U.S. To Phase Out Incandescent Light Bulbs

It has some potential, but the bulbs won’t last as long advertised. They get abused and their color shifts, and THEN they provide a another trash problem! The Fluorescent bulbs being the biggest problem because, the last time I checked, they still contain mercury(although less). How long before they get outlawed?…

I really like the new LED lights. Although most of the LEDs out their right now are too blue, LED color can be changed. Too bad they are so expensive right now.

wow-how great these Frankenstein things will look in crystal chandeliers! Never mind the mercury toxicity -what about the stress and eye strain these horrendous things cause-not to mention the cadaverous glow they give human skin. How do they manage in Europe? Hint -they put lights on timers! What about walking more or perhaps banning SUVs. Fuck the fascist state-I’ll order my warm incandescent bulbs online from overseas-after I finish what I intend to stock-pile.

What about the cost of disposal associated with the mercury in fluorescent bulbs? What if one brakes in your house? The mercury is in vapor form!

I had several of these throughout my home. I had to take them all out and replace with incandescent bulbs. It turns out that these are added to my sons and my list of migraine triggers.

I think there is a vast problem people are overlooking. The “wasted” energy of incandecent lightbulbs doesnt have to be wasted at all. Especially in colder climates the additional watts used in conventional lightbulbs makes HEAT! That’s right, the same heat we might get from say oh a 1000watt electric floor heater or natural gas from a furnace in our basements. So when people see the 24watt flourecent vs the 100watt lightbulb keep in mind that you lose ALL of that heat energy (since flourecents dont generate much if any heat). So would you rather see a higher gas heating bill or electricity bill?

Also note that the flourecent lights “flicker-on” This flickering is due to the activation energy required to get the light started up. This energy is typically quite high. So unless you turn on a flourecent bulb and leave it on for at least a few minutes the benefits arent noticable and can infact be more power consuming if you put them in places like closets, garages, bathrooms, etc where you are turning lights off and on quickly.

I wish people would look into the fundamentals more closely. As for the southern states that dont see cold winters, I guess it has it’s benefits… but to ban them completely seems foolish to me.

“Fuck the fascist state-I’ll order my warm incandescent bulbs online from overseas-after I finish what I intend to stock-pile.”

You wouldn’t be thinking of ordering from Europe, by any chance? Seems that it is as it ever was: Europe, is way ahead of us in the Fascistic department. The incandescent light is over over there.

If socialism itself doesn’t end up destroying Europe, they’ll gag themselves on the sanctimonious stench of their socialistic self-righteousness.

Get over it and go to Walmart (even though they are the Big Promoters of these CFL’s, they still offer bargains on incandescent bulbs) and stockpile away while you still have the opportunity.

Daisy said: This latest ban from the same clueless folks who banned the most reliable glass thermometer. Why the thermometer ban? Because the good ones, just like the CFL’s, were made of glass and contained — dadadadum — MERCURY!

—-

One would think the same laws would apply to CFLs and any fluorescent as they all contain mercury. Don’t think they’ll come up with a mercury free version either as mercury vapor emits the UV radiation that causes the phosphor coating to fluoresce. No mercury, no light.

I have mixed feelings also about compact fluros because of the mercury content and that they really aren’t an equal replacement for the incandescent globes most of us grew up with. I do think there is a place for them however. Many people do not know that they need to be left on for several hours to realise the energy saving potential and long life of bulbs. With this in mind I designed a lamp which is beautiful and soothing when lit, uses compact fluros and provides a wonderful ambient light for any room. Here is my website if this blog permits such links: http://www.simplybeautifulspaces.com.au

AND btw, you don’t put mercury vapor where you’d eat, or use anything important. That’s where LED’s come in.

Some of these arguments are just plain idiotic. Sounds to me like a bunch of old people who can’t accept change.

Well, enjoy paying $6 per gallon of gas. Enjoy $500-$1000 per month on energy bills.

BTW, switching to leds has saved me $30 per month on energy. Even though local areas has gone up $20 per month.

