Thinking About … Light Bulbs

Tom

The firec dangerb uis bad with the floresent bulbs. In the years I have had the bulbs I have had two burn up. Luck I was there and put out the fire. I know of 5 others that had them burn up. They shoot sparks hot enough to burn streaks in glass lamp. Caught magazine on fire. I still use them but never leave on when not in the house. My outside light is a regular bulb that I leave on when out. They say never use them in enclosed fictures. All I have heard burn up was in the open! Tom Edwards

Clasof56

wife and i tried the new bulbs…we read a lot…after a couple days i commented that my vision was blurry…she said the same with her…we switched back and within a day our vision was fine… not for me…i stocked up on the old ones and i probably spend ten cents a day on bulb lighting.

Munsonjr Ed36

Yeah, the new ones get extremely hot. Never place anything over the lamp they are in………..unless it is a frying pan with a couple of eggs in it. Great for cooking! I am working on a cook book for lamp cooking. Going to call it “Nou-boulb Gastronomics.” Great for students in dorm rooms; bedside, late night, snack preparation; or just impressing friends and family. Instant heat factor is diminished by one turn of the switch. I look for it to do well in California, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Vermont, and any other State loaded with people who believe Al Gore’s theories on “global warming.”

http://www.sassie.net/ mjgolli

Why are they bothering with this when we all know that the world will be ending in December 2012? The Mayans said so!

William Zaspel

We have replaced almost all of our old school bulbs with the CFLs and will be looking to move to the LEDs when they figure out how to make them at a reasonable price. This phase out of incandescents is part of a migration towards a more energy smart use of resources and we support it. Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to dispose of the CFL bulbs properly including the staff at every recycle center that I have visited to ask. Pretty sad but the move is a good one for our environment. The LEDs are going to really make a difference when they figure that out.

Tkj

Forcing the change is really a confiscation of property: e.g., those of us who paid good money for ‘dimmer’ light switches will lose that ability, as the new bulbs don’t work with dimmer-switches !nWhere do i send my request for compensation?n

Anonymous

We have CFLs that dim. Think that GE makes them.

Dmore

When incandescent light bulbs are outlawed, only outlaws will have incandescent lights!

http://adinmotionpr.com Willomolini

All CFL’s have the “Flickering Effect” which is a major role player on eye and brain fatigue….try and LED bulb…it is more expensive now but they will become cheap and will last you a lifetime.

http://adinmotionpr.com Willomolini

I agree William !, LED’s are the future of lighting, I have replaced all my lights with LED. Price has already come down quite a bit and there is a replacement already for almost all applications.

http://adinmotionpr.com Willomolini

The main reason for the incandescent ban is to conserve energy, LED bulbs will provide the same amount of light with a fraction of the incandescent and a good replacement unit will last you 100,000 hours….have no flickering effect like the CFL’s, it hardly generates any heat at all and they are the most efficient….LED’s are the future of lighting.

Munsonjr Ed36

Absolutely correct. The Mayans gave us a lot more than parrots and open heart surgery!

Sarah

LOL!!!!! =D

Sarah

I absolutely agree with that. I will be buying LEDs only. They are also safer. According to Magna Havas, some CFLs can give off radio frequency radiation, which can contribute to migraines, fatigue, ringing in the ears, eye strain, etc. You can test your bulbs by putting a portable radio next to them and seeing if the bulb causes interference… or, buy LEDs only!

Rick

The debate over this law is not about the “right” kind of lighting, but about the intrusion of the Nanny State. The marketplace should determine the future of lighting in my house, for God’s sake, and not the Congress. Of course, they (and maybe you) will say to themselves that we’re too stupid to know what’s good for us, so the market model won’t work — we have to be force to do the right thing. And Congress would rather tackle something easy and pretend they’ve solved a problem rather than find good answers to hard problems. (And a lot of our problems have answers so complex as to be unsolvable by any group of people, especially, but not limited to, Congress.) I like the way the Earthers push CFLs even though they contain mercury — when you point this out, it’s suddenly not a problem because it’s just a “little bit,” or the magic Recycling Fairy will take care of it, or it’s less than mercury from some other source. If mercury is bad, it’s bad. Don’t try to rationalize its use in order to justify the march to CFLs.nnAnd frankly, I use all three types of lighting in different situations as they make sense, after I consider the pluses and minuses of the different uses I put them to.

