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The light bulb switchover: in the dark
mt mail ^ | 9/29/2010 | Edwin Feulner, Ph.D.

Posted on 10/10/2010 9:22:26 AM PDT by george76

So, are you ready to comply with the federal government's ban on incandescent light bulbs? Me neither.

Starting in January 2012, a little over a year from now, the phase-out begins. Simple, inexpensive lighting will become a time-capsule item.

Compact-fluorescent lights, or CFLs - the bulbs that look like a twisted ice-cream cone (and won't fit in many light fixtures where space is tight) - will become the new norm.

Anyone who has priced CFLs knows they're not cheap. Supposedly they're worth the extra money because they'll last longer.

That's cold comfort, though, given the dull, unnatural glow that these bulbs throw off.

Worse, CFLs are full of mercury. If one breaks - and who hasn't dropped a light bulb now and then? - you have an elaborate clean-up process ahead of you.

It's on the EPA's website, and it involves evacuating the area of all people and pets, and using duct tape and damp paper towels to get everything up. And no vacuuming, or you may disperse the mercury - which, after all, is a toxic substance.

Some lawmakers are trying to reverse this part of the 2007 law. Republican representatives Joe Barton and Michael Burgess from Texas and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, have introduced legislation to repeal the ban on incandescent bulbs.

"Washington-mandated layoffs in the middle of a desperate recession are one of many examples of what happens when politicians and activists think they know better than consumers and workers," Barton said.

The question is: Will their fellow policy makers finally see the light?

(Excerpt) Read more at themountainmail.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; US: Tennessee; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: cfl; cfls; fluorescentlights; incandescent; lightbulb; lightbulbs
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To: rollo tomasi

Well, since they are not “outlawed” I will just use my existing stash as long as I want HA HA HA.


61 posted on 10/10/2010 10:31:51 AM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: ully2

Mercury comes out of the ground, when you dump the CFLs, the mercury goes back into the ground.

Sort of like recycling.


62 posted on 10/10/2010 10:32:54 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (King: "I have a dream"...Sharpton: "I want a check")
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To: george76; mckenzie7; francky; The Doctor; router899; Qbert; Diapason; xzins; HushTX; T bench; ...
+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

63 posted on 10/10/2010 10:34:30 AM PDT by narses ( 'Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.')
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To: Scrambly

Stewie...”That was a nice one”.


64 posted on 10/10/2010 10:41:19 AM PDT by gathersnomoss
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To: no-to-illegals

btw...I do not know or endorse any products of the posted website.


65 posted on 10/10/2010 10:42:00 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Please God, Bless and Protect Our Men and Women in Uniform)
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To: rollo tomasi
We keep thinking that all mandates are bad.

Delivery of potable drinking water is MANDATED throughout the country.

NO BURNING RUBBISH is mandated in most areas.

No hunting within 500 feet of a residence.

You have to look at the "truth or consequences".

Is this bulb mandate bad?? What are the consequences?

It's bad in that it has nothing to do with health, safety and welfare and the saved energy will just be used elsewhere. ACTUAL ENERGY SAVINGS = ZIP.

66 posted on 10/10/2010 10:43:41 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (What)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Virtually every bulb in our winter house and the cottage have been replaced, as they blew, with CFLs. The light is fine, they do indeed last much longer than the incandescents and my kw usage is substantially less than it used to be. As for the mercury, well, when I was a kid we used to play with it on our desks at school...which may go a long way to explaining the 60s!


67 posted on 10/10/2010 10:45:23 AM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: Sacajaweau
“Delivery of potable drinking water is MANDATED throughout the country.”

Federal

“NO BURNING RUBBISH is mandated in most areas.”

State/local governments

“No hunting within 500 feet of a residence.”

State

“Is this bulb mandate bad??”

Yes, the “mandates” should be decided by the free market, not the Federal Nanny State

68 posted on 10/10/2010 10:48:01 AM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

I have noticed that folks who kvetch about fluorescents on principle of inferior light usually don’t complain about the lighting in most businesses, retail outlets, offices, and schools.

***********

I’ve also noticed the folks who squawk about the mercury in the CFLs usually don’t complain about the mercury in the old fashioned tube style fluorescent bulbs.


69 posted on 10/10/2010 10:50:06 AM PDT by Hepsabeth
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To: MinuteGal

The story as I recall it, is that George Bush signed that abhorrent bill into law.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8cDmi7-U8


70 posted on 10/10/2010 10:54:44 AM PDT by Canedawg (Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit enough to be honest.)
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To: rollo tomasi

All those reps that voted for the law are State/local Reps.


71 posted on 10/10/2010 10:55:11 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (What)
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To: Canedawg

That was part of a BIG energy bill and I believe a veto would have been useless. Congress had the votes.


72 posted on 10/10/2010 11:02:15 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (What)
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To: Hepsabeth

The only valid concern with the CFL lights is that they’re basically becoming mandatory. The problem is not the bulbs - it’s the law. I have several of them in my house, but I also have several incandescent lights in places where those work best. The federal government has decided that I’m too stupid to decide what kind of lighting should be used in my house. They are wrong, as usual.


73 posted on 10/10/2010 11:02:38 AM PDT by meyer (Tax the productive to carry the freeloaders - What is it with democrats and slavery?)
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To: george76

The LED bulb maybe the long range solution but the price is very high as it starts out.

Home Depot to sell Philips LED to replace 60-watt bulb:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2604529/posts?

Home Depot later this year plans to carry a Philips LED bulb designed as a replacement for the common 60-watt incandescent. The bulb, now called the 12-watt EnduraLED, will be available by the beginning of December and will cost between $40 and $50, representatives from Philips and Home Depot said today.
end snip


74 posted on 10/10/2010 11:04:41 AM PDT by deport (TEXAS -- Early Voting begins OCT. 18, 2010 (vote early and often)
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To: george76

Besides, they don’t last “twice as long”. They seem to burnout much sooner.


75 posted on 10/10/2010 11:08:54 AM PDT by HapaxLegamenon
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To: george76

The problem is that the same environmentalists do NOT want those factories here in the US and/or want to regulate them to death. And the Unions want the factories to pay way over market rate wages when the factories do appear here. So, what is a factory to do? Move elsewhere where environmental regulations are looser and they can pay a market rate for wages.


76 posted on 10/10/2010 11:15:41 AM PDT by Thunder90 (Fighting for truth and the American way... http://citizensfortruthandtheamericanway.blogspot.com/)
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To: george76

I’ve been stockpiling incandescants since that silly bill passed. I’d have a storage room full of them except my DH thinks renting storage is nuts. I have about five years worth of bulbs stashed.


77 posted on 10/10/2010 11:27:32 AM PDT by Vor Lady
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To: deport

LEDs are direct current devices, the price of the bulb includes the price of the inverter. LEDs lighting strings that run from a common source are much more efficient, less noisy, and easily configurable.


78 posted on 10/10/2010 11:29:10 AM PDT by ScreamingFist
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To: ScreamingFist

Forgot the link....

http://www.ledlight.com/


79 posted on 10/10/2010 11:33:39 AM PDT by ScreamingFist
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To: Paved Paradise

If you have a Big Lots nearby, they sell a wonderful daylight lamp for less than $40. They are fluorescent, but give off a bright white light that is great for reading and cross stitching and other close work. We use them for puzzles, too. I have about 5, including a couple desk lights. :)

They aren’t beautiful, but they are functional. You can get more expensive ones that are prettier, of course.


80 posted on 10/10/2010 11:34:40 AM PDT by Politicalmom
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