Posted on 02/09/2007 1:02:19 PM PST by Cagey
Our headlong rush to the Total Nanny State continues...
Very true. You'll save a bit if you heat with oil or gas because electricity is the most expensive way to heat a home. If you have electric heat it's pretty much a wash in wintertime but you'll save a bundle in the summer, not only by cutting the power needed for light but also by reducing the load on the A/C.
Screw one in place of your refrigerator light and see how well it works.
"I have got to get out of this state. "
I did. Best thing I ever did.
It might be cheaper to buy regular bulbs at the store, but if poor people ahve to pay for electricity, they are paying more if they don't use the compact fluorescent bulbs in the long run. But then again, many people do not equate paying a bit more up front with greater long term cost savings. Like people who don't maintain their cars, then complain about the cost of an expensive, preventable breakdown.
Unless there is a special modification made to the design of a CFB, it simply won't light up inside a refrigerator. Don't light up all that well when used as an oven light, either. CFB's are best used at ambient temperatures above about 50 degrees, and below about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
"You'll save a bit if you heat with oil or gas because electricity is the most expensive way to heat a home."
Electric heat is actually about 2/3 the cost of oil or gas heat here -- because we mainly have legacy hydro generation & the rates are regulated (not allowed to rise according to market conditions). I like the CF bulbs because they're more convenient (don't need to be replaced very often) -- but, I know they're not saving me any money for about 8 months each year. Nor are they doing anything about CO2 emissions.
"8 months of snow in Alaska" Bump
Is that why the Easy Bake oven was recalled? To put a label on it saying that an incandescent bulb needs to be used?
And while I'm at it, I used a CF in a porch light (in MA at the time). It worked, but it did take a while to warm up, depending how low the temperature was. But at 9 or 13 watts, I lived with it.
I noticed the same thing. Unless the bulb is specifically designed for outdoor use it will take a while because the mercury needs to be vaporized.
As for refrigerator use, if it's really true that the light goes off when you close the door ;-) then the service life will be dramatically shortened. The life of the bulb is affected mainly by the number of on/off cycles rather than the number of hours in operation.
There is a difference in ambiance between the florescent and incandescent light bulb. Some people are not affected by that, but some are. For some, the florescent blub yields a light that is a little harsh and sterile, while the incandescent bulb offers a light that is warm, soothing and comforting and properly conducive to relaxed reading. Anyone who has spent time reading in a public place or in an office and also at home understands that difference. Are we really ready to let politicians with hidden financial interests in the florescent industry reduce our quality of life for their profit? --Oh, and by the way, Edison didn't invent the lightbulb; he invented the filiment for the successful light bulb.
And they followed up by continuously cycling all the types. I want to say every 30 seconds. After a month, all but the LED bulbs burned out.
I'm all for saving energy, but I put in CFL floodlights in our kitchen recessed lighting fixtures, and they take 3 minutes to warm up. Regular CFL bulbs are much too dim to work in those recessed cans.
Just disable the door switch so your refrigerator CF light stays on all the time.
They don't have the color of the CF lights quite right yet, and the bulbs are a little too big for some fixtures. I finally found one small enough for a stairway fixture that I like leaving on most the time so I'll save electricity there. Other than that I still like the incandescents.
Way less energy than a CF, and you can dim them.
So anybody who manufactures dimmer switches will be taking a big hit. And say goodbye to blinking Christmas lights.
Oh, and three-way lamps
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