Will the feds phase out traditional lightbulbs? »
Posted By populist 1 year, 5 months ago in Science & TechnologyThe U.S. Senate is examining ideas for phasing out incandescent lightbulbs in favor of more energy-efficient types of lighting, a move that could help curb greenhouse gas emissions and electrical consumption.
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Comments So Far: 105
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GoldRush1 year, 5 months ago
Guess this means the dems will repeal the bush tax breaks, so they can spend the windfall "profits" on lightbulbs for all those government building in Washington D.C.
We already know that most of the buidlings under lease around the rest of the country already have most of the energy saving lights and power devices. It just seems that Washington won't buy it unless it has been "bookmarked," in the Iraq funding bill.
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WCFIELDS1 year, 5 months ago
Yes, I've been using these things off and on now for 20 years. Not bad but they really don't last i.e. very expensive.
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
My parents have CF bulbs in their house that have been around for almost 8 years now and are still going strong.
If yours don't last long, you probably have a problem with your wiring.
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.2 Replies
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jeffery11 year, 5 months ago
Man, are you a waste of resources. Posting utter nonsense to get responses. Have you nothing better to do? I suppose not.
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tehranchik1 year, 5 months ago
Incandescents could cause green house gasses but some of the fluorescents are made with mercury powder---how safe is that?
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coreyspring1 year, 5 months ago
I know! I couldn't believe that when I saw that on a local news report, apparently these energy effecient bulbs are LOADED with mercury, if you break one it exposes you to WAY more than you should ever come in contact with... I can't believe there isn't a bigger deal made of that.
I use these energy effecient bulbs at my place, they really do last a long time and do cut the electric bill down if you use them in every socket, but I still don't know how I feel about the whole mercury thing, I just found out about that a week ago. Makes me a lot more careful when handling them, that's for sure
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nostalgia1 year, 5 months ago
compact fluorescent bulbs - read the directions for the proper disposal on the GE website. You can't just throw them in the trash. How many Americans are going to know that? How many are going to be sent to a landfill instead?
Politicians need to stop jumping on this bandwagon until a better alternative comes along
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Coop6661 year, 5 months ago
Kinda funny! These idiot left wing global warming nutjobs will create a real problem with mercury while trying to fix a problem humans didn't cause, and could never hope to stop. (Long sentence!)
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.22 Replies
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jeffery11 year, 5 months ago
tehranchik,
The fact is that the amount of mercury in a fluorescent bulb is less that the equivalent amount of mercury that is released from a coal fired power plant to light the equivalent incandesent bulb. Producing power releases mercury and so reducing electrical requirements reduces mercury emissions (go to sciencedaily.com and search for the following story: "Power Plants Are Major Influence In Regional Mercury Emissions").
Plus, because the mercury is contained within the bulb, when it is properly disposed of that mercury is contained (go to sciencedaily,com and search for the following story: "Bulb Eater Crushes Mercury Concerns".
So, overall, it is safer to sequester the mercury in fluorescents than releasing them in electricity production.
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tehranchik1 year, 5 months ago
Is the mercury still contained in the bulb when it's disposed of--does everyone recycle? Is everyone on the planet responsible. I can only imagine if these bulbs are used around the world for any length of time the poison that will be left to generations to come. WHY are we still using poison???
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
Most CF bulbs have about 5g of mercury in them. However, coal fired power plants release mercury into the atmosphere. So taking the whole thing into account, CF bulbs, if improperly disposed of, release about 7.5g of mercury into the environment between what's in them and what is released to power them. Incandescent bulbs use more electricity, and therefore release about 10g of mercury into the environment from the extra coal that's needed to power them.
So, over the lifetime of the bulb, CF bulbs still release less mercury than incandescent. And if you recycle the CF bulb like you're supposed to, it's about 75% less mercury than its incandescent counterpart.