Hi everyone,
Isn’t anyone else worried about the fact that U.S. government can now TELL you which lights to use in your home? I read a comment about Europe above and was surprised. I’m an American living in Europe and I can tell you there is no such ban presently and I doubt there will be. People in Europe have seen the worst side of government out of control (WW2) and usually work pretty hard against allowing that to happen again..
Fellow Americans, with the elections approaching, we all have the chance to fix this by voting for a candidate that will put an end to all this B.S.. No joke. I found out about this guy on the web because the traditional media is black-balling him. They won’t show him on TV. Check him out for yourself and decide:
http://www.RonPaul2008.com

Anyhow, I pray we never have to have a real discussion about smuggling incandescent bulbs into the USA. It used to be a free country. Now we all live in fear….. of terrorists, drugs, crime, and now the regulators that ban things we need or want. Why don’t we let people and businesses make these decisions on their own? Why do we need the government mandating light bulbs of all things?

Tyrel,

I understand Europe has followed the lead of Cuba (w/the ban) - Australia followed and now the USA.

I don’t mean to insult you, but your facts appear to be seriously dubious concerning the European restriction on incandescent bulbs; they are made even more questionable when you claim the media is ‘blackballing’ Ron Paul. I understand your implied point concerning the leftist bias of the media, however, I assure you, no one has forbidden him access to TV. The man did himself in even before he claimed that Martin Luther King was a pederast (and that was one of his lighter weight hallucinations). He’s no longer a candidate.

Essentially, I agree w/your points concerning freedom. One only needs to look at the comments left by Alan ( who presents as a fairly typical member of the “environmentalist movement”) to understand that the far Left has become throughly Fascistic. He comes out squarely against freedom of choice and advocates the massive annihilation of the elderly - all in order that he can - finally - have some clean air to breath and keep his expenses down. To put it mildly, Alan has some serious control issues.

Of course, it’s easy to see that the Alans of the world could be placed in a carefully constructed dust free environment - all contaminants removed (’contaminants’ including all people who do not think along prescribed thought lines simultaneously dead and gone) all freedoms banished - for the greater good of the ‘environment’; all commerce destroyed; no state; no religions; one world - one thought - one hate - and, apart from the obvious catastrophes resulting from their Fascistic ideals that would certainly make them even more miserable, the fact reamains: all the Alans are innately miserable. Why? Because they started out as miseries - spoiled by parents who didn’t care enough to teach them their proper place in the Universe, and they have not one single whit of an inkling that they must change their Inner Environments .. that only in this way will they be able to understand the value of life and freedom. The Alans need to start inside and then work w/the outside. That would be a seriously effective environmental movement.

Alan, incandescent lights CAUSE pollution? That’s an interesting statement. I think there are many other things we do as humans that CAUSE more pollution than a light bulb. Driving gasoline cars, for example - but that’s not the point of what I’m saying……..
I agree we do a lot of things that hurt and pollute the planet, but I don’t think the answer is FORCING people one way or the other, but educating them, and helping industry to produce more efficient/cleaner/cheaper alternatives. Wouldn’t you agree that if companies were making more earth friendly solutions that were the same cost or cheaper that you’d buy them? I would. I think most people would. So, we’ve solved the problem WITHOUT use of force or without taking away liberties. That’s what I’m talking about.

Daisy, I appreciate you comments, too. However, I respectfully disagree with the comment about Ron Paul being racist and not being a candidate. All those rumors were debunked months ago as un-true. If you check he’s still in the race against McCain. The reason I support the guy is because he is pro- liberty and pro-constitution. He wants to find solutions that don’t involve wars. I have YET to hear other candidates speaking strongly about that and have a long voting record that supports it. What other candidate has the word “LOVE” in their campaign logo? Only Ron Paul.

I found another video if you’re interested in checking it out. I seriously doubt you’d see something like this on TV….. it shows how closely Martin Luther King and Ron Paul are on their views. It’s shocking how similar they are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWClI8zsH4

and…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBtL3NIcAvU

Just take a look. Thanks for reading.

I think what Alan is saying about pollution from incandescent bulbs is all of the wasted electricity involved. Those light bulbs use only 3% of the electricity for lighting. 3% folks!!! And how is our electricity produced? Coal power mainly, that supports 85% of our power needs . There’s the pollution… Just think how many incandescent bulbs are being used by the 300 million plus people in America alone(5% of the world’s population)… Its staggering.

