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A Defense of the Incandescent Light Bulb
New York Times ^ | April 24, 2009 | Leora Broydo Vestel

Posted on 04/27/2009 9:08:01 AM PDT by reaganaut1

Now, amid a growing raft of legislation around the globe aimed at phasing out the standard incandescent light bulb (and in some corners, popular resistance to that idea), Mr. Brandston [an award-winning lighting designer] is stepping out of retirement and into the debate over energy-efficient lighting.

Specifically, Mr. Brandston accuses “energy zealots” of using faulty science to determine the efficiency of light bulbs, and he says that simplistic lumens-per-watt comparisons obscure questions of how well different bulbs do what they’re supposed to do: light up a room.

The government, manufacturers and efficiency advocates, in pushing the adoption of compact fluorescents, are “forgetting the lamp has to serve a purpose for the area it’s lighting,” Mr. Brandston said in a recent series of chats with Green Inc. “It has to work within a system which includes the luminaire — the fixture — and it has to work within the room. The room is part of that system. And when you ignore the fixture, the room and the purpose, you’re going to come up with something that is not going to serve well.”

“The system efficiency is really what counts,” Mr. Brandston added, “not lumens per watt, not how much light per watt is produced, but how much of that produced light is actually put to purposeful use.”

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Brandston follow.

...

Q. You’re not happy with the direction the government is going with respect to setting efficiency mandates for lighting products. Why not?

A. I think the government’s use of lumens-per-watt as a metric is a mistake. It doesn’t follow lighting practice. It’s one tiny part of what lighting design is all about. And by using that one metric, you are limiting the choices of all lighting designers and not following good lighting practice.

(Excerpt) Read more at greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cfl; energy; incandescent; lightbulbs
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Later in the interview, Brandston is asked how people should decide on CFLs vs. incandescents. He says

"But the average person’s subjective judgment that they utilize when they buy their clothes, when they buy their furniture, when they buy whatever, is more than adequate."

What a concept, letting people decide for themselves. As Thomas Sowell wrote,

“Freedom is . . . the right of ordinary people to find elbow room for themselves and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of their ‘betters.’”

1 posted on 04/27/2009 9:08:01 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1

Two biggest uses of energy: mobility and heating (and cooling). Everything else is just noise along with the arguments over what to light with. Personally I prefer whale oil in my lamps, it’s less sooty.


2 posted on 04/27/2009 9:12:02 AM PDT by palmer (Cooperating with Obama = helping him extend the depression and implement socialism.)
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To: reaganaut1

Let the ‘greenies’ and lefties sit on their compact florescents and slowly rotate.


3 posted on 04/27/2009 9:14:07 AM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: palmer

If you cut your hand on a CFD get to a hospital or you’ll be dead in a month.


4 posted on 04/27/2009 9:14:46 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: reaganaut1

Well, as it happens, we have wall sconces in a couple of rooms, and a couple of chandeliers. They take those smaller size screw-in bulbs with clear glass.

I can’t imagine how those could possibly be replaced with something that would not be highly offensive to the eye.

I use compact flourescents throughout the rest of the house, but I’ve begun assembling a lifetime’s supply of bulbs for the wall sconces and chandeliers. We inherited the sconces from a great aunt, and they are real antiques.

In any case, the government has no damned business outlawing a kind of light bulb that has been used ever since we got off of whale oil and candles.


5 posted on 04/27/2009 9:17:09 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: reaganaut1
I'm guardedly optimistic that sanity may yet return to the American electorate and we can throw the corrupt idiots out of congress, but I'm hedging by stocking up on incandescent bulbs.

Thanks for posting.

6 posted on 04/27/2009 9:18:13 AM PDT by steelyourfaith ("The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." - Lady Thatcher)
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To: reaganaut1

Obama’s hidden bailout of General Electric

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200021/posts


7 posted on 04/27/2009 9:22:35 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB (ACORN:American Corruption for Obama Right Now)
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To: Minutemen
We knocked our monthly power bill down $50 just by replacing incandescents with CFLs. We are now replacing the CFLs with LEDs.

One thing I've noticed is that somebody, hopefully me, is going to make a whale of a lot of money with NEW lamp designs that take full advantage of LED capabilities.

At the moment most of your LED lamps are using retrofitted CFL and incandescent brackets ~ which is all wrong. Some new LED systems simply use small panels wired together. You get more light with more panels and you can glue them on what amounts to a lampshade.

8 posted on 04/27/2009 9:22:57 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: reaganaut1

An obvious way of looking at things...that I never considered. It made me think about my own situation:

I’m sitting in an office (14’ x 12’), which would be lit by one fixture (two 100 watt bulbs) if it were a bedroom in my house.

Instead, there are four flourescent fixtures (12 bulbs). The bulbs say 32 watt on them, so combined, thats 384 watts.

Heck, I could even have two fixtures with two 75 watt bulbs each (300 watt).

Or four can lights (75 watt).

Anything would give me better lighting than these stupid flourescent. Luckily, I do save energy, since at any given time, at least three bulbs are burnt out (since they last sooo long).

