Republican Dim Bulbs. - Their fight to "save the incandescent light bulb."

[Dover]

The Light Bulb Fight

Three House Republicans want to eliminate energy efficiency standards for light bulbs. Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have introduced the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, which would repeal part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requiring light bulbs to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. The standards, which are set to go into effect in 2012, would effectively phase out ordinary incandescent bulbs in favor of the more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

The bill is part of a larger campaign on the right to "save the incandescent light bulb." The bill’s sponsors claim that even though the standards have yet to go into effect, they have already caused companies to ship manufacturing jobs to overseas plants that manufacture the compact fluorescent bulbs. They argue that the recent closing of a General Electric factory that made incandescent bulbs in Virginia is an example of the effect of the standards on American manufacturing.

But, as Kate Sheppard says, there aren't many jobs making light bulbs left in the U.S. to save. As Leora Broydo Vestel points out, sales of incandescent bulbs have been falling since before the Energy Independence and Security Act passed. According to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, which is against repealing the efficiency standards, sales of incandescents have fallen 50% over the last five years, even without the standards. IKEA has already stopped selling the bulbs....cont'd

http://bigthink.com/ideas/24318

[qb]

1. I'm so disappointed - where's crazy Michele Bachman? She was all over this a year ago!

:wtf:

[kristopher]

2. The more electricity that is sold, the more money for a lot of people.

That is the heart of the push for nuclear. It isn't that nuclear is needed for a better system for the user; it is needed to maintain the flow of cash through the existing energy infrastructure.

[Dover]

4. Yes the big energy tycoons (GOP) at it again trying to keep us in the dark ages

while the rest of the world seeks enLIGHTenment.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. But GE is closing the last light bulb plant this month.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

[Dover]

5. As if the GOP was suddenly concerned about shipping our jobs and industries abroad!

And they do/say these things with a straight face.

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. The question is where is the investing to build new..........

light bulb plants here? My money bets that American investors put their money into plants overseas.

[Drale]

7. Some idiot who called the radio station I listen to

accaully said Tom Edison is rolling in his grave because we are going to no longer be using his "invention" (theres recently been evidence that he may not have been the first to create the incondesent light bulb). I really dont know how just the bullshit like this doesnt completely destroy the republican party.

[Warpy]

8. I have a few fixtures that won't accept CFLs

They're all ceiling fixtures and all but one bulb is 15 years old, which gives you an idea of how sparingly I use them. Since I like the fixtures and haven't found any CFL fixtures to replace them, I suppose I'll continue buying incandescent bulbs when the box I bought at Costco 15 years ago is gone, probably at least 15 years into the future. I think the environment can stand that kind of use.

However, if stupid people want to climb on stepladders and replace bulbs in constant use every couple of months, that's up to them. My guess is that once they realize how seldom they have to replace CFLs, that will eventually get through to them.

The sale of incandescents is already falling. Instead of being heavy handed and making the sale against the law (thus ensuring a black market in light bulbs, of all things), the nanny state needs to step back and let nature take its course.

Eventually fixtures will be redesigned to accept the CFL bulb and/or LED bulbs will improve enough for general lighting and they'll fit the old fixtures. Either way, the incandescent light will eventually go the way of the buggy whip in its own time without being forced by government fiat.

[kristopher]

11. I'd be willing to bet you can find CFLs to fit. They have really small ones now.

The only application left with problems that I'm aware of is using them in dimming fixtures. They have them but as of about a year ago I returned two of them and put incandescents back in.

[Warpy]

12. They make CFLs to fit dimmers

but I've tried the small CFLs in the fixtures I have and no go. They're either too long or too broad at the base. Trust me, the day I find bulbs to fit or redesigned but similar fixtures, I'm there.

[OnlinePoker]

9. I've stocked up on 60 w incandescents

My eyes just buzz when I try using fluorescents and the ones we had in our house burned out quickly (I've since read that they shouldn't be used in rooms that are frequent on off spaces such as bathrooms). I'm also highly suspect of the idea that people won't just throw these CFLs in the trash when they burn out, thus creating mercury hazards in the landfill. Until they come up with a reasonably priced LCD bulb, I'm sticking with incandescents.

[Speck Tater]

10. I hang a tiny 20W incandescent bulb in my pump house in the winter so my water pipes don't freeze

That's one job a fluorescent bulb won't do.

[kristopher]

13. Sure it would, you'd just get 100 watts worth of illumination in the bargain. In fact,

...you're better off with a cfl because it would be less likely to fail at any given time.

[Speck Tater]

18. Really? Does a 100W CFL get as warm as a 20W incandescent?

If it does, that would work. The pump house is well insulated. I just need a little bit of warmth to keep it above freezing. I tried an electric heating element made to wrap around pipes but it didn't work very well. The pipes still froze for some reason.

[kristopher]

19. A cfl that is 100W equivalent is sold as a 23W bulb.

From wiki:

The luminous efficacy of lamps refers to the number of lumens produced for each watt of electrical power used.

A theoretically 100% efficient electric light source would produce 680 lumens per watt.

The typical luminous efficacy of CFL lamps is 60 to 72 lumens per watt, and

that of normal domestic incandescent lamps is 13 to 18 lm/W.




