Posted on 12/27/2010 12:01:30 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Bloody hell. You can make me a lightbulb that would burn for 1,000 years and charge me $0.00 for it, but it may be the stupidest economic decision ever. Electricity costs money. Is it an efficient bulb?
Jeez. You can’t out-conservative me, but come on. The bulk of the costs of running a light bulb is the cost of electricity, not the cost, longevity, etc. of the bulb. Bulbs could be $0.00 to nearly $50.00 each, and they still account for a minority of the cost of operation. Get over it.
The cost of running a bright (>1,000 lumen) bulb in a low electricity cost state like Oregon is somewhere between $30.00 (halogen) and $80.00 (incandescent) for 6,000 hours. The crappy curliequeue ALGore bulbs probably cost much less to run (I’ll guess $15.00), but they suck for aesthetic and operational reasons. Nonetheless, all of the options cost more for electricity than they do for buying the bulb itself.
So, before additional folks take shots at various technologies, ground your reasoning in economics and simple math. Does the lifetime use of a bulb type that functions properly for you make economic sense compared to its alternatives?
After hours of research for my own situation, a particular halogen bulb will save me about $35 each over 6,000 hours compared to a roughly equivalent incandescent. Since I run a dozen or more of these in my house, I’ll be saving hundreds of dollars.
You can run a straight old-fashioned incandescent 100 watt bulb if you wish, but you’re probably penny wise and pound foolish for failing to have done the simple arithmetic.
And before y’all start calling me a statist who bans products, I’m not saying 100 watt bulbs should be banned. I think people have the right to choose. There may be a rare circumstance where people need / want the 100 watt bulb. Go ahead! But I’m guessing that most people who do that are looking at the cost of the bulb, and totally fail to take into account the larger cost: electricity.
Stupidity is legal, regular, and you are free to engage in it.
DHS to check, control your home energy use as an item of National Security
WRKO radio | 12/20/10
Posted on Monday, December 20, 2010 3:30:33 PM by pabianice
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2645437/posts
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/napolitano-says-dhs-begin-battling-clima
Post # 27
I’m going to stock up on light bulbs that last for 25,000 hours. If you use them for about seven hours a day on average they’ll last a little less than ten years.
You can get them here from this company that sells supplies primarily to the hospitality industry.
http://www.nathosp.com/product/25k19_c/standard_incandescent_light_bulbs
ANOTHER thread
Compact fluorescent light bulb to blame for Hornell fire
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2646886/posts
One of the bulbs I replaced was a 100 watt incandescent reflector. It was really dim; I’ll guess a max of 600 lumens.
I replaced it with a 60 watt halogen for $10, increased the light output to 1,280 lumens (easily double) for 40% less electricity consumption.
Total operational costs including the bulb and electricity is almost exactly half as much using the halogen, and it gives more and better light.
Double the functionality (lumens, which I need), at half the price.
Research, folks!
Well, golly gee, Uncle Miltie, didn't mean to cause you to go apoplectic.
But I save electricity in other way s too - a hellava lot more than light bulbs alone save. Here's just one way: I cook with electric. When cooking, I turn the pan/pot off about a minute before the food is 'done'. the residual heat finishes the cooking. Now, get back to all you minute mathematical computations and figure out how much one would save by turning off just 5 pots/pans a day one minute early. (Take into account that an electric burner consumes much more energy per minute/hour than a light bulb - even a 100 watter.) I also "cook once to eat thrice - or more" That is, I could enough in one session for 2 to 4 meals. That saves a lot of energy.
but my biggest savings comes from having my TV/VCR,etc on a power strip, which I turn off when not watching. And I unplug appliances, like the toaster, coffee pot, slow cooker, mixer - when not in use (You DO know they draw power as long as they are plugged in, don't you ? Of COURSE you do, being such an expert and all. (Those 2 steps alone cut my bill down over $30 a month. )
I also save money by not letting getting my knickers all in a twist over any little thing - don't need doctor's visits and blood pressure meds.
You, however, sound like you could use a chill pill...or a natural spectrum light bulb.
Happy New Year.
Sorry about that. You were just the third poster (or more) who came back with points irrelevant to my posts, so you caught the < flame on >.
I posted a bunch of facts up above, and people have been taking fact-free pot shots at them all afternoon. And work sucked today for similar reasons.
I love economics and saving money. Some of your recommendations sound excellent, and I’ll give them a try.