I am currently studying for an electrical engineering degree and can say with confidence that 90% of the people today don’t truly understand the mechanism of an incandescent bulb. And who would argue that most just don’t care.

So check it out…

Electricity goes thru the element in a bulb exactly the same an the elements in your electrical stove or oven. With the same result… Light and heat produced. An oven makes almost as efficient light bulb as our incandescent bulb(mini heaters) when it comes down to the mathematics. So its understandable to think that our “pretty” incandescent bulbs were somewhat catch 22s of our early discovery of electricity. Wonderfully innovative then, bad news now. Our technology has well since developed in the past 130 years. Why are we still on this ship of power wastefulness in that old technology?

Then what about the mercury poison from CFLs all here are so flamboyantly ostracizing! Mercury is released in large quantities during the burning and production of electricity for the 97% incandescent power waste. As much as 1/3 of all mercury released into the air in the US are from coal burning plants. Which becomes the air your children breathe and also enters into our food chain. CfLs are easily recyclable and the mercury rendered virtually harmless when handled properly.

So add the inefficiency numbers up and see that eliminating incandescent bulbs would be a tremendous step to saving resources, curbing pollution and keeping money in our pockets too.

And Tyrel I understand where you are coming from with the Ron Paul points. I think he’d be a great president. Our media has done everything except be honest. When has it ever, and why did they not allow him to the Fox Channel Debate? I think that Ron Paul is very smart to continue his campaigning and getting his message out to more and more Americans who really care for the future US.

But what should the solution be for this new phase out? Well roll along as planned possibly. When interests shift and more money(as in sales money) goes to the companies manufacturing the newer bulbs, we’ll see more pleasing looking designs of bulbs. LEDs will probbly be the way to go for their small size output and versatility. Due to the inexpensive nature of the incandescent bulbs now, we would probbly not see any real change due to the reasons listed here for keeping our rights to pick the bulbs we want. And comparatively speaking, we just need to get off our old couch and see we dont need the cobwebs on the underside were so used to having, and there are much nicer and comfy ones waiting for us to nuzzle into if we will only give it a chance.

Oh, here is a link to an awesome site that can tell you where you can safely deposit your CFL lights for recycling in the mean time:

http://earth911.org/search-recycle?what=CFLs&where=Dallas%2C+Texas&max_distance=100&goRecycle=

Cheers, and happy St Patrick’s Day!

Jimmi sez- Lets move to a lighting source that performs best for the intent of its need, to light our homes, not to heat them. We have heaters that are designed solely for that purpose.

–

The needs of a light source depend on it’s application. You won’t be using a CFL to light an oven any time soon, nor a microwave oven. Doing so may start a fire.

And fluorescents don’t work well in the cold, although apparently some brands work better than others.

Even in the home, they require something non-standard, a ventilated fixture. Using one in a non-ventilated fixture may start a fire.

CFLs have their place, but they do not, cannot and will not work everyplace, and no slogan, even a clever one is gonna change this.

And breakage in the home is a bad thing, mercury you know. Children and CFLs are not a good mix. How one can be horrified by mercury emissions from coal-fired plants while supporting them in the home is beyond me.

It’s better to have a choice here. Choices are good.

Julie,

Your information on the homeowner’s insurance alone is priceless. Thanks.

I’m stockpiling incandescent bulbs.

You people are crazy. I’ve never heard a group of people digging for every possible excuse to resist change at such an insane level.

Where to begin? First off, I have CFLs in every room of my house, and I’m alive and kicking just fine. The bulbs in my ceiling fans are exposed so I got the kind with the glass around them to make them look “normal”. The light quality is great. My wife didn’t even notice I made the switch, and my friends and family are often shocked when I tell them that they’re CFLs. It’s in your head. If you buy quality bulbs, you can’t tell the difference. There is no flicker, like some people are saying there is. There is no need to leave them on for any amount of time to realize savings. That’s a myth. One they tested on “Mythbusters” no less and came to the same conclusion. I even have them outside and they work just fine in below freezing temperatures.

