Yet their monthly electric bills have not dropped much at all (at least according to my German friend). Seems like only the gov't and global warming alarmist's get rich (like Al Gore).

In the meantime they have agreed it has taken "a pause" for the last 15 years and have no believable explanation.

(is this stuff verboten on PS? Seems like it might be so I'll shut up)

Don't worry about the pins getting an incandescent ban at the time. There are far too few to be of significance. The folks mentioning energy use of TVs and entertainment and all that stuff - that has nothing at all to do with the ban on incandescent lighting. Global residential/commercial lighting is what the ban is about....and there is no point to debate if this is going to happen - it is happening regardless of if you agree with it or not. I received my box of free CFL bulbs from the electric company and I am using them up until they die and I replace them with LEDs.

The next generation of LED technology is also going to blow away CFLs by 2015

#t=80

I'm not for incandescent at all, so how am I going off course on my own argument? Even if warm light from substitute technologies isn't quite right in the "warm" spectrum, the incandescent technology is on it's way out - it's proven fact. Look around you man, LEDs are everywhere including our pins. Say goodbye to inferior incandescent technology.
http://www.energyfocusinc.com/lighting-resources/case-studies/mantua-manufacturing/

I actually started converting to CFLs about 5 years ago.. bought about 20 bulbs when I found a good price on them and replaced any incandescent I could with them. The main issue I found when installing them is they didn't fit half the light fixtures due to their size. I bought a pack of mini's after that and was able to convert a few more fixtures over. Wasn't too fond of the delay in turn-on time and the color, but hey I was saving some money on electricity..

Then a few years in I had a CFL fail. Horribly. They have internal "electronic ballasts" -- see the link here http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1272528

I had one that smoked while I was in the room. Smelled bad like burnt electronics, the base of the bulb was all burnt. I did some research and found this is expected behavior for a failure. Here's another link that goes deeper into the topic of burning melting plastic being normal failure mode -- http://sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm

Now I guess it's my fault for not researching this more before buying them, but CFLs were supposed to be this great new technology and save everyone a lot in energy costs.. so why question it? I've had ballasts go in larger florescent light fixtures, but hadn't really thought about how a CFL was designed and that it had a mini ballast in it. It just seems like a *really* horrible design to have something that gets so hot be using capacitors in the electronic ballast at the base which is going to see a large amount of heat, especially in a fixture that isn't allowing the bulb complete airflow. It also seems really really bad to say that melty burnt plastic is "normal" for a failure.. look at some pictures online and there are some *really* bad looking failures with these bulbs. I'd rather not be one of the unlucky ones that has an untypical failure resulting in a fire.

Since my first CFL failure I had one more go in the same way. These bulbs weren't even used for all that many hours. After that, I decided screw it and went back to incandescents (up until recently). Now that LED bulb prices have come down to under $10 for many wattages, I started converting over to LED. Much safer IMO as it's not generating as much heat to fry the electronics in the bulb. That said, some LED bulbs do still get hot at the base (I tried a few non-name brands that got quite hot).. and I wouldn't doubt there are some design flaws with certain models. It's also unknown exactly how long these will last based on effects of heat, but I'll take my chances over CFLs

I heard the new bulbs make today are dangerous as all get out I have not broke any yet but those things are suppose to be almost deadly if broken probably just another crazy rumor though

The freak out by people concerning CFL bulbs is a point of personal hilarity to me. It's like watching a sitcom where everyone is reading from a script given to them by certain motivated parties. I switched my whole house over to CFL's when it became practical to do so. It reduced my energy bill immediately by a noticeable amount.

Mr. Edison will be glad you're still using his 150 year old technology. I'm sure you're listening to your wax pattern recordings on the phonograph while sending messages to loved-ones via Morse code along the telegraph, basking in the correct color glow of his dead short bulbs.

10 years? the cafe standards are here and so far the car companies are getting around them because the standard is an average of fleet. just wait til the ones "who know better" get done with this.

I just don't like to wait 30 seconds after turning on the lights to move about my garage safely in the winter.

Then go LED

Maybe we disagree on what constitutes a 'fact', but I didn't see any in the message you replied to.

i dont think people "freak out" over cfl's. i think they "freak out" over the fact that the government is telling them what to do and when to do it and not being truthful in the process. the freak out has to do with not being able to use something they prefer. you like those screwy looking things that take five minutes to half light a room, go for it. you like having to throw out your pets and carpets if one breaks, just fine. I like a bright light ,that projects warmth, that turns on immediately and disposes of by throwing it in the garbage. I also like the ability to do what I want. make choices based on facts and not be dictated to. there are 2 hypocrisies here. one in the fact that you see "hilarity" in others as they supposedly follow a script when in fact one script is being written by the government and you have no issue following IT and the other is the government telling us its an environmental thing yet it isnt. it just fits their agenda (exactly like the electric car). and your analogy is way off. the other things you suggest we use have been replaced by something much better. the incandescent has only been replaced by force and lies with a very inferior product that creates a hazard that supposedly replaces a hazard. nothing hilarious about that to me.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. As far as I can tell the rule about no political discussion has not been enforced a single time since it was put in place. Personally, I'd be happy if they banned anyone that even remotely brought politics into any thread.