Compared to the theoretical 100% efficient lamp, these figures are equivalent to

lighting efficiency ranges of 9 to 11% for CFLs (60/680 and 72/680)

1.9 to 2.6% for incandescents (13/680 and 18/680).

So the 23W CFL wastes about 90% (20.7W) of the electricity as heat with 10% (2.3W) going to produce about 1300 lumens.

And the incandescent at 20W wastes about 97% (19.4W) as heat while providing a max of about 400 lumens from about 0.6W of the input.

Also:

The average rated life of a CFL is between 8 and 15 times that of incandescents.<11> CFLs typically have a rated lifespan of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a lifespan of 750 hours or 1,000 hours

[Speck Tater]

23. Good to know. Thanks. nt

[kristopher]

25. Perhaps a better solution.

If your pump house is designed properly you shouldn't need an external heat source, it is protected by geothermal. I just did this myself, so if you'd like to consider it, PM me and I'll share what I did.

[Jamastiene]

14. You know that when early humans learned to control and make fires

there were pre-Republican types standing around accusing them of some kind of evil, don't you?

I'm sure that is how it happened. First, the pre-Republican types stood around refusing to use the fire and calling fire users evil, then later found themselves huddling hungry in the cold and complaining about the evil doers having all the warmth and cooked food.

Then, in typical pre-Republican fashion, they clubbed the liberals over the head and took the fire and we haven't gotten any control over it since.

You can bet they were the last to ever even use the incandescent light bulb also.

I can just visualize how that went...there they were...sitting around talking about the devil worshipers using light bulbs instead of God given oil and candles.

Then, they clubbed us over the head and took control of the light bulbs and made us buy the bulbs from them.

Even now, they won't use our energy efficient light sources and claim we are full of poppycock. So, they want to force us to use the old light bulbs that use more energy (one of the industries that are in their pockets).

How long do you think it will be before they bully their way into owning all control over the energy efficient light bulbs and making us buy the bulbs from them?

Don't scoff. You KNOW them as well as I do and you KNOW they will start working on a way to take control of it.

I give it 5 years, 10 years, tops.

[j420norcal]

15. The incandescent light bulb is as good as dead.

Actually, it might still have a place being used in colder temperatures where the heat emitted from them is necessary to keep snow/ice off the light source, say a stoplight on a street corner in the mid-west during winter for example, and CFLs will be replaced by even more efficient LED light bulbs.

This is just the GOP adhering to their mandate of "always keeping behind the times". Hey, they used incandescent light bulbs in the 1950's right? and we ALL know that the 1950's was the greatest period the Earth has ever experienced in the whole history of the Universe.

[meow mix]

16. plants love CFLs so i love them too

at least the higher wattage ones, of the correct wavelenghts 2800 - 4000ish is best imo

[zbdent]

17. It's getting to the point that me walking across the street would be used as

justification for "companies to ship manufacturing jobs overseas" ...

[jimlup]

20. I hate to say but my wife is an incandescent bulb lover too

Though she's definitely not a repubilican!

[kristopher]

21. Did you know that they come in the same color range as incandescents?

See the section on Spectrum of light: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

You can get the mellow yellow of regular incandescents, the white brightness of a "daylight" bulb or the greenish tint of traditional fluorescent. The link tells you how they are identified on the packaging.

[GliderGuider]

22. So is mine, for health and environmental reasons!

She has major concerns about mercury content and also about EMI contamination from the switching power supply in the CFLs. I also have not seen the promised lifespan from the bulbs I've bought.

We may be switching out some incandescent bulbs for LEDs in the near future, though. CFL feels like a stopgap technology to me, one whose benefits have been oversold and whose disadvantages have been, uh, "minimized".

[caraher]

24. Lifespan is a problem when you cycle the lights on and off a lot

I agree; CFLs are mainly a transitional technology.

We have some dimmer switches that don't play well with CFLs and a few others where the use cycle seems unfriendly to the CFLs. I've been keeping an eye on LEDs for those uses but the cost/brightness figures just aren't there yet.

[Dead_Parrot]

27. I get that problem

Not because of dimmer switches or use pattern, just because the power supply is too flaky: CFLs tend to blow in within 2 months, which is hardly ideal. Interestingly, I've got some cheap, unbranded and hash-as-a-fridge CFLs that are lasting, but they're only really good for utility areas unless you like headaches.

I'm back to incandescents until sane options for LEDs roll in. :(

[kristopher]

26. You need to do more research.

Generally CFLs produce less mercury than the coal would be burnt if you continue using incandescent bulbs; considerably less. Also, even when disposed of *improperly* research has shown that the mercury is absorbed by the paper wastes in the surrounding garbage and is far less likely to enter the food chain than the larger quantity of mercury that would be emitted by the coal burnt by an equivalent incandescent bulb.

[GliderGuider]

28. We live in a region where very little (less than 20%) of the electricity comes from coal.

I'm quite willing to go along with my wife's wishes for the few extra dollars it costs. I prefer the light quality of halogen incandescents anyway. I have chosen not to live my life by shoulds and shouldn'ts, but rather by preferences and balance. And one of the big balancing factors is my wife's happiness.

[kristopher]

29. It is always good to work for harmony in the home.

And I'm happy to hear your home life is in that state.