How do you feel about regular light bulbs being banned?

Governments throughout the world are banning incandescent light bulbs. The European Union, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Chile, and soon China. The USA is in the process of banning incandescent bulbs through efficiency mandates.



Currently the law in most of these countries has just replaced regular bulbs with halogen bulbs (halogen is still a type of incandescent), but even halogen bulbs will be banned in just a few years under the current laws. Halogen bulbs look almost exactly like regular light bulbs, and put out a very similar quality of light, which is probably why there have so far been few complaints from the public. For those in the USA, halogen bulbs will not be able to meet the efficiency mandate that will (under current law) come into effect in 2020, so will not be allowed to be manufactured or sold if nothing is done.

The new energy efficient bulbs have plenty of problems themselves, and just do not give off the same type of light as the old incandescent bulbs.
CFL's can lose much of their brightness over time, burn out much faster or do not perform well if used in several situations, and cause a small portion of the population migraines, trouble concentrating, or skin sensitivity. I doubt most people realise that a single LED bulb is going to cost them 40 dollars (if they want enough light to see).

So what do you think about this? Should the government be telling people what type of light bulbs they can buy?

 

hi, just stopping by to say that I know nearly nothing about this, and don't care very much. anyways, I voted.

 

I have tried CFL and they have less light and did not last longer. I use incandescent 60 watt light bulbs. So far the ban does not affect me but I have stocked up just in case

 

As soon as folks stop using their TV sets as night lights, I might be able to get behind light bulb reform.

But I'll never switch to a bulb that is not dimmable or casts a bluish cold light.

 

There are versions that are dimmable — they are just not really dimmable all the way and cost much more.

A 23 Watt dimmable CFL costs around 13 US dollars each. A 23 Watt CFL is really not that bright, especially after the first six months of use. So you will probably be paying more.

CFL's come in more yellowish color options too. But the light is still not the same because of the very different spectrum. Usually colors will tend to be more dull and grey, less vibrant, under the light from a CFL. Some people find CFL light to be too "harsh", and this has much to do with the actual spectrum (CFL's have a much more "spikey" spectrum), rather the color of light or glare.


The spectrum for typical fluorescent lights (including CFL's) is not continuous at all, which means colors often look wierd under fluorescent light, and it also has an eery pink or greenish tint.




Here's the spectrum from an incandescent light bulb for comparison:



As you can see, light produced by incandescence is full spectrum, and thus does not have any sharp lines, more like natural sunlight.

While you might think that a yellowish incandescent light causes color distortions, it does so in a consistent way, which your eye can compensate for. Why do "whites" look about the same at different times of day, even though the actual colors vary quite a lot? The "von Kries hypothesis" explains this, suggesting that the three receptors in the eye can change their "gain" in different environments in order to compensate for different lighting conditions. CFL's and other sources distort colors in a way that your eye doesn't easily fix, for instance by creating "spikes" of extra green that distort particular colors.

And if you find regular incandescent bulbs too yellowish, you can try halogen bulbs (which is still just another form of incandescent) instead, which have a whiter more brilliant color of light.

 

First of all, I do not need Uncle Sam to tell me what kind of bulb I can use if I am paying the bills.

Here's why I do not like CFLs:

You have to be your own hazmat team when you break one: http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html

 

How about introducing a moratorium on government regulation?

 

How about the government following the Constitution, and quit micro-managing our lives?

 

You mean the President and Congress abiding by their oath of office? You must be a dangerous radical!

 

If that is what a patriot is these days, then yes.

 

I have nothing but LED's and CFL bulbs at home. If you buy the right ones they actually give off better light. In any event I'm against the law.

 

Last Christmas Home Depot tried an exchange program. Bring in you old incandescent Christmas lights and trade them at a reduced price for LED. I saw the light emitted by the LED Christmas lights. It was awful! A cold, bluish light more apt in a laboratory or clinic than a Christmas decor. There's no chance I'm giving in to LED lighting unless and until the light has a more natural, warm glow. And even then, the cost of buying the LED lights is prohibitive. I'm paying the light bill.

I see folks abuse electricity daily by using televisions in rooms occupied by no one or someone sleeping. I ask tenants who does your refrigerator belong to? They answer either the landlord or "The Community Action Agency brought me that refrigerator for free!"

I work and, to Mitt Romney's error, pay taxes. I've been saving up to buy a new refrigerator for myself. 22 years ago, when I bought my current frige, I paid about $700. Today, a new refrigerator costs twice that at the least! No oone has come to my doorstep and offered me a new one for free. Monty Hall never darkened my stoop and offered me door number 3.