Munsonjr Ed36

Rick is on target! This has gone from pundits concerning light bulbs to serious observations about Government……Our Government!. It is much easier to legislate energy cutting than to take on the REAL problems that we face. What good will LEDs be to any of us if we can’t afford to pay for them…..regardless of the savings, energy wise. Our Country faces a National Debt brought about by a President who “want to spread the wealth around,” and a Congress more interested in their popularity back home, than in trying to make a real difference. We have opened the flood gates and now have an economic cesspool draining our coffers…….and not a good plumber in sight! Social programs in this Country have long rewarded the lazy, well bodied, without any decent system of checks and balances….while those truly in need have to struggle with what is left. You want to fix something? Forget the light bulbs and work on taking care of OUR own citizens……not the social leeches who come into this County illegally and do nothing more than bleed us to death! nnnnnnnnnnn

Thunderbasshell

Here in Australia regulations were introduced in 2007 that fazed out incandescent light bulbs by the end of 2009. We have not been able to buy one since then. It’s not a big deal.

crazy

I like that CFL and LED last so much longer then the old style bulbs.nThe power company where I live gave out coupons for free CFL bulbs 12 yrs ago.n Great!! Save on your electric bill every month right?nWrong!nYou use less electricity.nCustomers happy.nYou pay less to your utility company.nYour utility company makes less money because so many people are using less electricity.nThe share holders of the utility company make less money.nShare holders not happy.nUtility company not happy.nUtility company raises rates.nUtility company happy.nCustomers pay higher rates.nCustomers not happy.nDoes the utility company care? HELL NO!

Silas1898

My new bulbs are quite cool. I had one almost 20 years, noticed it was dimmer and getting hot so I replaced it. Maybe you got bad ones.

Anonymous

I for one am replacing my bulbs with the even more expensive LED bulbs. They practically never need replacing and use even less energy than the CFL’s.

Munsonjr Ed36

Crazy, you make more sense than all of us combined. You nailed this one!!! I am now halting work on my “Cooking Over Your Lamp” cookbook and investing in the companies who produce the LED bulbs.

crazy

Thanks, I have my moments.nAt least once a year it makes the news where the utilities company is asking the state commission for approval for a rate hike.nOnly once in the last 10 yrs do I remember seeing where they asked for a rate DEcrese. I was surprised. But a few months later they were asking to raise rates again.nAnd since most of us have only one utility company to get our power from, they got us by the short hairs.

John

they cost up to 20 times as much and quite often don,t last as long as their advertised lifespan, I am in Australia and we had this change dumped on us about 3 years ago, I am changing all lighting in my house to LED lights (in progress), also when an incandescent light dies it stops using power but the CFL has a ballast which doesn’t always stop workingnwhen the light dies.n

Oldgymrat63

Rick, hopefully not “too” stupid, but then again…

Oldgymrat63

Send it to the guy who keeps your forebrain out of the game.

Nancy

Worrying about what kind of light bulbs we use is ludicrous. In the town on Long Island where my sister lives they cannot hang their clothes on a clothesline outside, they must dry them in a dryer. Talk about oxymoronic. The amount of electricity a dryer uses compared to light bulbs. The government needs to get out of our homes, and try solving their own problems…….how about the national debt for one!!!

Nancy

Right on Rick!! You have hit the proverbially nail on the head.

