Incandescent bulb’s future dims

MSN ^ | 11-11-2007 | MSN

[Westlander]

If U.S. lawmakers have their way, the lights may soon go out on Thomas Edison's greatest invention -- the incandescent light bulb. The 19th-century inventor brought illumination to the world's fingertips, but according to Congress, his invention isn't efficient enough for an age anxious about energy supplies.

"Only 10% of the power used by today's incandescent bulbs is emitted as light, while the other 90% is released as heat," Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said when she introduced her legislation to ban standard light bulbs.

To eliminate this waste, Harman has proposed legislation that would effectively eliminate incandescent light bulbs from store shelves nationwide as early as 2012.

[ReignOfError]

Right; and if they emit heat, then you don’t have to turn up the heater as high, right?

One man's meat is another man's poison. You don't have to crank up the heat, because light bulbs generate heat? I have to crank up the AC, because light bulbs generate heat.

I prefer tech that most efficiently puts energy to its intended purpose. I don't turn on a light to heat the house, or dial a phone to cook dinner, or use the microwave to wash laundry.

[rb22982]

Guess my house just uses a lot of lighting. We started saving about $30 a month immediately which is a little over 20% of my previous electric bill. It paid for the 20 CFLs we installed in the first month (cost me $26 to buy the bulbs)

[DBrow]

“Because coal-fired power stations emit mercury “

My closest power plant does not burn coal, and there is a big nuke down the coast.

So when I throw my 4 mg of Hg in the trash, there is no “offset”, just Hg in the landfill.

So to be green the government would have to issue Gorebulbs only in an amount to compensate for the coal plants and no more, and at that, only to offset the ones that emit the most mercury.

Plus, with a Gorebulb, you are throwing away the little ballast, too. “Old fashioned” fluorescent tech had you keep the ballast and use it for more than one lamp, unlike Gorebulbs.

Take one apart and you’ll find a wee circuit card with an inductor or two, some transistors, and some capacitors, all chucked in the dustbin.

[rb22982]

I’ve had regular bulbs die in a month. I’ve only had CFLs for 3 months but several of my friends (who convinced me this year to try them out — I was die hard against them last year at this time) have been using them for a long time (like 3-6 years) with no replacements. The only ones we use are the standard 13 watt (60 watt equiv) CFLs and a couple of the big ones are bathroom uses that are 22 watt.

[rb22982]

Worth it to me to save $30/month in electricity and have to change the light bulbs far less frequently irregardless.

[Graybeard58]

A CO detector, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense

Read what I meant, not what I said!

I'm numbers challenged tonight because I am on dope. It's prescription dope but it's still dope.

[Westlander]

My bill dropped $12 a month just by using 5 of them. They’ve made a lot of improvements on them over the years as well. Dimmable is available, cost is less to purchase, and the brightness is more freindly. The first one I bought was 10 years ago. It still works. CFL’s are the way to go. LED’s are still too expensive to buy.

[ansel12]

“Those will look beautiful in my chandelier - not.”

They sell tear drop ones and some that look like regular bulbs.

[Westlander]

May have had a bad batch. Mine last 5-6 years, and one of them is over 10 years. And we do use them. Remember that if you turn on a CFL - leave it on for at least 1/2 hour. This drastically increases life.

[DBrow]

And let someone else deal with the landfill later. I get it.

In an earlier post I suggested that if I switched entirely to Gorebulbs I’d need to pay more for heating, since the incandescents throw lots of heat. But, many people posting to the thread have found a net reduction in energy cost across a year, suggesting perhaps, just maybe, the inefficiency of the Edison bulb is not as bad as has been stated by members of Congress. Of course I don’t know everyone’s local climate.

In a cold season or cold climate the incandescent lamp’s inefficiency should not matter since in any system inefficiency shows up as heat, which you pay for to warm your room.

It’s about 56 here outside, but it’s 68 where I am now, in part because of the incandescent desk lamp.

[rb22982]

It’s about 56 here outside, but it’s 68 where I am now, in part because of the incandescent desk lamp.

I use CFLs and it's 40 outside and 64 in here.

And let someone else deal with the landfill later. I get it.

As I posted earlier, unless you are on nuclear, wind or solar energy, it's still less mercury used. I also have no doubt there could be an easy way to collect these as CFLs become more and more popular. Plus, with a normal house only throwing out bulbs once every 5 years (instead of 1 now), the amount of landfill will actual drop.

[matthew fuller]

"My rat party run state government has recently told us that a CO2 detector is mandatory in every home. I already had 2 of them. "

What's the problem with CO2? Am I missing something? I have a carbon monoxide detector, recently installed, and I did see the CO2 detectors for sale, but I'm not sure why I need one.

[chuckles]

....."will last for 5 years".....

Bought 6 for my bedrooms, all burned out in less than 12 months. I have incandescents older than 2 and still going. Of course, I've had incandescents burn out in a month, but I only paid 50 cents for them.

LED's will be the answer, but I'm not willing to take the chance with CFL's until they get a lot cheaper.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

CFL’s don’t work on a dimmer?

No they don't. I have carrier current control relays all over my house that allow remote control of lights and appliances by piping 100Khz digital signals pig-a-back on the 120 volt wiring. They use triacs to switch on the power and burn out CFL in very short order. My understanding is that early on, CFL were manufactured by a European company to high quality standards and they possessed about 10,000 hour life which was purchased by a $12 to $15 asking price. About a year ago I bought 28 CFL under a rebate plan from our local electric utility. Their retail price was $2.25 with a $2 rebate so I'm guessing that manufacture has been moved to China. I haven't bothered to count but I'd guess that less then a half dozen still work. These bulbs were sold as 10,000 hour bulbs, they were supposed to be the equivalent of 60 watt incandescent with 15 watts input. They aren't even close. They do not work when the ambient temperature drops below 30 degrees and I rather doubt they work at elevated temperatures as an oven light. In my opinion CFL's are not ready for prime time.

Regards,
GtG

[Westlander]

Thank you, finally some rational thought.

[386wt]

"...or use the microwave to wash laundry."

Now you tell me!

[Graybeard58]

I knew I would get beat up over that one. I meant carbon monoxide. (You are number two - more to come.)

[DaveTesla]

The cfl inverters have a power factor of about >60% and
(due to harmonic distortion of line current) an
efficiency of less than 75%. making a 20 watt ccfl bulb consume about 40 watts.
The pwm chips and semi’s use trichlor in wafer processing and are doped with gallium, thallium and arsenic.

Combined with the mercury in the bulbs (necessary for starting) they are an environmental mess.
Their electronics run extremely hot and cannot be placed
in many enclosed areas or used in cold places such as outdoors in the winter.

Generally they require more energy to manufacture than they save.

They are dumped here on the market by communist China.

No free lunch here.

[Xenophon450]

When incandescent bulbs are outlawed... only I will have incandescent light bulbs ;-).

[attiladhun2]

$0.50? I get four for a buck at the Dollar Store.