The entire US must change to CFL bulbs by 2016! It's the law! Good or Bad? (page 5)

kwr

CFL Bulbs suck. I tried them years ago and the light is very poor.

Jim_TX

(I haven't watched the videos... so may be speaking out of turn...)

I've replaced most of my incandescents with CFL lightbulbs. Yes... they do not fit in the ceiling fixtures - unless I remove the difusing glass - or plastic - fixture.

The CFLs I choose for lighting are around 5000 to 6000+ Kelvin. This is a 'white' or 'blue' hue, as opposed to the harsher orange hues of the cheaper and more readily available CFLs.

I have noticed a drop in both the heat produced and the electric bill. However... I have also implemented an LED string of three LED lights (MR-16 base) in a tracklight. This is powered by my battery that gets recharged with a solar panel. I use this light every evening for about 4 to 5 hours, and for about 1 hour in the wee hours of the early morning. It has also helped to reduce my electric bill.

CFLs simply do not work in all applications. Has anyone tried - and succeeded in replacing the refrigerator light? How about the kitchen stove/oven lamp? I do not believe that CFLs can function properly at these temperature extremes.

The folks in Congress usually lose touch wit realities that the folks they represent have to deal with on a day to day basis.

Regards,

Jim TX

amicus

I do not like the light for one thing

As Jim_Tx pointed out, by changing the mix of phosphors, the color temperature of flourescent lighting can be matched pretty well with incandescent lighting, but it's more expensive than the standard bluish flourescent light.

I will be stocking up on a lifetime supply of incandescents before they stop making them.

That was my decision when I first heard this. I have a mix of flourescent/incandescent lighting in my home and incandescent can't be replaced by the flourescents in some applications.

can cause migraines

That's called the 60 cycle strobe effect and can be allieviated by good lighting design in a commercial building that has access to 3 phase power. Residences use single phase power so are pretty well screwed.

Flourescents also are more susceptible to temperature than incandescents.

I've also found the life expectance of the CFL's to be dicey. That could just be a result of poor quality control on the assembly line though.

In fact, I think the switch from the old core and coil ballasts to the electronic ballasts resulted in a more energy efficient product but one that was not as durable as the old technology. Again though, that could be just a trend towards less stringent quality control.

The change from core and coil style transformers to electronic helped improve fluorescent lighting, but it's not yet ready (and probably never will be) to replace incandescents completely.

I think this law is a bad idea, we need more viable options before we can say goodbye to incandescents.

RubaDub

I'm surprised by the number of people here stressed over lightbulbs.

I'm not a proponent of government intrusion in my life either, but at times the government mandate things that would not be done in the free market.

Think of things in cars like seatbelts, airbags and other safety items. When they were first mandated, auto manufactures said they would add too much to the price of a car and people would not buy them. Then, after a year or so, who would buy a car without them!

It's not a matter of personal choice but about more people using limited resources. That is the reason a LAW was passed several years ago forcing toilet manufactures here in the US to limit the water to 1.6 gallons per flush. Older toilets use 3 or 4 gallons. There is only so much water available. And the more that is used, the more expensive it becomes for all of us. I can poop just as well in the 1.6 gallon toilet as the old ones (ok,ok, unless I ate alot the day before and have to flush it twice). I do not have a problem with it!

Regarding the light bulbs, more electrical usage just makes everything more expensive. More electric useage just makes the cost of everything around it increase, be it the coal, natural gas, oil or nuclear rods used to generate the energy. And noone wants a new nuclear plant or other electrical generating plant in their back yard. I know I don't.

So folks, chill a bit. I have already seen the new type bulbs that are encased in a glass cover to make them look like the old type.

If they save as much energy as claimed, I'm all for it.

Rub a Dub

james_woods

Did you know that those upholstery tags on the back of your couch (the ones that say "do not remove under penalty of law") actually just rip right off?

My point is - why get your panties in a wad over something this silly?

Jim_TX

FHN said - "...They give me pounding headaches."

I believe this was due to the 60-Hz effect - in the older long fluorescent tubes - and their ballast - which worked off of the 60-Hz line frequency.

If fluorescents gave you headaches - chances are - computer monitors did, also. (The newer monitors use different frequencies - but the older ones used 60-Hz.)

Now. Let's flash forward to 2008 - when the CFLs being manufactured use a bit of electronics in the base of the lamp which steps up the voltage to a high enough level to 'fire' the phosphors in the fluorescent tubes. They do this by using a high-frequency... in the kilohertz range... if not approaching the megahertz range. Way out of the 'headache causing' 60-Hz range of yesteryear.

Even the modern fluorescent tubes - use an electronic ballast - which is more energy efficient - and which also uses a high frequency - not 60-Hz.

Perhaps this should be on an episode of Mythbusters.

Regards,

Jim TX

amicus

They do this by using a high-frequency... in the kilohertz range... if not approaching the megahertz range. Way out of the 'headache causing' 60-Hz range of yesteryear.

Makes sense to me. I wasn't aware that they were able to overcome the 60 cycle strobe effect with the electronic ballasts.

james_woods

Jim, I doubt that the Mythbusters would take up the challenge unless they could figure out a way to blow something up as part of the episode -

RubaDub

This is further proof that Armegeddon is close since we will only have CFL bulbs and 1.6 gallon per flush toilets.

Rub a Dub

AK - Jeff

No it's not about using limited resources - that is the cover story of course.

It's about Big Brother limiting our free use of personal choice. Some would prob like it over in Russia, where you can get in line and accept whatever is offered, pay what is demanded, live where you are assigned, eat when and if Moscow tells you do so.

It's not about light-bulbs at all. It's about my choice to light my house with any relatively safe means at my disposal. We need less government, not more. I actually have many CFL's in my home. I do not intend to take them out - I may add more of them. I might even eliminate all the incandescent bulbs in time. But I don't want an overbearing, bureaucratic congress, making my decisions for me. Inform me yes! Dictate my choices? NO!

Do we create too much greenhouse gas? Yes! Should we conserve where possible? Yes! But mandated conservation is just fulfilling an agenda, a political one, not an ecological one. I am sure that someone could put together a counter-agenda that would demonstrate that the mercury filled 'choice' of the government is a poor one. My point is: why is that my government's choice to make?

Houses painted dark colors are more expensive to cool in hot climes. Yet I don't want someone to tell me that white is now the mandatory 'choice', make it illegal to make or sell or buy red paint or blue, or to paint my house that color if I don't mind paying for the additional costs to cool it! If I want to listen to government rec's and paint it white - ok. But it should be my choice.

Perhaps government should be involved in dictating how many square feet per person is allowed? We need to limit the use of resources don't we? About 200 seems right - so those with 3000 square foot houses, and just two people would be given the choice of allowing 13 additional people to move in, chosen of course by your government, or sell out and buy that 400 square foot eco-friendly version down the street.

The role of 'government' is clearly set out in our constitution. And decisions like this one are clearly not indicated there.

Jeff

The entire US must change to CFL bulbs by 2016! It's the law! Good or Bad?

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