 

Last Christmas Home Depot tried an exchange program. Bring in you old incandescent Christmas lights and trade them at a reduced price for LED. I saw the light emitted by the LED Christmas lights. It was awful! A cold, bluish light more apt in a laboratory or clinic than a Christmas decor. There's no chance I'm giving in to LED lighting unless and until the light has a more natural, warm glow. And even then, the cost of buying the LED lights is prohibitive. I'm paying the light bill.

I see folks abuse electricity daily by using televisions in rooms occupied by no one or someone sleeping. I ask tenants who does your refrigerator belong to? They answer either the landlord or "The Community Action Agency brought me that refrigerator for free!"

I work and, to Mitt Romney's error, pay taxes. I've been saving up to buy a new refrigerator for myself. 22 years ago, when I bought my current frige, I paid about $700. Today, a new refrigerator costs twice that at the least! No oone has come to my doorstep and offered me a new one for free. Monty Hall never darkened my stoop and offered me door number 3.

 

My LED Christams lights look way better than the dull light given off by regular bulbs. Weird.

 

Where did you buy them? Do you remember a brand name? All the ones I've seen give off a crapy blue light.

 

I likely got them at Amazon. I rarely shop in person. I will let you know the brand name. They are way brighter and way more vibrant than regular bulbs. They are also more expensive, of course. I've had them for a couple of years and none have burned out, but I have not had them long enough to judge how long they last. I do know from watching my handy Black and Decker electricty use monitor that they use next to no power at all. And I have a lot of them.

 

Your post is slightly incorrect. Incandecent light bulbs are not being "banned". Light bulbs are simply being told that they have to meet a certain power standard. Someone is free to create an incandecent light bulb that meets those efficiency requirements.

Based on this premise, there is no correct option in your poll. The question should be. Do you think the government should have the power to regulate power standards?
If that were a question, then I would vote yes on that.


Also, I have nothing but CFL bulbs in my house. I havent replaced one in years, and I honestly cant tell a difference. The only thing that I have noticed is my power bill went slightly down.

 

That's why I couldn't find an incandescent 60 watt bulb anywhere. I had to buy 57 watt ones. Work just a well...

 

I use CFL bulbs.

The last longer, I don't see a weird tint, and they use less energy.

... lol

Those are simple clean up instructions.

 

Or, and saying that a company cannot manufacture and sell X bulb because it is inefficient is not the same as telling you what you buy.

No need to add drama here.

 

Well I am all for doing away with the bulbs through a tax that can be used to supplement the cost of the more efficient bulbs. Say add 5-15 cents per bulb paid by the manufacturer. Where I live energy costs are rising because we need a new power plant so I am all for energy savings.

 

Why does the system ban light bulbs which will only reduce CO2 emission by two percent, while let the burning of coal and oil increase? Because low energy lightbulbs and LED lamps consist of lots of base materials and minerals, so the system's capital (power) will increase by banning regular light bulbs. Afghanistan e.g has lots of lithium, Iraq oil (synthetic material and plastic)

 

Well I am all for doing away with the bulbs through a tax that can be used to supplement the cost of the more efficient bulbs. Say add 5-15 cents per bulb paid by the manufacturer. Where I live energy costs are rising because we need a new power plant so I am all for energy savings.

 

Here is a video of Rand Paul tearing apart the pushers of this light bulb mandate:

[video=youtube;FAn1FWInBi0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FAn1FWInBi0#![/video]

He actually draws the parallel between "pro-choice" supporters of abortion who ironically want to take away consumer choice!

 

Unless some huge unexpected breakthrough in technology occurs, which is very unlikely, incandescent bulbs will not be able to meet the efficiency requirement. If you knew anything about the science of incandescent filaments, you would understand that it is essentially impossible to push the efficiency any more than it already has achieved. Between the efficicency mandates and the laws of physics, incandescents will not be allowed. Claiming that "incandescent bulbs will not be banned" is a very deceptive tactic used by the supporters of this law; the effect of the law will indeed be to ban the incandescent bulb. This was done on purpose. It was no coincidence that the mandated efficiency requirement in the law was set just below the efficiency level of CFL's. While I am sure that the drafters of the legislation do not have anything in particular against incandescent light, it was clear that their intentions were to ban regular light bulbs and force everyone to use CFL's and eventually LED's.

What about when such regulation regulates out of existence a certain type of light, not just a certain type of technology?
Because none of the CFL and LED's being sold can replicate the quality of light from an incandescent/halogen.