In late 2007, President Bush signed a federal energy bill that established energy efficiency standards for the everyday lightbulb.
These standards essentially retire the 130-year-old incandescent, which is so inefficient that 90 percent of the electricity it uses is wasted as heat.
As there are around 4 billion screw-based sockets in the US, this is a really big deal.
Once in full effect, the standards will:
- Cut our nation’s electric bill by $13 billion a year.
- Eliminate the need for 30 large (500 MW) power plants.
- Prevent more than 100 million tons of CO2 emissions, the main pollutant responsible for global warming.
To put this into perspective, these standards will save as much electricity each year as that used by all the homes in the state of Texas.
Unfortunately, some have decided to launch a campaign to “save” the inefficient incandescent lightbulb. Last month, Representative Joe Barton of Texas introduced legislation that would return us to the past; its backers are spreading loads of misinformation along the way. The legislation represents a disturbing trend of bashing energy efficiency regulations across the board, regardless of their benefits.
Interestingly enough, the lighting companies are not in favor of such a rollback. Flip-flopping policies are the last thing they want.
To its credit, the lighting industry’s trade association issued a press release that sums up its ongoing commitment to meet and exceed the new lighting efficiency standards. These companies have made major changes to their supply chains and invested billions of dollars in research and development and new production facilities. Preserving the most inefficient lightbulb is no longer in their financial interests.
Barton’s bill also ignores exciting new energy saving lighting products that are beginning to hit market. These replacement bulbs provide just as much light as today’s incandescents and last much longer, which means fewer trips up the ladder and significant cost savings for the user.
Not surprisingly, Edison’s 125-year-old bulb is a really bad deal in today’s economy. While today’s incandescent bulbs cost 25 cents to 50 cents per bulb when bought in a 4 pack, they are a really bad deal both for your pocket and the environment. That’s because energy saving alternatives such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) use 4 times less energy to create the same amount of light. Over a five-year period, a 100W incandescent bulb will cost $40 more than the comparable 25W CFL.
Unfortunately, many consumers are unable to get past the slightly higher first cost of the CFL, $2 (in a multi-pack) to $5 (when bought one at a time), and unknowingly are being hit with higher electric bills.
I was surprised to see how
I was surprised to see how much the nation is spending on their electricity costs, $13 billion a year. Switching to a more energy efficient light bulb will reduce electrical expenses dramatically. Businesses spend a lot of money on these costs due to the hours the business is in operation. The lighting used for commercial buildings is an important aspect when moving towards an energy efficient building to save money and help the environment.The T5 Retrofit Kit is a great product to use for energy efficient lighting, which can save up to 70% on lighting expenses. Check it out by going to this link: http://www.T5retrofitkit.com
doesn't sound like there's a
doesn't sound like there's a lot of support for this article. I have a mix of CFL in our house because would not be able to live with all CFLs at home. I mean, we've all seen Joe vs. the Volcano haven't we? Suck suck suck! haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGLKnAvzlg4
I too will start hording regular bulbs. Frankly the cost to the environment is worth it for quality of life.
The efficiency of the bulb
The efficiency of the bulb really depends on the weather. If you are using the bulb in the winter, the "wasted heat" really isn't wasted. It heats the rooms you are in very efficiently and means that your furnace doesn't kick in as often. If you just look at light production or look when the house isn't being heated then CFL's are more efficient. If you are looking at total energy consumption for the home, an incandescent bulb is very efficient in the winter and the manufacturing costs and pollution issues are much lower. Ultimately, you should use both types of bulbs and switch them out in the spring and fall.
Our house has dimmers and
Our house has dimmers and floodlights throughout giving us just the amount of light we need. The CFLs that you can use with dimmers are much more expensive, have a delay when you turn them on, have a strange color, and make noise. You also can't use CFLs with motion sensors. CFLs are not the answer. I'll be waiting to see how LED lamps turn out.
Outdoor applications require
Outdoor applications require incandescent. A few years ago they replaced the traffic lights with LED, the snow and ice built up on the lights until they could not be seen. Indoors and warm places CFLs are great, but not where its cold.
Recently heard about a new
Recently heard about a new technology coming to market in 2011--ESL (Electron Stimulated Luminescence). It's a Mercury-free alternative to the CFL. Has anyone else heard about this?
More in-depth explanation of the technology:
http://vu1corporation.com/technology/technology.htm
How can CFL replacement be
How can CFL replacement be more reliable than incandescent bulbs? The common bulb in everyday use HAS evolved from the early days into a rather reliable device with only ONE thing that can go wrong... the filament burning out.
A CFL has maybe two dozen electronic components, all running under electrical and thermal stress. A failure of any one of these components will cause the CFL to fail.
The incandescent bulb has already been banned here in Australia, I have yet to find a CFL that performs as well as the old 60w bulb under my porch which has not been replaced in 20 years and gets turned on at least once per day...
you could keep a peace of lit
you could keep a peace of lit ember by your side, Its about as efficient as an incandescent
MERCURY, MERCURY and more
MERCURY, MERCURY and more MERCURY equals what? Less Mercury?
Why design/ engineer/ manufacture and widely distribute any household, consumer or office product that will be tossed in the trash or cracked by accident that has any amount of dangerous mercury in it? From your teeth - to the burning coal plants to Charlie the tuna fish - it's a poison.
For mass consumption mercury should be outlawed - now.
Incandescents are great! I use a big 200 watter for my art work and a little blue 90 watter to balance the colors/ spectrum.
No friggin' way can you do art at night by even 19 dinky flickering compact fluorescent lamps.
Sorry they just do not work well - I can see - not.
Rocky in Staten Island, New York
Guess I'm going to stockpile
Guess I'm going to stockpile those old Edison bulbs then. CFLs are an environmental nightmare. When did you EVER hear of Bush doing anything for the sake of the environment? I dropped one of these things on my floor and had an instant toxic waste site in my own kitchen.
Any ban of Edison bulbs needs to wait until LED bulbs and fixtures are developed and become affordable.
And I agree, I've never had a CFL last more than a year or two. Five years my ass.
Too bad the fluorescent bulbs
Too bad the fluorescent bulbs that are supposed to be so much better take over a half an hour to light up in the cold, sure they're great for the bleeding hearts in California where it doesn't get cold but what about places where it actually gets cold.
It's a waste of energy if you have to turn the bulb on a half hour before going into your porch just so you can see what the hell you are doing.
Sounds like someone high up bought stock in the company that makes the pieces of shit.
Most people are inevitably
Most people are inevitably going to toss CFLs in the garbage instead of recycle, whether we like it or not, which means mercury pollution is going to skyrocket in the coming decades. Expect to see far more autistic children and poisoned fish / animals.
Also, worth noting, CFLs do *not* last five years. I've been an early adopter of CFLs in my own home and they only last a year or two. Take that into consideration when calculating savings.