Posted on 11/11/2007 7:20:25 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at realestate.msn.com ...
Probably a few years away from them being economical for most. Tough to say though.
Wonder how many people have died due to radiation from ionization type smoke detectors. That evil americium-241 everyone has hanging over their bed. The horror!
“For the love of God! Just put on a sweater and turn down the thermostat! Don’t you people realize I’ve screwed up the economy and all relations in the ME to the point where this is necessary?!?” ~ Jimmy Carter, Circa 1976
It doesn't go to the landfill if that is what you mean.
This is true - I have several CF bulbs myself, notably in 7 ceiling fixtures in the basement, a couple of outdoor lights, and in various lamps. They are on within 2 seconds (unless voltage is low at which time they come on slower). But, they are NOT to full brilliance for a good half minute or so. It's as if they start at 50% output and then slowly rise to 100% over many seconds.
Not a problem in the situations in which I use them, but I won't put them in the bathroom or other areas where I have specific decorative needs for standard light bulbs. They certainly have their place, and there's no reason to avoid using them in those places.
I think it will be under 10 years.
Today you can get some killer LED flashlights.
I've experienced that with a few off-brands, such as 'Lights of America'. But when I've used name-brand bulbs like GE, Sylvania, or Philipps, they tend to last several years. My outdoor light at my old house had a 15 watt Philipps CF bulb and it lasted about 4 years of being on from dusk to dawn, winter and summer.
Wouldn't a CO detector be of more use? CO is carbon monoxide, an oderless, colorless gas that is a direct byproduct of combustion. It displaces oxygenated air and serves to starve the body of vital oxygen.
Here in California, we are the progressive leaders of America.
Today: ban incandescent light bulbs.
Tomorrow: ban flatulance.
Next week: all crime to be banned.
When our current “Republican” governor seeks re-election, we will have successfully improved on the old Soviet election model.
In the old USSR, they offered one Party, two candidates.
In Calif, we can offer one Party, two candidates, but we just label one Dem a “Repub” and the other Dem candidate, a “Democrat”.
Clever huh? Fools the voting majority (easily enough) every time.
I guess I’ll start slowly stockpiling incandescents. My mom is not exactly in the best of health (diabetes), so I don’t want these CFLs around the house until she passes away (which, hopefully, won’t be anytime soon).
More nanny-state arrogance masquerading as providing a better world for our cheelrun.
They have the color right, the last batch lasted about 3-6 months- it was a three pack. I guess I need to keep reciepts for lightbulbs now..
Your not turning them on & off like an incadescent, are you? If you turn a CFL on, leave it on for at least 1/2 hour. Mine are going into their 5th year and I do use them 4-6 hours daily.
LED lamps are still too expensive for general use. Their main market right now is for low voltage applications, off the grid, vehicles, boats, in places where power limitations outweigh the much higher cost.
LED lamps are good for point illumination and not so good for diffuse lighting. But LED lighting will become more widespread as the cost comes down.
Try a Verilux or Ott-Lite full spectrum bulb, you’ll find them far superior to incandescent.
So what if I break one? Mercury everywhere?
“Thanks, it looks like most of these negative comments are coming simply from a lack of knowledge. Also, we don’t notice any significant “warm up” time with our bulbs. They come on instantly without any flickering.”
You think this thread is goofy, I am a service plumber and when I read plumbing threads I see the guys inventing all kinds of impossible tales.
“So what if I break one? “
This is from the GE link posted in post 298, it says to pick it up and throw it in the garbage.
http://www.gelighting.com/na/business_lighting/faqs/cfl.htm#1
6. What should I do if I break a CFL bulb?
Fluorescent lamps contain mercury. Mercury at atmospheric pressure is a silver colored liquid that tends to form balls. Mercury is a hazardous substance. When one lamp is broken, the best thing to do is to wear chemical resistant glove to clean it up. The gloves can be vinyl, rubber, PVC, or neoprene. The gloves you buy in the supermarket for household cleaning are sufficient. The gloves protect your skin from absorbing mercury and from getting cut by the glass. The remains of one lamp can be disposed as normal waste since the amount of mercury is small. However, for future reference, when large quantities of lamps are being disposed you must follow your state and the federal regulation for disposing of mercury-containing lamps.
Note to self—Find article stating Communist’s will mandate zero flush toilets as a Christmas gift for anse112.
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