Incandescent Bulb Ban - Jan 1, 2014

China has now landed and is operating rovers on the moon.

Us? We are now regulated to the point at which we can no longer produce a piece off glass with a wire in it.

And you wonder why Detroit is a crime ridden ghost land!

New Tech. LED is the future
Same candle power at a tenth of the power use and lasts 5 times longer.
In cars, LED's are more rugged and can be bounced on every speed bump till the cows come home, without ever loosing connection with the filiment.
Yea, I hate paying the price up front too but I do like the idea of leaving a cleaner world for my kids.......right up to the point when I fire up my Pantera

I thought only the US govt was inept enough to make that decision.
Next time you have a CFL package, read what the procedure is if one of them brakes. A bit scary. What about when our land fills are full of 10 years of these things...??
The best part...the CFLs are all made in China.

Someone close to me has gone hoq wild on these bulbs. Converted their shop to save money and is fascinated at the whole thing. He is now getting headaches from the lights.

Even though the light is illuminating his shop, the full wavelength of light is not there. The real kicker is he can no longer read the fine print on drills or taps. He has to walk outside in natural light to even see them.

I learned a long time ago in my garage with florescent lighting to supplement with some tungsten lighting. Even though it was not brighter it filled in the wavelength of light so much better and you can feel your eyes go "Aahhh".

On top of this the government is subsidizing this light with our money which will be dropped when the ban is fully in place. Energy companies have been pushed to send out packages of lights for tax brakes...meaning we are paying for them.

My daughter brought home a box of lights from school (being shoved down our throats) and of all things, one was busted with all the mercury and what ever else bouncing around in the box.

What is a product? Any product?....what is a can of Mountain Dew?....It is energy. It takes energy to grow the corn, mine the aluminum, shape and produce the product.

What is our choice in a light bulb? It is our choice of energy to spend our money on for what ever reason we chose.

Like I said, we can no longer by a piece of glass and a wire in this country which represents the status of our freedom while China has put a rover on the moon while the rest of the world is laughing at us.

I have fluorescent tubes in the garage (supplemented by a couple of halogens) and in my workshop, they last ages, but the little CFLs seem to die faster than the traditional incandescents and my wife hates the colour cast they have (I've tried various versions claiming to be 'daylight' & 'warm' & 'cool', but they all have a little unpleasantness to them).
So, we have a product that saves electricity, but (in my experience, ymmv), doesn't last as long as they claim, doesn't look as nice, gives off a puff of smoke when it dies, and then there's the impact of the mercury after they die.

I've got a few dozen LEDs going in various fixtures now, and so far they are lasting (the first ones went in over a year ago). They also have some colour cast issues which I overcome by mixing some incandescents in the fixture or the room as need be, but hopefully over time I'll find energy efficient bulbs that are as appealing as the old incandescents.

As for government decisions, I was reading an article a few months ago that Vancouver B.C. has banned door knobs (all new construction must install levers). It's part of an accessibility bill and I can appreciate the benefits to those in need; but, the first person to snag their clothing on one - and fall down a flight of stairs as a result - will cost the city a fortune in legal fees and increased insurance premiums ... and I'll bet there won't be just one. Encourage people to switch, offer rebates/incentives for switching (e.g. I stocked up on the LED bulbs when they came out with a $5 off per package deal), make it cheaper for builders to install them vs. doorknobs, but don't legislate this sort of thing.

1984

The CFL over my shop door finally died after burning constantly for almost 10 years, Incandescents never lasted there because of the slamming door shaking the filament.

The lesser current draw of the CFLs is very noticeable when we go onto the generator during power failures. And it's that time of year, there is a forecast for icing this coming weekend.

The CFLs last much longer than even the 'heavy duty' incandescents in my handy light, and they don't get so hot either.

With the CFLs you get what you pay for, just like incandescents. The cheapies from H-D and Wallies don't last, just like cheap incandescents don't last.

I do use incandescent flood lights outside the house. Takes the CFLs too long to get bright in the cold. When you're walking the dog in the back yard at night it's nice to see where you're stepping.

The incandescent were made to fail. When one failed I always replaces with HF rough service bulb. I have not had a HF rough service bulb go out ever. I stocked up on them and have tubs of them.

All bulbs have advantages and short comings. Problem I have is not having the freedom to make our own choice. I chose different bulbs for different situations for different reasons.

I think the argument of which is better is different then the argument of freedom to do even the most simple thing.

right now we don't know what a real price of a CFL because of the government subsidies. When we no longer have a choice and these government subsidies are gone, I think the price will be far higher.

The issues of cost to make, cost to use, cost of disposal, where the jobs are etc. are all better when done with freedom then when done from the strong arm of the government.

Like I said before, soda is the product of energy. In fact our entire economy is a product of energy and so is the energy produced by a light bulb. If I can't read a book by a 60w incandescent light bulb then this is not the country it used to be.

While it is not the same for government reasons moving form paper towel to the blow driers is a similar annoyance. First, the energy to make and dispose of paper towel is less then what the blowers use in electricity. Second, the new high powered blowers actually are loud enough to damage hearing.

I read a survey not too long ago and well over half the people in this country do not understand trees are farmed like corn and think they are an endangered resource. That is our school system for you.

Third, even with high powered blowers I have yet to walk out of a bathroom with completely dry hands. So what happens? The guy before you isn't going to mess with washing his hands and grabs the door. You dry your hands but they are still a little damp. NOTHING worse in transmitting germs then wet or damp hands!

Not to mention, when a place uses paper towel, how many people grab the door with the paper towel? Often a place will put a trash can by the door so you can do so.

Which also begs the question, why don't bathroom doors open out?

Hand driers are the most effective at spreading germs. If there are 2 similar stores, one has a hand drier and one uses paper towel, I will not frequent the one with the hand drier.

It's all about hype and a bandwagon. It's all for the same reason that the news is breaking into your prime time show to show you street level mapping of rain for 10 minutes as if it has never rained before.

I'm with 'ya there.

Also note that incandescent bulbs are glass and tungsten, as are CFLs plus some phosphorus and a speck of mercury. Both are pretty simple to make. LEDs are made of indium, gallium, arsenic, zinc, selenium, phosphorus; and require a wafer fab factory ($$$$$$$$$$) to make. In China.

Speaking of those hot air dryers - ever tried to dry your face with one? In Florida?? In the summer time??? Doesn't work. Your face will get wetter, not drier

Maybe you can get Heatballs in Canada too?

The blow dryers work ... that is why we wear pants to wipe our hands on afterwards.
As for the old light bulbs I bought the last 3 boxes of 60 watt bulbs 16 in a box, at home depot 3 weeks ago that should last me for a while. I test my drop light a lot and it breaks the bulb almost 100 percent of the time. Smile.