I just researched bulbs extensively recently, so it peeved me to see such non-factual, ignorant, math-free, polemicising about light bulbs, and have those people spout off against my fact filled posts.
Again, I apologize; you caught me at the moment of losing my temper with the sum of all posters this afternoon.
Plus, if anyone can come back with a better bulb than the one I specified above (criteria below), I’ll go buy a dozen:
1) > 1,200 Lumens
2) < $47 Total Costs (Bulbs + Electricity) for 6,000 hours of operation at $0.09 / Kilowatt hour
3) Flood light with >=25 degree beam
4) Not compact flourescent (I hate the light color, the warm up time, the toxicity, the buzz, lack of focused beam, and the historic lack of dimming)
Heck, I might even learn something. If people post facts.
Have a good evening!
P.S. - If you want to save some more money, look at Mobil 1 (full synthetic motor oil) for your next oil change.
It goes at least twice the distance for twice the price per oil change, so the cost is identical to regular oil on a per-mile-basis.
But it gets me +2 MPG better in each of my cars: Toyota Tundra 2004, Subaru Forester 2003, Subaru Forester 1998. That’s real money!
So, you spend less time in the oil change place, and you save real money on gas. Time + Money = Great Idea!
Plus, your car sounds quieter, and rumor is it will help your car last longer (unproven in my book). All the car guys I talk to agree it is the thing to do.
People whining about incandescents going away are luddites wasting money and electricity. If this were 100 years ago they'd be complaining about gas lights and oil lamps going away!
Here’s today’s review of lighbulbs for lamps, with the criteria being >800 lumens. My previous review was floodlights, and for that application, Halogen 60 Watt bulbs won (see above.) Today, the cheapo GE Softwhites win in my opinion. If you can stand CFLs, they are cheaper (see below). I hate CFLs and won’t buy them.
MFG GE
Name Soft White
Type Bulb
Method Tungsten
Lumens 820
Hours 6,000
Watts 60
W/H 360,000
KW/H 360
Cost / KW/H $0.09
Electricity $32.40
Hours / Bulb 1,500
Bulbs / 6K Hours 4.0
Cost / Bulb $0.47
Total Bulb Costs $1.88
6000 Hour Cost $34.28
Vendor Walmart
Cost / Lumen $0.042
MFG GE
Name Soft White
Type Bulb
Method CFL
Lumens 800
Hours 6,000
Watts 15
W/H 90,000
KW/H 90
Cost / KW/H $0.09
Electricity $8.10
Hours / Bulb 8,000
Bulbs / 6K Hours 0.8
Cost / Bulb $5.22
Total Bulb Costs $3.92
6000 Hour Cost $12.02
Vendor Walmart
Cost / Lumen $0.015
MFG GE
Name Edison
Type Bulb
Method Halogen
Lumens 840
Hours 6,000
Watts 60
W/H 360,000
KW/H 360
Cost / KW/H $0.09
Electricity $32.40
Hours / Bulb 3,000
Bulbs / 6K Hours 2.0
Cost / Bulb $3.99
Total Bulb Costs $7.98
6000 Hour Cost $40.38
Vendor Lowes
Cost / Lumen $0.048
It appears that across the spectrum of lighting options for lamps, CFLs will be the cheapest over their life if you can stand them. Otherwise, stock up on the cheap GE Softwhites. My wife is going to Walmart right now to stock up on the Softwhites.
CFLs are great if you don’t mind their:
1) color cast (I find it ugly)
2) buzzing (some do, some don’t)
3) dimming over time
4) mercury upon disposal
5) warm up time, especially in outdoor applications
I own some, and use them where the foregoing don’t bother me. Mainly, my wife’s rabbit gets CFLs. When the daughter comes home from college, we replace the CFLs with real light bulbs so she can read. Then back to the CFLs when it’s just the rabbit.
------------------------------------------------------------
You are completely missing the point. Gas lights and oil lamps were replaced because consumers preferred the convenience of electric light bulbs. They were not replaced because government banned them, like they are banning incandescent bulbs now.
The issue that conservatives have with the ban is that it is yet another example of government meddling, removing one more freedom that consumers enjoy.
I want to have the right to buy light bulbs of my choosing, automobiles of my choosing, heck, even toliets of my choosing. Yet the government increasingly restricts our decisions, telling us what we are not allowed to buy.
Do you support such restrictions? If you do, you are not a conservative.
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.