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tehranchik1 year, 5 months ago
Has anybody on this thread had there blood tested for mercury? It's not as dangerous for middle aged people. The ones that will be hurt are the children and the elderly----and of course the unborn.
Google 'mercury poisoning' and see if it's the legacy you'ed like to leave to future inhabitants of planet earth.
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el-jefe1 year, 5 months ago
If present consumer trends continue, incandescents will become a small, niche segment of the market with no help from government at all.
Could we please get the government OUT of an area where it is clearly not needed? The market seems to be taking care of this one just fine.
And does anyone really believe that we'd still be using appliances that use double the energy the current crop does if California hadn't passed that legislation?
15 years ago no legislative excess was too much if it was "for the good of the children". Now it seems that the sky's the limit so long as it's for "the good of the environment".
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
Precisely.
I'm an avid fly fisherman. However, I can't eat any of what I catch because there's too much mercury in them. This mercury came out of coal-fired power plants in the Midwest that go towards keeping incandescent light bulbs lit.
So the next time you think that your choices don't affect anyone else, remember that the power you're using is affecting someone hundreds of miles away, and that you should use less.
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FRICKANDFRACK1 year, 5 months ago
CFLc use a tenth as much power as an incandescent and LEDs use a tenth as much as CFLs without dangerous chemicals and LEDs are virtually impossible to accidentally break as there is no glass.Let our industries technology mature and we will light up your nights with safe low current low voltage long lasting LEDs.http:...">http://www.lumilensopto.com/">LEDs.http:...
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.7 Replies
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Flashygrrl1 year, 5 months ago
I went through and switched over all the bulbs last week. They're guaranteed to last 7 years, if not, you can send em back, and for all of those who say "well, what if you break em?" and "how do you know not to throw them in the trash?", well, read the side of the freaking lightbulb for godsake and really, they are not very breakable. I dropped one and it survived. Was enough to make me not drop anymore tho. But really, the way they package them might be enough tell you those things are pretty darn sturdy.
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normallysilent1 year, 5 months ago
tehranchik
Incandescents could cause green house gasses but some of the fluorescents are made with mercury.
Well this is partially correct. In fact all fluorescents have Mercury along with a few other things you don't want in your water. If you go to the EPA web site I am sure you will find the info and regulations on this. I had a visit from the Ohio EPA a few weeks ago and they gave me the info on how I need to handle all of our shops old bulbs. If everyone switches over to Fluorescents and these things start going to the landfills in great numbers we will see just how bad this plan backfired on us.
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tehranchik1 year, 5 months ago
Exactly. I posted another link above and you can see by the story--these spiral bulbs are putting poison in every room of your home. Flashygrrl---these bulbs are not as strong as you might think--please read story in link posted above.
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
Coal fired power plants spew mercury into the atmosphere. In fact, more mercury is put into the air keeping an incandescent bulb lit than goes into a CF bulb.
And if you just recycle your old CF bulbs when you're done with them, you won't have any problems.
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Xaos1 year, 5 months ago
The choice of what kind of lightbulb one uses should be up to the individual not the government. Government has no business deciding what kind of lightbulb one should use. Ironically I use almost all fluorescent lighting in my home, it is a matter of choice, my choice. I use them to save money on my electric bill and they do last much longer than incandescent bulbs.
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FactsSpeak1 year, 5 months ago
I think ALL of us need to look into these compact fluorescent light bulbs. They have mecury in them. For those of you who don't know it, MERCURY IS A "NO-NO" (even to the save our planet crowd). When one of these bulbs breaks, the mercury is freed. Mercury isn't something you just throw away like you would with a normal bulb. In fact, I heard a horror story the other day where one of these compact's broke and after being passed from one federal agency to another a woman spent thousands (YES, THOUSANDS) to "clean up the spill".
I realize liberals mean well (sometimes) but have you ever noticed that their "fix" for a "so-called problem", actually creates MORE NEWER PROBLEMS THAN THE ONE THEY'RE TRYING TO FIX! Liberals never want to be judged by the results they get, only by their "so-called, good intentions". Compact fluorescent light bulbs are the answer to NOTHING but more AND MUCH LARGER PROBLEMS!
