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 ...
“heaven forbid that a free market decide these matters when we have the rat party to do it for us.”
Exactly.
I switched from conventional bulbs to CFL bulbs and saw my energy bill drop 20% the first full month of use from the exact same month last year with nearly identical weather conditions. Needless to say I’m rather happy with the purchase. They have a 1-3 sec delay on ‘warming’ up but I’d much rather keep the extra $30/month.
The one thing I don’t like about CFL’s is that it is hard to find consistency in the lighting. Their expensive enough as it is but some have real nice lighting and others are harsh. Some make noises at times, others light right away and others have to warm up. Oh well, gotta do the part to save the planet. After all, it’s for the children!
GET A SPINE and tell them to KISS OFF!!! Someone is trying to tell you what kind of LIGHT BULB to use to save the planet and polar bears!!! WHAT A JOKE!!!
Yes.
instead of letting a capitalist market decide
what next, a biodegradable toilet paper law ?
It’s not a waste.
Get rid of my incandescents, and I’ll have to install another 500-750 watt heater.
And, no; they aren’t taxing the air conditioner, because when it’s running, I generally don’t need to have lights on: it is summer day light.
They aren't expensive anymore. I got 10 from Costco for $12.48 or something (2 packs actually). Walmart has 4 for $7 now. There is a 1-3 sec delay. Consistency was fine. No noise. Saw 20% drop in electric use immediately meaning I saved nearly $30 in one month. That paid for all of the bulbs I bought from Costco.
Tell who to kiss off? I am purchasing these light bulbs as my CHOICE. They use less energy and for the most part work the same as an incandescent. Using less energy means lower power bills. Taking waste to the proper locations is just smart as there is no need to pollute whenever possible.
I just stayed at a hotel that had an LED reading light on a gooseneck that was very good in terms of evenness and color temp. It lit up my book quite well, and was small. I looked at its transformer and saw that the whole system ran on about three Watts. I could run it all year for a few dollars.
I’m going to look for one like it for home (I tried an LED sunflower bulb but it did not last).
Nichia makes some LEDs with a “natural” incandescent look, and Lumileds do too- you can get Cool White, Warm White and colors.
Hear! hear! Fluorescent bulbs have a flicker that makes them unusable as reading lamps: I get a headache reading under them.
LED’s? ghastly bright things.
I want a nice warm yellow light from a 40 or 60 watt bulb for reading.
I could care less about 'saving the planet and the polar bears.' I do care about saving $350-400 a year on my electric bill AND having to replace the bulbs 1/3 as often as before (especially those hard to reach lights).
Some are still pricey like the can lighting (recessed lighting) that has the coiled bulb in the glass dome. The last time I bought one it was like $6 or $7 bucks. I will still keep replacing incandescents as I just believe it is smart.
I can buy a bulb for less than 50 cents and the new ones are $8.00!! Wow...talk about saving money!
Nope. I use CFL’s on all the ceiling lamps that don’t have dimmers, but have incandescent bulbs on the circuits with dimmers and all my table lamps—the latter for aesthetic reasons, or because I use them as reading lamps.
I got me one of them new neodymium incandescents at a trade show - check it out, brighter and better!
You can buy 10 of the new ones from Costco (or equiv) for 12-13 (or $1.3 a piece) or 4 / $7 from Walmart (or $1.75 a piece). They do not cost anywhere close to $8 and haven't for a long time. Since they are also only replaced 1/3 as often as a normal one, even excluding the energy cost you break even (and without the hassle of replacing the bulb).
Don’t weep for the buggy whip maker.
We will have to import them from Mexico.
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