Truth about new light bulb law

[redfsr]

I've been stocking up on incandescent light bulbs in anticipation of all of them becoming illegal just as the 100w bulb will be in a few days...I'm sure, if things continue, that it won't only be illegal to sell them in the U.S. but illegal to possess them as well. Given the seriousness of the laws regarding my toilott I'm sure possess of the wrong kind of light bulb will also be a felony.

So...with your line of reasoning, I should be put to death, right???

Just FYI, the incandescent light bulb ban was just repealed. You're safe.

[Oh Shoot]

Just FYI, the incandescent light bulb ban was just repealed. You're safe.

Nope, wasn't. Phaseout is proceeding.

- OS

[strickj]

I'm splitting the above posts from another thread.

_____________________________________________

Nope, wasn't. Phaseout is proceeding.

- OS

Nope, isn't.

The Truth About the New Light Bulb Law | Financially Fit - Yahoo! Shine

[mikegideon]

If CFL's have less mercury than a can of tuna, why can't you throw them in the trash? That's as stupid as ROHS.

[Guest bkelm18]

I'm splitting the above posts from another thread.

_____________________________________________

Nope, isn't.

The Truth About the New Light Bulb Law | Financially Fit - Yahoo! Shine

Nope, still being phased out.

Old incandescents will not be taken off store shelves on January 1, but phased out as they are sold off.

Edited December 30, 2011 by bkelm18

[Oh Shoot]

....Nope, isn't.

The Truth About the New Light Bulb Law | Financially Fit - Yahoo! Shine

Well, okay semantics.

"On January 1, 2012 a law phasing out standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect."

Yeah, the new ones are still "incandescent", and supposedly cheaper over total life of bulb. Maybe. I've sure already had a number of the CFLs that haven't lasted any longer than current incandescent, and several that were DOA from the store.

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

If CFL's have less mercury than a can of tuna, why can't you throw them in the trash?...

What ARE you supposed to do with them? (I've been throwing them in trash -- just replaced three of mom's, didn't last much if any longer than regular incandescent).

- OS

[Erik88]

I'm confused...

[strickj]

Nope, still being phased out.

The key word there is "old". The bulbs with the old filament will no longer be available. The bulbs with the new filament design will replace those.

Incandescent bulbs are not being phased out at all.

You will still be able to buy incandescents," Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told Yahoo! Shine. "The only difference being that the new and improved ones are more efficient.

[MattCary]

As I understand it, the Repubs removed the funding for the enforcement of the light bulb ban, but the law is still going into effect.

So, we have what usually comes from DC: Absolute confusion.

[hipower]

Well, okay semantics.

"On January 1, 2012 a law phasing out standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect."

Yeah, the new ones are still "incandescent", and supposedly cheaper over total life of bulb. Maybe. I've sure already had a number of the CFLs that haven't lasted any longer than current incandescent, and several that were DOA from the store.

- OS

Same here. I find the "quality" of these new lights to be lower than standard incandesecnt bulbs. That is lesser levels of brightness, a color shift toward the yellow, and a definite shorter lifespan. And as Ohshoot says, I've gotten several that wouldn't work right out of the package.

I still buy a few exta bulbs each trip to Loews and Home Depot, who seem to have the lowest of the rapidly rising prices.

[mikegideon]

What ARE you supposed to do with them? (I've been throwing them in trash -- just replaced three of mom's, didn't last much if any longer than regular incandescent).

- OS

I think you're supposed to take them to your friendly Lowe's man, so they can shoot them into outer space or something. Remember, mercury is hazardous like lead, and that stuff they put in Happy Meals.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I don't approve of congress regulating light bulb technology, but I like CFL's. My eyes need lots of light and you get more light per watt with CFL's. All the lights in my house changed over to CFL's years ago, which seem to run longer than incandescents but haven't scientifically measured it.

The cheapest CFL you can buy off the shelf doesn't seem likely to run very good or for very long, but neither does the cheapest incandescent you can buy off the shelf. Lifetime estimates on the packages are predicated on running the bulb a few hours per day, and many of my bulbs run up to 16 hours per day, so it stands to reason they will go bad well ahead of the promised 5 years or whatever. I think I get at least a couple years use out of the CFL's that run most of the time.

The CFL's also run cooler, which makes a noticeable difference in the ease and expense of cooling the house in the summer.

====

LED bulbs are still expensive but am initially impressed with the few I've tried. If they get the price down, looks like LED's are the future. LED house lights haven't been out long enough to judge practical real-world lifespan, though none of my LED bulbs have died yet. Am guessing it will be about the same as any other light-- The lowest bottom-dollar bargain LED lights probably won't last very long or work very good.

Had a flourescent dusk-to-dawn light on the back porch that lasted about 5 years before dying. The fixture didn't die, but the replacement plug-in flourescent bulb is no longer available. Several stores had replacement flourescents "almost the same". Close but no banana.

That five years was better performance than the three locations I was previouly lighting for 20 years with dusk-to-dawn halogen fixtures. The halogens were no brighter than the flourescent and used more power, and the halogen bulbs needed replacement about once per year. Adding insult to injury, the dang fixtures were universally shoddy and would fail after one bulb change. So I was getting about one year per bulb and about two years per fixture. The (bigger than the back porch) flourescent dusk-to-dawn I replaced on the shop has been running at least 5 years maybe 10 years and the original bulb is still good. Drastically better than previous experience with halogens.