Thebigphill

Here’s a quote on this week’s TP: ‘n200nNumber of jobs lost in Winchester, VA when the last major GE manufacturing plant closed in September of 2010. Like nearly everything else, CFLs are mostly made in China.’nnHere’s my response(quote from wiki):nThe spiral tube CFL was invented in 1976 by Edward E. Hammer, an engineer with General Electric,[5] in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The design met its goals, and it would have cost GE only about US$25 million to build new factories to produce them, but the invention was shelved. The design was eventually copied by others.[6] It was not until 1995 that spiral lamps manufactured in China were commercially available;[7] spiral lamps have steadily increased in sales volume”nnThey wouldn’t be made in China if GE wasn’t in cahoots with the power companies and invested in something that’s good for all. GE shold have patented the idea.nnThe next evolution of the light bulb is an LED version, which is much more efficient than the CFL. American companies need to invest in R&D on this. We are already behind because Philips has released its ‘EnduraLED’, but it’s awfully expensive. We need to make it cheaper and bring the jobs into the US.

Munsonjr Ed36

You are not just “whistling Dixie.” The interference of big Government in the every day lives of our citizens is absolutely reprehensible. Socialism by any other name is SOCIALISM. I love the analogy of the clothes dryer and the light bulb. Excellent analogy. This forum has really taken on a life of its own. My initial comments above were rather facitious (Cooking Over A Lamp….yeah, right) and then all of a sudden matters seemed a little more compelling. I don’t know where in Long Island you are referring to, but as a child I lived in Patchogue (for five years). We did have clothes lines, but that was back in the 1950′s.

Silas1898

You are not required to use a dryer. You can hang them up inside.nnThe burg probably has a ordinance against them because some taxpayers decided they were eyesores and demanded the town council “do something”.nnIf enough taxpaying voters decide they want outdoor clotheslines, they must demand the council “do something” about this horrid infringement of their rights and repeal the ordinance, or vote in people will.nnCondos, Co-ops, Homeowner Associations, Trailer Parks, and Burghs all do this stuff. Change it or move.nnYour analogy is senseless.

Munsonjr Ed36

Though I think you are a pompous ass, you may be correct with your comment about “if enough taxpaying voters…..” That proved to work last fall when many members of Congress, who had overstayed their welcome, were voted out. Hopefully there will more of those to come in the near future. Now, as for the analogy….I totally disagree with you. To think that the mere bulbs we use during part of the day outweigh the consumer energy spent on air conditioning, heating, or the industrial consumption of energy to manufacture ENERGY efficient autos (which I am in favor of)…..is absurd. I am sorry, but we seem to have many of our priorities totally mixed up. nlessening greenhouse emissions takes more than the two light bulbs that may be on at one time in my home, or those of my neighbors. Not to mention the excessive

Munsonjr Ed36

……..to pick up where I left off ….”Not to mention the excessive amounts of gases emanting from Washington, D.C.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M4X2Y3THKZWBYS6YXKOMU3TZT4 Ben

I read a lot. The cfl’s are the wrong color as well as flickering. My wife bought some saying that they last years and years. Wrong. We have had them burn out in a few months. Not just one but several.nI also have regular floursents which I ordered at a 6500K color. They have lasted over 10,000 hours and have hed only two fail (out of 48).nWhen the LED’s come out, I will buy those. There are not available in my area as yet.nThe fact that the fruit and nut state commands that I use the CFL is just plain ludicrous. I will never have these again.

http://twitter.com/7LucKee7 Julia Christian

how about coming out with the best solution (without poisonous ingredients and special requirements) before forcing us to cooperate (isn’t that illegal? or is it a loophole-type deal to phase out a product and force us to buy its less attractive replacement?). i say keep the damn incandescents until LEDs are reasonably priced; just like we’re keeping coal until solar panels are more efficient and someone (ahem, POTUS) decides to get started on new nuclear plants. this is all based off of a touted misunderstanding of the greenhouse effect anyway…bullshit. wanna know what causes “global warming”? the sun and its menopausal hot flashes- try phasing that out without killing us before than 2050.

Billiondollardan

I buy LEDs when I want to spend $20 per bulb and get headaches while reading. It’s too bad the poor people out there are stuck with crappy $5 fluorescent bulbs. Oh well, maybe the mercury poison will kill them and take them off our welfare rolls. Here’s hoping AMIRITE????nI also really enjoy the antiseptic and almost sterile glow LEDs give the house. I thank big brother for kindly removing my option to choose for myself how I want to see inside my own home.