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FactsSpeak1 year, 5 months ago
Another example is the liberal fuel alternative, ethanol.
Factually, it burns dirtier than traditional gas. Strike one, it didn't fix what it was created for. Strike two, they have sent the price of corn SKYROCKETING! They have caused MAJOR problems for countries like Mexico where the tortilla (MADE FROM CORN) is a staple. Again, good intentions with ethanol, maybe, but they have created two new problems.
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evelyna1 year, 5 months ago
Mercury? We already have enough in old fillings and in the fish we eat.
Why doesn't the gov. make businesses close at 10pm. They have a lot of overnight groceries and such here. They can open earlier when there is more light. People will just have to drink less and use an alarm clock.
Also they do not need to burn a lot of lights when a business is closed. All this does is make a drunk or an oldshiemer think a pizza store is open at 3am. They will waste gas stopping and going when they stop and the store is closed.
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schillinfl11 year, 5 months ago
Why doesn't the government make businesses close at 10pm? Simple...this is America.
Don't get carried away there evelyn. Don't push your socalism on me.
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.2 Replies
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jumpmaster1 year, 5 months ago
If you are going to buy compact fluorescents, buy a name brand such as GE, Philips, or Sylvania. Do not buy FEIT. They come in a yellow and black container and they are made in China. They are absolute crap.
The name brand lamps may be made in China but they are manufactured to the brand's specifications.
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groingo1 year, 5 months ago
CFL's are a decent interim fix to be sure but why they insist on using mercury in them is unbelievable.
They do work, but according to CFL makers, they could also be much more efficient than they already are.
Currently an Energy Star approved 60 CFL is only 40% efficient where they were originally 70% efficient...why...because when Energy Star set the standard the industry whined that it would be too expensive to make them at the 70% level, so the Government (Energy Star) knuckled under and lowered the standard.
LED lights are good, but even an LED spot light with 30 LED's consumes only 3.5 watts while the light output is more like moon light than daylight, very pure white with a blueish tint, tough to read by.
Ultimately I think the people should decide for themselves since the government seems to screw up everything it touches....lets hope people are smarter than their elected morons.
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Truzseeker1 year, 5 months ago
Commenting on the story and staying on point, the concern ought to be the amount of mercury used in fluorescent lamps and potentionally how much more will be added to the environment.
Alternative lighting could include an arc lamp created using a Tesla coil, and it might be good for the environment creating freshly made ozone (lol).
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
Don't throw them away, recycle them. And if you break one, follow these instructions: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/fa...
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eviln3d1 year, 5 months ago
Hey if they want to phase out light bulbs because they aren't effiecent enough why not do something that will do more good... phase out SUVs and any engines larger than 2 liters. Come one whats the point of a big v8 suv you can haul your family in civics just as easily... so hey bring it on.... let the government tell us what to buy pretty soon we'll be just like the communist countries we fought off in the cold war.
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icelander1 year, 5 months ago
The EPA web site has instructions on how to clean up from a broken mercury bulb yourself. You don't need to call in professionals, and the exposure to it is less than if you ate a stream-caught trout, which are loaded with mercury thanks to coal-burning power plants.
And you dispose of the bulbs by taking them to the recycling center. My community has a free hazardous waste disposal drop off where I take everything from old computers and paint to used oil for free. And if your community doesn't have one, start one.
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Fygar1 year, 5 months ago
Not one single flourescent bulb is made in the US. It would be stupid to legislate something that insures that we buy a neccesity from China.
In order to make enough flourescent bulbs for the US, China would need to build many more factories. Factories that consume power. Power that is produced by coal fired power plants that DO NOT do much of anything to reduce emissions.
So not only would we be supporting China's economy and hurting our own, we would be the cause of an increase in carbon emissions!!
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