As far as polution goes, yes they have mercury in them. Some of you, though, are grossly inflating the impact, though. You’re actually trying to imply that CFLs cause more waste issues when they cut down on energy consumption and landfill waste? I’ve had the same bulbs for YEARS and have put NONE of them in the trash because the haven’t burnt out. Can you say the same? And at the same time, I’ve used less energy. So which of us is making more waste? Did I mention the fact that a coal power plant spews out more mercury to produce the power to light an incandescent bulb than what a CFL does? When I do get to the point that I have to throw out a bulb, I’m far less concerned about the waste it makes compared to what some of you are doing.

That being said, I would personally rather have a source of light that doesn’t use mercury either, like LED offers. The nice thing about the new legislature is that it’s NOT FORCING YOU TO USE CFLs!! It’s just saying that bulbs need to consume less energy by that start date. That means they can create a more efficient incandescent, improve LEDs… whatever they want, and you can CHOOSE which you prefer.

My point is that you’re all bashing CFLs for a number of accusations that just aren’t true. Some are, like the mercury content and the fact that they CAN be ugly if you don’t get the bulbs with a cover on them. But the benefits outweigh the costs by a huge margin!

ALAN SAID:
What a bunch of fools. Throwing away Earth’s future because someone’s telling you what to you.

Here’s a clue. Gas prices are nearing $4. Electric costs are going up. SHUT UP and accept that we’re running out of resources or enjoy it when all the lights go ouy.

_____________________________

Alan you douschebag go fall in a well.
Why would all the lights go out just because gas prices are rising? Newsflash genius: we have other means of energy such as wind powered, solar powered, nuclear powered, natural gas, coal, water, etc.

This just gets better and better. Not wanting to appear resistant to change at an insane level, I ventured to my local big box store and purchased a package of 65W CFL to replace two incandescent bulbs in my kitchen. I bought the kind that are encased in a normal looking bulb because I have recessed lighting. Cost of 2 bulbs in one package: $11.00.

I screwed the bulbs in. The light was somewhat bluish, more in one bulb than the other. One of the bulbs made an annoying buzzing sound. Thinking perhaps it was defective, I drove back to the big box (so we’re talking 2 trips now of about 9 miles each, roundtrip) and exchanged the bulbs for a new package. I put them in and guess what? Both glow bluish, and both buzz loud enough to be noticeable. So now I have to drive back to the big box, where I will get a refund and purchase the incandescent ones that work as they are supposed to.

One other thing: These CFLs come packaged in open-resistent hard plastic clamshell packaging. Which is made of, guess what? Oil. And they are made in and shipped from, guess where? China.

I’d love to see an analysis of the carbon emissions from the production of these bulbs, the packaging required (can’t use cardboard due to risk of breakage & mercury), and the manufacture and shipping from China, a country not exactly reknowned for its consumer product safety. Can you say lead paint on kids’ toys?

“According to Wikipedia it’ll take em off the market by 2014.”

Exactly. And good bulbs are getting harder to find as the manufacturers phase them out.

Freedom? What’s that?

//Did I mention the fact that a coal power plant spews out more mercury to produce the power to light an incandescent bulb than what a CFL does?

I got curious about this factoid and decided to run some numbers.

According to the following source…

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/air/vol/registry/quantexamples/example12.html

Power plant mercury emissions are 0.034 lb/GWH.

0.034 lb/GWH = 0.01587 mg/KWH.

Grabbing some numbers from the net, incandescents are rated at 750 HR and flourescents at perhaps 8000 hours (my personal experience is that service life is much less).

Using these numbers for a 100W incandescent and an equivalent 23W fluorescent gives

incandescent = 750HR * 100W = 75KWH
Fluorescent = 8000 HR * 23W = 184 KWH.

Given the emissions per KWH above we end up with the following emissions for the rated service life.

fluorescent = 2.92 mg mercury
incandescent = 1.19 mg mercury

Looks like more mercury is emitted during the service life of a CFL, and in any case, even a low mercury CFL has 5 mg of mercury. A broken CFL releases more mercury (2x to 5x) than is emitted during the service life of either a CFL or an incandescent bulb. And it’s emitted all at once in one closed location, unlike power plant emissions.

At any rate, the numbers don’t seem to support your statement. I say “don’t seem” because it’s not exactly clear what you are saying.

Here are some other comments that I didn’t see pointed out…
1) Flourescent lighting (which I’m not against- I have those bulbs in my own home) has a strobe-like quality which is something that children with autism and epilepsy are very sensitive too (and with autism being a growing problem in society, this could affect more and more people).

