Incandescent Bulb Ban

shawn

shawn

running dog lackey of the oppressor class
Administrator
Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Turns out they're illegal to sell, starting in January 2012. I had no idea... but Congress passed the law in 2007.

Got to remember to buy a case every time I go to Lowe's now. :shaking:
 
CFL's are crap.

LED's are starting to come in, by the time all the incandescents are gone, they'll be affordable. CFL's will be gone then. I plan to grab enough incandescents to last until the LEDs are worked out, and cheap enough.

if I recall, it's a phase-out...some wattages are gone in '12, some not until '14.
 
what are people gonna use to keep their pump houses from freezing now? :lol:
 
awheelterd said:
what are people gonna use to keep their pump houses from freezing now? :lol:
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was thinking! I also put them in my camper for the same reason.
 
gdub00d said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs
Click to expand...
wikipedia said:
In December 2007, many of these state efforts became moot when the federal government enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which requires all general-purpose light bulbs that produce 310–2600 lumens of light[8] be 30% more energy efficient (similar to current halogen lamps) than current incandescent bulbs by 2012 to 2014. The efficiency standards will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014.

Light bulbs outside of this range are exempt from the restrictions (historically, less than 40 Watts or more than 150 Watts). Also exempt are several classes of specialty lights, including appliance lamps, rough service bulbs, 3-way, colored lamps, and plant lights.

By 2020, a second tier of restrictions would become effective, which requires all general-purpose bulbs to produce at least 45 lumens per watt (similar to current CFLs). Exemptions from the Act include reflector flood, 3-way, candelabra, colored, and other specialty bulbs.
Click to expand...

So, heat lamps and high wattage like used to heat pump houses etc should be ok, as well as drop light bulbs.

I've been phasing them out in my house anyway, anytime one goes out a "warm" temperature CFL goes in it's place. If you buy the nicer "warm" CFLs the light is much more what you are accustomed to with the incandescents. Otherwise they put out the blue/white light that gets annoying.

LEDs are where it's at, but they are still too expensive right now, and the cheaper models focus the light poorly.
 
Holy shit.

This is going to be a major problem for folks (ahem, like me) that use EEG and similar electric/magnatic tools for measuring really small energy quantities.
The ballasts used in flourescent lights give off a huge EM artifact, which can dramatically effect the quality of human EEG recording. We use a good old fashion floor lamp for light in our labs.

And - what about headlamps in cars? Not all of them are Halogen or HID.
 
Shitlneverhappen
 
RatLabGuy said:
Holy shit.
This is going to be a major problem for folks (ahem, like me) that use EEG and similar electric/magnatic tools for measuring really small energy quantities.
The ballasts used in flourescent lights give off a huge EM artifact, which can dramatically effect the quality of human EEG recording. We use a good old fashion floor lamp for light in our labs.
And - what about headlamps in cars? Not all of them are Halogen or HID.
Click to expand...
Specialty bulbs and bulbs over 100w or less than 40w will be unaffected, I highly doubt you will have any problem getting bulbs for cars, although I bet they are on their way to putting HID/LED technology in more and more cars due to raising MPG standards, the lower wattage they use translates into less work the alternator has to do, translates into less strain on the engine, and less fuel consumed, although it may be a very minuscule amount, it's something I bet they will jump on soon.

So just run more 30w bulbs in your lab, or run 150w to get past your problem. Or just buy 3 way bulbs which will be unaffected.

You could also always remotely locate the ballasts, orrr suck it up and pay for LEDs, I'm sure they put off 100x less EM field than even your incandescent.
 
The CFLs definitely suck! They cost way more than the incandescent bulbs and really don't last all that much longer. I still replace mine 1-2 times a year. I can't tell much of a difference in the "warmth" of the light between the two, but all the CFLs I buy have a warm up phase that irritates the crap out of me. Maybe I should quite buying the "Great value" ones. :D Btw, I'm hardcore. I run a CFL in my fridge.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to what shows up on the LED market. I hope they make them "warm", because the white/blue hue from LED flashlights is a little annoying too. I heard on the radio the other day that they were starting to emerge? Has anyone seen any for sale?


What about these ESL bulbs? Anyone try those? Are they even available?
 
You also can't Dim CFL's.Every light in my house is on an automation system,so the lights turn on and off by themselves.As well as go into "Lighting Scenes" when we aren't around so the house still looks lived in but all these scenes are the lights on at different percentages.Duke Energy had a thing where you could get enough free CFL's to do every light in your house so we got them and put them in.The CFL's would not work with my dimmers,at high levels they were OK but when the dimmer tried to dim or run at a lower level the Bulbs flashed on and off or Hummed really badly.Guess I will start stock piling incandescents.
 
Dimmers will kill normal cheap CFLs. GE and a few other companies do make "dimmable" CFLs though. My room mate in college had a dimming light on his ceiling fan, he put CFLs on it and they hummed and flickered, and never dimmed, they lasted about a month before one, then another went out. He bought some that were made to dim, and they worked just like a dimming incandescent.
 
I replaced almost every bulb in my house with CFLs a while back, got them for a steal and figured why not.

I hate them. They are nowhere near as bright as the old incandescents and it didn't do a damn thing for my power consumption. I'm thinking of replacing them all back with incandescents. I'm going to stockpile, I hate these little bastards.
 
The thing to remember about CFL's is that it takes more energy to turn them on than to run them for 15 minutes. And turning them on and off within 15 minutes drastically shortens the lifespan. (As well as costs more.) A bathroom is a horrible place to put CFLs. Because they are much more expensive and will burn out soon due to the frequent cycling. If you turn on a CFL, better leave it on. A porch light is a great place for them.
 
rattlecanpaint said:
The thing to remember about CFL's is that it takes more energy to turn them on than to run them for 15 minutes. And turning them on and off within 15 minutes drastically shortens the lifespan. (As well as costs more.) A bathroom is a horrible place to put CFLs. Because they are much more expensive and will burn out soon due to the frequent cycling. If you turn on a CFL, better leave it on. A porch light is a great place for them.
Click to expand...

Guess I better take it out of the fridge huh? :)
 
Speaking of headlights. Has anyone seen these in use?
awww.truck_lite.com_wcsstore_tl_catalog_images_grap_fws_new_27250C_lr.jpg


http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/GenericView?pageName=/new/PressReleases_en_US/12vLEDHeadlamp.html&storeId=10001&langId=-1
 
they just replaced all light fixtures with the new ones where i work back in nov.
 
Back
Top