It's -30 and snowing here, yet there is a 6-person hot tub in my back yard running at 98.6 degrees.
Just sayin...

Today it's light-bulbs, but what's next?

FEMA concentration camps for the people who won't fall in line, no doubt.

http://info.publicintelligence.net/USArmy-InternmentResettlement.pdf

I know, right?

Don't get me wrong, I am all for "saving the planet" and trying to clean up our mess. I recycle everything I can, and usually take public transist to work (I have driven but that only amount to about dozen times in the last year). And it doesn't just end at CO emmisions either but the amount of trash that we throw out since we have become such a disposable society.

What I am against is governments blindly throwing money out there for a massive unproven projects just to appease people that they are "doing good". Essentially all they are doing is throwing wet toilet paper at the wall and see what sticks. Just look at how much money was recently given to several solar cell start up companies and how many of these closed up shop within a year or 2 (a good majority of them have, if not all). That money could have been better spent on research on improving solar cells, storage batteries etc. Solar cells are becoming more efficient and cheaper to produce especially once they start producing them in mass quanity via printable electronics.

Interesting read, so I checked in on this and this only holds true (Re: incandescent bulbs creates tons more mercury) if the power that it is using is supplied by coal powered generating station. Not the same for green, hydro, nuclear or natural gas stations.

I am still concerned about how many of these CFLs will end up in a land fill because people will not be bothered to recycle them properly. And it is not just the mercury content, but what about the ballast and electronics that are in them as well?

I'm not even sure you can blame the public on this at this point. Take my case, specifically. It's not like when you go to the store to buy these things, there's big ol signs saying YOU MUST RECYCLE THESE SO TAKE THEM TO *THIS PLACE* WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH THEM!

I've got literally a big bowl full of CFL's sitting in my house because I don't want to throw them away, but I have absolutely no clue where (Okay, so I did a quick google search just now and appears most Lowes, Home Depots, and Batteries Plus will take them, so there's a few viable options there..) to take them. At the very least, we're assuming people can be arsed to return them to a retail location instead of simply tossing them in the trash, which we ALL know will just about never happen except for people that are already attempting to be "environmentally friendly". Joe Schmoe American is not going to give a flip about disposal procedures.....these are the same tards pouring motor oil down storm drains, etc...

This has been my issue as well. We have a whole house lighting system. It can only handle the standard incandescent light bulbs (at this point anyway).

The crazy thing is that we have not replaced a single dimmed incandescent bulb in our house in the 13 years we have lived there.

Chris

I would double check Home Depot first - all the ones around me are no longer accepting them, fortunately Lowes still does. The only other option for me is an Eco Station a half hour (on a good day) drive across the city and then wait in line for another half hour (or more, although been lucky a couple of times). Needless to say I stock pile all the stuff that goes here and make only 1 or 2 trips that way a year.

As a side note Lowes also takes batteries and incandescent bulbs as well for recycle.

They don't need to be as cheap, since they use a fraction of the power, and last a gazillion times longer than a typical incandescent bulb. I'm in love with the latest crop of LED bulbs, and I am slowly converting my entire house over. Every 65 watt flood in my basement has now been replaced with 13 watt soft white Philips LED bulbs. They are slightly brighter, and the light they give off is very comparable to a normal bulb. In fact, I have never had one person come over who even noticed that they were LEDs.

oh ... so you're one of those. carry on.

Even I am not going to put up with that kind of crap to deal with a forced mandate. I don't PERSONALLY have an issue with using CFLs in my house, even though I'm pretty sure they're directly responsible for me feeling crappy and not being able to see jack squat a lot of the time, but I'll not be spending an hour+ just to disposed of these things that don't last anywhere NEAR as long as an incandescent in my experience (No dimmers at all in our wiring!), and cost way more.

old-man-cloud.jpg

Oh.. I also see you are one of those. carry on.

So...sucks BUT my dad found this LED bulb CREE 40watt soft white
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-40W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BA19-04527OMF-12DE26-2U100/204476612?N=bol#

It looks JUST like a good incandescent and is dim-able. The only way you know its LED is that during dimming it stays white instead of going slightly yellow. They are $9 a pop but with their warranty...you could slowly migrate over. That's what I'm doing. Every HD trip I just snag one.

haha yeah man, 9/11 was an inside job and we faked the moon landings and obama is in cahoots with the lizard people.