2) Flourescent bulbs are expensive… It could be a realy struggle for working families in a sluggish economy, when we already have so many other costs on the rise (gas, food, healthcare, etc.). Adding one more expense after another onto families with young children to provide for (who often have to spend exorbatent amounts of money on child care costs) could be a very real hardship.
3) The government shouldn’t be in the business of mandating what kind of lighting we have in our homes. Period.

Yes, we need to be better stewards of the environment, but those who signed all this into law didn’t think of all the facts when doing so.

I put Wal-Mart brand Great Value Fluorescent bulbs in 2 years ago. They give off hideous green lighting and it sucks as far as reading. Haven’t really noticed a savings since the electric company raised their rates by 12% again for the 3rd year in a row.

I’m on the computer for most of the day with school & work, and get headaches from the light - and before anyone says it’s from the computer, I take a 3 minute. break every 15 minutes. I’m going back to incandescents, and stockpiling while I can.

Daisy,

Since we’re going to be stuck with more inefficient products, we can tell the electric companies to shove off with their high prices too. I’m looking into solar power - It’s expensive as heck at the moment, but in the long run, I think going off grid is going to be the only way any of us will be able to survive getting shafted anymore than we already are. I saw an interesting home makeover a few weeks ago - the roof and walls of an up-stair addition was complete glass — not a bad idea, considering that there aren’t many trees near my house, and I could install a solar-heated water supply to boot.

// How can I predict such dire effects, a rabid socialist-environmentalist may squawk? For the exact same reasons I predicted normal household appliance quality would become degraded once US government regulations overtook efficient production/competition/freedom in order to appease socialistic goals. Anyone out there think that the overall quality of household appliances has improved within the past decade? //

Household appliances started going downhill when the corporations realized that supply couldn’t meet demand. People who like junk continue to buy junk, creating a need for even more junk to be mass produced. Those of us who would pay more for a product that won’t breakdown so fast are stuck with - junk! There’s a new house phone every 2-3 years, coffee makers that die after a year, two new irons in the past 4 years, and the wiring on my clothes dryer caught fire after 6 years. Thanks to the placement of the outlet, I was able to save my house, but spent the night airing the smoke out. We get what we pay for, no?

But I digress. If the rabid environmentalists would actually stop and think things through, they would realize that saving the environment includes a need for lights that do not put off harmful emissions.

Pavlov is trying to figure out whose bell needs to be wrung so that salivation can begin.

“Maybe the government wouldn’t be saying anything about your light bulbs if those of you who love your incandescents so much would just turn off the lights when you leave a room.”

Ian, you seem to confuse the ‘government’ (made up of duly elected representatives of the people of the Republic of the USA) with parents and you then confuse citizens of our Republic w/children of those parents.

You also appear to believe you possess magical powers that inform you as to whether or not people who prefer good light (incandescent) and freedom turn their lights off frequently enough to suit the dictates of the religion of environmentalism.

Here’s a Big Secret: There is ENOUGH energy to go around. If we need to come up with new ways and means to meet energy needs, we will.

Governmental takeovers of free will do not help that process - they hamper it. If you like ugly, expensive, mercury laden lights — go ahead and buy them. Buy a million of them. I don’t care. In fact, you can rip out the electric and heating systems in your house, for all I care - in fact - go all the way and blow up your house too. Go live in a mud hut with firelight and spears. Be my guest. Just don’t put the ugly lights into publicly shared space and if you blow up your car or house, do so in a place where you won’t harm another person/property.

I would appreciate the same freedom of choice. That’s all.

My descendants will, of course, inherit some of the work left incomplete by me. So what? That’s nothing new. If I can help preserve freedom - then at the very least they’ll have a good chance to work out their own lives with the kind of integrity made possible only by living with freedom. In my opinion, you ought to learn to value freedom more and blind obedience to the fear-mongering environmentalist movement less.

What will happen to all of my 3-way lamps?