I’m sure there is some savings on air conditioning, because of no heat from the flourescent...but why in the heck do office buildings use this crappy light, if there is no real energy savings. And why would I ever use these in my home, if it takes TWELVE bulbs to light one office?


9 posted on 04/27/2009 9:23:22 AM PDT by lacrew (Will Kenya ever apologize to us?)
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To: steelyourfaith
Sad thing is that this stupid law was passed under Bush's watch. I personally think this is the issue that could lead the American people back to some sort of sanity. Glen Beck did a segment on it last week and the “New Republicans” should lead the fight to repeal this insane edict.
10 posted on 04/27/2009 9:23:29 AM PDT by Murp
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To: steelyourfaith
I've found this outfit to be an excellent source for incandescent and halogen bulbs. Good prices too, especially those “hard to find” types.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/?gclid=COuz1u-7kZoCFQoMDQodYShJFg

11 posted on 04/27/2009 9:25:10 AM PDT by Roccus (The Capitol, the White House, the Court house.....................America's Axis of Evil!)
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To: muawiyah
We are now replacing the CFLs with LEDs.

Once LEDs get a bit cheaper, they'll end up replacing both; they have all the best features of each and none of the drawbacks of either (except cost, for the time being).

12 posted on 04/27/2009 9:26:54 AM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent design is to evolutionary biology what socialism is to free-market economics.)
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To: lacrew

100 watt incandesant light lets out most of that 100 watss as heat, the ac if 50% efficent needs nearly 200 watts to cool the building. many offices run AC even in winter (at least in california) cuase teh heat build up with all the workers, lights and computers actually over heats the building!!

so that 100 watt light buld may take close to 200watts to cool the building total is about 300 watts for cooling and light switch to a floresent of say 40 watts, get about teh same light and almost no extra AC load. this would be about a 260 watt savings per 100 watt buld replaced with a 40 watt flouresent.

in home use, or in an area where heat is needed, these big savings are less.


13 posted on 04/27/2009 9:30:06 AM PDT by dhm914
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To: dhm914

Thanks for the education (post 13). Makes sense to me...and my employer was able to freely choose to use flourescent lighting. I do dread the day when I no longer have that choice at home.


14 posted on 04/27/2009 9:33:43 AM PDT by lacrew (Axe not what your teleprompter can do for you....)
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To: dhm914

Perhaps. But the cold weather performance of fluorescent bulbs is terrible. Try putting one in your outdoor light in a cold climate....

hh


15 posted on 04/27/2009 9:34:52 AM PDT by hoosier hick (Gotta go, millions of Obama supporters are counting on me to pay their mortgages)
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To: massgopguy
"If you cut your hand on a CFD get to a hospital or you’ll be dead in a month."

~~~

Your submission for FR's "Dumb@$$ Statement of the Month" contest?

16 posted on 04/27/2009 9:35:19 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: dhm914

I save my bucks by not running the air conditioner.


17 posted on 04/27/2009 9:37:24 AM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: palmer
heating

Incandescent light bulbs, along with big screen TVs, help heat a home in winter. If they are replaced with something more energy efficient, the heating bill will go up to compensate. Although air conditioning costs are higher in summer, in most places the total heating cost for the year is larger than the air conditioning cost.

18 posted on 04/27/2009 9:39:08 AM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: Cicero

I too have been stockpiling the regular light bulbs. I think I now have enough to last me for the rest of my life. I don’t think they go bad sitting on the shelf—there’s no “use by” date on them.


19 posted on 04/27/2009 9:47:03 AM PDT by basil ( It's time to eliminate all "Gun Free Zones")
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To: palmer
You mean to tell me I won't be “saving the planet” with my CFL?

Now I no longer feel important and part of a social movement with it's cloths, music, magazines, guru's, food, etc.

Did you know US tax money is still being spent telling Americans that we're running out of water and need to conserve? What ever happened to acid rain? I thought by the year 2000 all our forests would be dead? Why was the year 2000 BTW this magic number? I guess the ozone hole is doing better now? Must be, because I haven't gotten skin cancer yet like we all surely would. Thank God for the billions spent on new refrigerants that don't work as well and tend to leak more! From DDT to Global Warming, it's 90% social movement and 10% science.

Here's the key difference. Today it is “big business” that is green. Green rules, laws, subsidies, etc. amount to firms like DuPont years past making fortunes on what amounts to selling cans of fresh air or pet rocks. It's not ridiculous, it's the truth. From Gore's Carbon offset scheme's to mandatory recycling laws that line the pockets of the so called do gooders, the real perverted greed and corruption today rests in those that want to more or less force people to play along in a game that's all essentially make belief. Ultimately, even if you don't buy the party line and reject the nonsense, you will STILL be forced to play along and give your money to those pushing these laws. Did you know GE held numerous patents on CFLs and has been one of the largest profiteers in this new emerging market? It's not a theory, check it up!

20 posted on 04/27/2009 9:49:27 AM PDT by Red6
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