Its a brave new world.

9/11 is now why we dial 911 for police, right?

don't you dare close your eyes

Say goodbye to the incandescent.

Phil3.jpg

I predict that within a couple more years, LEDs will have completely eliminated CFLs from the marketplace. They are better in pretty much every way.

Right-o sir

what are the downsides to LED bulbs at the moment? initial cost? is the light unpleasant?

It is almost laughable that folks are scared to death of the CFLs breaking but are likely the same folks who do not bother to take fluorescent tube style lamps out to the recycler when they break. They probably have fluorescent shop lamp tubes above the pinball repair table as well.

http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/basic.htm

Initial cost and the light spectrum. The new ones like the CREE are 2700k so in the incandescent spectrum. I can barely tell the difference. And change...everyone is scared of change

My knees: They are jerking.

Mostly initial cost (and high cost per lumen). But the LED industry moves very fast - the color choices are improving, and conversion is happening - both in residential and commercial, and both in renovation and new builds. The benefits outweigh the initial cost, because of the reliability and lifespan of LEDs. In a large commercial building there is a lot of labor to have someone run around and change all those incandescent bulbs, LEDs last longer and so they save servicing and replacement costs as well as energy. LEDs can outlast and work better in many industrial applications because of the resistance to vibration, rapid cycling resistance and many other factors. From warehouses to offices, and from to residential and to automotive, and everywhere we use artificial light.
http://www.al-e.com/use-led-to-best-advantage

Commercial_LED_lighting_12-445x273.png

The strawmen you erect are about as funny as an ostrich being mauled by a lion while his head is in the sand.

And if you want to laugh about conspiracy theories, laugh about the one where 15 drunken stripper-mongers being led by a beardy in an Afghanistani cave overtake the greatest military the world has ever known and successfully attack its unguarded headquarters. Now that's a good one.

I've got a total of four LED bulbs installed in my apartment. So far two of them have failed after just 3 months of use.

One had been sputtering/flickering/flashing at odd times and became very annoying so I replaced it with a 60 watt incandescent. Problem solved.

The other one simply died suddenly. It just went out and would not turn back on. So I replaced that one with a CFL.

I have a total of 12 light fixtures in my apartment. Nine have either CFL or LED lights in them and three have conventional 60 watt incandescents in them. Funny, but my electric bill did not go down at all. In fact my electric bill went up, way up.

People should spend more time turning off lights that are not in use and unplugging parasitic draws around their house than wasting money on expensive light bulbs.

Looks like one company is still selling incandescents in the US even after the law goes into full effect. They sell "rough service" bulbs which are more expensive than current bulbs but less than the CFLs. Looks like they found a good loophole in the law. So if you like the look of incandescents you can still buy them. http://www.newcandescent.com

A pretty "bright" friend of mine made a good point yesterday. Incandescent bulbs are 99.9% efficient in the winter months as the heat they give off help to heat the home. The only "waste" is during the summer months.

I am only 'scared to death' of the hypocrisy, the dictates and the lies. not the cfl's. I am only 'scared to death' of the sheep , who buy into the sophistry, that now have a direct say in how I have to live my life. what's laughable to me is the people who buy electric cars and drive them to the coal fired power plants to protest. the cfl is no different. the incandescent just doesnt fit in the agenda. the consequences of using the cfl doesnt matter. only the agenda matters. that is what I am 'scared to death' of.

That's why my Grand Cherokee has a 5.7 liter Hemi!

Not sure what your 99.9% refers to...if that is saying that nearly 100% of the energy used by the light bulb is converted to heat, you are pretty much correct. But, we use the lights more often than we use the heat: In the summer, you're paying double to heat your house (with an inefficient light) and cool it back down (with an air conditioner). Plus, most of your lighting is located near the ceiling, and since the heat rises it does little to help heat the home. You'd be just as well off trying to heat your house with the waste heat generated by desktop computer, television, or electric toothbrush.

I drive a big v8 (challenger with a 6.1litre hemi) but your hate for electric cars is pretty dumb. the plurality of electrical power in this country comes from coal right now, sure, but this is still better than a million tiny, inefficient, dirty internal combustion engines. for one thing, the economies of scale make a coal plant cleaner overall as a power source than an equivalent number of individual internal combustion engines. second, the beauty of powering cars via electricity is that any change to make the electrical grid more environmentally friendly or efficient instantaneously boosts the efficiency and cleanness of every electric car in the country.

if you simply feel like electric cars threaten your manhood, you can always get a Tesla - those things'll blow the doors off my Challenger.

Why can't we discuss the pros and cons of the technologies without the politics? A lot of people are converting out of filament bulbs in favor of either of the new lighting technologies and mostly not because someone is forcing them - it's because they realize it is simply better.