So this time I replaced the back porch flourescent fixture with a (IIRC) 20 or 30 watt LED motion-sensor dusk-to-dawn light. It has three aimable light-heads, with 4 or 8 LEDs in each head (can't recall without going out there and counting them). The three light-heads can be aimed for fabulous full back-yard coverage and that sucker is BRIGHT. The motion sensing works fabulous. Its been running great for about a year. It is equally bright in cold or hot weather and doesn't need a warm-up period to acheive max brightness. (edit: it has 8 LEDs in the central light-head and 4 in each of the side light-heads, 16 LEDs total).

So I bought a couple of tiny 2 watt LED bulbs for a couple of locations that run 24/7. One in the living room and one in the basement stairwell. Was previously using 9 watt CFL's. The little 2 watt LED bulbs are not as bright as the 9 watt CFL's, but they are bright enough to avoid falling down the stairs and save a lot of energy running 24/7 at 1/4 the power draw.

Tried a couple of LED "40 watt lamp replacements" that are working about as bright and consuming about as much power as an equivalent CFL. One is in wife's reading light. Wife is more sensitive to color spectrum than me and would sometimes complain even about the "daylight" or "warm color" CFL's. She prefers an incandescent color spectrum. The LED household lights are already available in many different color temps, and wife is delighted with a "warm color" LED I put in her boom-stand reading lamp. She claims to like it better than incandescent.

The final experiment so far was a front porch light. The old-fashioned front porch has a 3-bulb aimable fixture way up in the porch ceiling. Was previously using three 13 watt CFL bulbs aimed different directions for yard and side coverage.

At home depot selected a "90 watt equivalent" small outdoor PAR replacement LED flood. It is a 15 watt light, only 2 watts more than the previous 13 watt CFL's. There were color choices and I picked the 4900K "daylight" color temp. The light output is spec'd as 1100 lumens. An Ecosmart brand bulb. Kinda expensive but curiosity always kills the cat.

The standard for measuring lumens might require measuring 360 degrees around the bulb, but dunno. Anyway, either the package under-estimates the lumens, or this "90 watt replacement" is bright as hell. It is almost too bright. Compared to this LED flood, in comparison the other two CFL's at similar power draw look like they are barely turned on. It is almost "too bright" for the application. As best I recall, am pretty sure it is lots brighter than a 90 watt incandescent PAR, at 1/6 the power draw.

The dang thing looks like a landing light shining across the walk out to the driveway.

So if you are replacing porch lights and don't want em crazy bright, be cautious picking the power level on an LED PAR. There's no way I could use three of these 15 watt LED PAR's on my front porch. It would light up half the neighborhood and possibly generate neighbor complaints! If all the LED Par equivalents are similar efficiency to that Ecosmart bulb I tried, a 10 watt or lower PAR might be a better pick unless you want landing lights on the front yard.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Lester Weevils

[Guest pfries]

I'm confused...

I stay that way it's easier.

[jtmaze]

What ARE you supposed to do with them? (I've been throwing them in trash -- just replaced three of mom's, didn't last much if any longer than regular incandescent).

- OS

My cfl have done good everywhere except in the bathroom. I am wondering if the short life bulbs you have are around moisture.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[jtmaze]

I think you're supposed to take them to your friendly Lowe's man, so they can shoot them into outer space or something. Remember, mercury is hazardous like lead, and that stuff they put in Happy Meals.

I work for Lowes and we will throw them away for you...lol.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[daddyo]

What ARE you supposed to do with them? (I've been throwing them in trash -- just replaced three of mom's, didn't last much if any longer than regular incandescent).

- OS

Not too long ago I took one to the local convenience center, thinking that they had a receptacle there for hazardous waste, or at the very least they could tell me where to take it for proper disposal. The guy there looked at it, looked at me, and said "Throw it in the trash bin!".

[Dolomite_supafly]

Coming soon to a black market near you, pre ban lightbulbs.

Dolomite

[kieefer]

I'm like RobertNashville, I've got cases of incandescent light bulbs, all 100 damn watts too by gawd.

You know it's getting bad when they come after your fricking light bulbs.

[Oh Shoot]

My cfl have done good everywhere except in the bathroom. I am wondering if the short life bulbs you have are around moisture. ...

Garage, interior hallway, and kitchen.

I work for Lowes and we will throw them away for you...lol. ...

Not too long ago I took one to the local convenience center, thinking that they had a receptacle there for hazardous waste, or at the very least they could tell me where to take it for proper disposal. The guy there looked at it, looked at me, and said "Throw it in the trash bin!".

That's kinda what I figured. Gummit uses EPA standards, mandatory hazardous waste warning, yet no real system for disposal. My bulk pack of Sylvania CFLs says "Contains Mercury. Manage in accordance with disposal laws."

Right. Whatever they are. Another small part of the "to manage people, make them all criminals" Big Brother philosophy.

- OS

[kieefer]

Remember when they eliminated DDT?

Millions have died because of Big Brothers fist.

[mav]

Remember when they eliminated DDT?

Millions have died because of Big Brothers fist.

I don't remember that one. I wasn't born yet.

[G27]

I've still not found a CFL or LED that had the quality of light (to my light sensitive eyes) as a good incandescent.

It's beyond ludicrous that our federal government thinks they should be able to regulate what sort of bulb I choose to use.

I yah, I've stocked up with incans. Screw 'em, I'm going to enjoy good quality light.

[kieefer]

I don't remember that one. I wasn't born yet.

You should look it up, the EPA was in it's infancy.

[mav]

You should look it up, the EPA was in it's infancy.

Oh, I know about it. I just don't remember it. Just trying to be funny.