Those morons never think about unintended consequences:-(

I don’t think CFL can be considered expensive, they save you money. They cost $1.00 and they save around $40 over their 3-5 year lifetime, at least the one’s I use. I’ve had the same $1.00 bulb outside in all Chicago’s seasons for 2 years running from 8PM to 5AM approximately, every day. If you are only getting 1 year out of the bulbs, I suspect there may be something wrong with the electric in your house, the bulbs are defective, or they are left on 24 hours / day.

The bulbs truly do last 10 X’s longer, which means the energy savings over the bulbs lifetime reduces mercury output from coal power plants by greater than the amount of mercury contained in 1 bulb and the bulb can be recycled. And if it breaks don’t freak out, the mercury content is like nothing, just use a dustpan, then a wet rag, and you’re good, and how often do you break light bulbs?

//And if it breaks don’t freak out, the mercury content is like nothing, just use a dustpan, then a wet rag, and you’re good, and how often do you break light bulbs?

Oh really? Is that why the EPA has a page long instruction sheet for clean up of broken CFLs?
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm#fluorescent

And here’s an excerpt from the actual study conducted on the CFLs (link after):
“Mercury concentration in the study room air often exceeds the Maine Ambient Air
Guideline (MAAG) of 300 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3) for some period of
time, with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3, sometimes over 50,000 ng/m3, and
possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the breakage of a single compact fluorescent
lamp. ”
http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/homeowner/cflreport.htm

33,200% OVER the guideline limit from ONE bulb?!!?!? No, that’s not a typo.

And how often do I break light bulbs? With the possibility of Mecury at the levels indicated by the study, I think just 1 would be more than I would be willing to be exposed to.

So please Jason, continue using CFLs and next time you break one, do us all a favor and breath deeply.

I have an 8 year old daughter with a rare life threatening autoimmune disease who cannot be under UV rays. Flourescent bulbs emmit UV rays (albiet in small amounts) and cause skin changes to occur in my daughter. Because of the isidious nature of my daughter’s disease, we do not fully know the extent of the damage to my daughter from flourescent lighting. We too are stockpiling bulbs but it is doubtful that we’ll be able to collect enough for her lifetime.

And we too are concerned about the mercury inside these bulbs — especially since we are already dealing with an autoimmune issue.

I wrote my congressman today to find out if there are any provisions for those persons with medical conditions — such as my daughter’s and possibly those with Lupus and some cancer patients.

Perhaps if you object to the replacement of the incandescent bulbs with flourescent bulbs, you might consider doing the same.

Has anyone else ever heard of a similar situation as ours — meaning a medical condition in which flourescent lights might be harmful to a person’s health?

Ronald Reagan famously declared that the scariest sentence in the English language is, “Hi, I’m the Federal government and I’m here to help.”

I agree with Reagan’s declaration.

I would rather shoot myself than fill my home with fluorescent lighting. I work in a fluorescent-filled work environment all day and can’t wait to get home to the comfortable, warm, inviting lights of my little lamps in my little apartment. Fluoroescent lights give me headaches! Bad ones! I am stock piling incandescents as of this year… let’s see, I’m 26 now, so on an average of replacing about four to five light bulbs per year, if I live to be 80, then that means I have to stockup about 270 bulbs, at roughly 3.00 to 4.00 apiece… about a thousand dollars? That’s a little much for me to spend on bulbs at this low-earning age. However, that price is probably a much better deal than what I’d have to spend on Excedrin Migraine for the rest of my life due to filling my house with a lovely fluorescent glow. I don’t care how much technology has ‘warmed up’ fluorescent lights for the home… I can still tell the difference. I’m an artist. I will ALWAYS be able to tell the difference. Sure, these energy saving bulbs might be great for attic-cellar-driveway areas… but for a reading lamp next to couch, or next to the BED?? REALLY ROMANTIC. NOTHIN’ SAYS LOVIN’ LIKE SOME SOFT FLUORESCENT MOOD LIGHTING. WHAT A GOOD IDEA. That’ll really make my butt look great. By the way…The government is telling me what bulbs I can use in my own home?? A bit invasive, don’t you think? Wasn’t the whole point of breaking off and starting our own country just a few centuries ago to stop the government from doing this exact type of thing? Next they’ll be telling us what kind of socks to wear and what time to get up in the morning, and what’s illegal to have for breakfast.

