. In the United States, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. effectively bans the sale of almost all incandescent bulbs by 2014, although last year Representative Michele Bachman, a Minnesota Republican, introduced the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, a bill that would overturn it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That’s great. And it ought to be left to the choice of the consumer. If it cannot sell itself on energy savings or on reduced heat generation, it shouldn’t be sold.
Dimming fluorescents don’t mix well with others of different brands, or with incandescents, on the same dimmer. Industry standards for fluorescent dimming characteristics would indeed help.
You might want to do a web search, I would think there is a manufacturer someplace in or near the UK who makes dimmable CFL's.
You might also try contacting David Tyson Lighting and asking them if they know of anyone in the UK making dimmable lights.
The internet - where you can find out things.
Indeed, IIRC Leviton is supporting several different kinds of dimmers in its high end lines and they certainly do not mix
If not, do so! You may have to call HAZMAT to dispose of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.