I am extremely alarmed about this. I’ve been treated for mercury poisoning and have always avoided fluorescent bulbs in my home. It’s one thing for any of us to stockpile incandescent bulbs, but isn’t there something else we can be doing? Shouldn’t we be contacting environmental groups, senators and congressmen? I hope some of the articulate people who posted their comments here will also take some sort of broader action.

//EVEN THOUGH CFLs contain a tiny amount of mercury (just like all the fluorescent tubes in office buildings and stores everywhere also do), CFLs use SO little energy that they reduce the mercury emissions from power plants by 2/3rds compared with INCANDESCENT//

Marty, for California’s electricity , only 2% comes from coal unless PG&E is lying to me. Explain the emissions reductions here.

//THAT IS WHY ENERGY STAR AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SUPPORT USING THEM!!//

California reports that 6 million CFLs have been sold (in radio and TV commercials), but there is no word of reduced power requirements. In fact, we’ve had rolling blackouts. I don’t see any real evidence that CFLs reduce power generation needs.

CFLs obviously don’t meet everyone’s needs for many reasons, from causing migraines to sensitivity to UV (which is what causes the phosphors to glow). They can’t be used in ovens or microwave ovens, they probably won’t work in many refrigerators or freezers, or outside in an Ohio winter. There are many places where that will not work, or should not be used. They should not be used in unventilated fixtures for example, which describes virtually all existing fixtures. Using one in an unventilated fixture can result in a fire. Read the warnings that come with CFLs.

One size does not fit all. Fluorescents have their advantages and disadvantages. No evangelism on you part is gonna effect the reality of this.

FYI, for mercury calculations (rather than assertions) see above.

Replacing incandescent with CFL’s for the sake of the environment is outrageous. Yet another political attempt to save face in awake of environmental degradation.

Generating light artificially impacts the environment regardless of what light bulb is used. CFL’s have pros and cons just like an incandescent. People should be able to chose what light best suit’s the application. To determine this consumers need to know where their power is coming from [coal, nuclear, hydro etc] the climate they live, and how and where the bulb is being manufactured.

I would love to find more information on exactly how much energy is used to manufacture a CFL, INCLUDING the extraction and transportation of the various mineral recourses that comprise a CFL. Unfortunately to date all I can find is political opinions [worthless] and scientific evaluations that only cover half the variables.

Above all banning incandescent lights is simply a piss weak attempt to “save the planet”. Domestic lighting in particular uses a very small percentage of the gross power generated [particularly on a global basis] .
The majority of energy goes towards fueling economies with useful and useless shit for people to consume and of course transportation.

Ultimately to have a significant impact on energy consumption government would have to stop the very engine that drives the economy, consumption of goods. I suppose it will make some misguided people feel warm and fuzzy when they are screwing CFL’s into their light sockets, but the reality is it wont solve a thing.

Wow, some people do get upset, Jane Doe believes that the “bleep” fascist state is forcing her to give up her holy incandescent bulbs, which are obviously gifts from god.
Then there is Daisy who believes that a fully Socialist governing force is behind these vicious policies. I am very worried that I did not know about any of this.
I have good news for Jane Doe and Daisy, you can defeat these evil powers by simply going back to using candles or a naked gas flame just like we used for milenia until Joseph Swann invented the incandescent electric light bulb. No it wasn’t Edison it was Swann, Edison bought the patent from Swann then manipulated everyone into thinking he invented it. You’ve got to watch those crafty capitalists.
Anyway Jane and Daisy, do you like my suggestion? and when your house catches fire (candles and gas flames tend to be rather dangerous that’s why the fascist/socialist law makers pester you with lots of warnings) you can have the satisfaction of telling those fascist/socialist quasi governmental fireman busybodies to get off your property so that you can extinguish the fire yourself with a bucket of water.
If they won’t go you can use your gun to shoot them, thank heavens for the 2nd amendment and the NRA.
I will leave you with this thought. People who constantly moan about there RIGHTS being violated ignore the fact that RIGHTS only work when we recognize that we have RESPONSIBILITIES. Without RESPONSIBILITIES we have NO RIGHTS. Unfortunately many people pay lip service to their RESPONSIBILITIES thus forcing those of us who take them seriously to create RULES AND LAWS. So if you are one of the former type then you are the root cause of the LAWS you so much despise.