Get Out and Horde Those Incandescent Bulbs!

Starting Jan 1 the phase out of the incandescent begins thanks to your Federal Government. God forbid they be working on creating more jobs instead of the legislation that is nothing short of pandering.

The switch will have very little affect, except the cost of replacing bulbs will go up.

They say they last longer, CFLs that is. In my experience, they don’t. In fact, they seem to burn out faster, but that might be because now I am actually paying attention. Who needs to pay attention when an incandescent costs about $0.50?

They say it saves energy. That I cannot say either way, but those savings go out the window when a bulb breaks in your house and you need to call the HAZMAT team.

Now if I can only figure out how to dispose of these CFLs. I’d hate to see a landfill be condemned because of high levels of mercury.

Yeah, I am kind of crabby for a Friday.

I thought some company in Texas that makes them (incandescents), was blowing off the federal mandate and still producing them ? I also am pretty sure, somebody (maybe a scientists or engineer) already did the test to see if they use less energy…

I agree with Mr. Crabby Pants on this one. what a crock of crap!

CFL’s will be replaced by LED’s in a year or two.

I switched to the CFL’s about 2 years ago and have had very good luck with them. I use to burn lights out and now it is a rarity.

I really like them.

This came up a few months ago and my Favorite Sister was talking about the “earth saving virtues” of this change.

“We’ve been disposing (recycling) of fluorescents for years…this is nothing different”.

This law came out of TX…where they obviously don’t have cold weather. I have both fluorescent tubes and regular incandescent lights in my garage. When the fluorescents stop working because of the cold, I unplug those lights and turn on the bulbs.

Thinking of saving a few pennies, I bought fluorescent flood lamps for my motion activated outside lights. By the time they warm up and light up the area…what ever was in the yard is generally gone.

Thanks Pug…now I’m crabby too.

As a contractor who uses one or two bulbs a year, my personal experience is that the CFLs burn out quicker and put out worse light. I had them side by side in can lights in my kitchen in my cabin. So far I have replaced (8) of the CFLs and (1) incandescent. Call it unscientific, but that seems pretty cut and dry to me.

Glad to see the government wasting time legislating which type of light bulb I can use and not solving any real problems.

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I switched to the CFL’s about 2 years ago and have had very good luck with them. I use to burn lights out and now it is a rarity.

I really like them.

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That’s been my experience too. My only complaint is you can’t dim them. I still think the Feds should stay out of it though.

Very much agree. Been stocking up, but we still have time.

See the story on WCCO4, Lindsey did a pretty good job of explaining the law and what is going down.

Link<

They must stop manufacturing 100W bulbs by Jan 1 2012, 75W by Jan 1 2013 and then No more 40W or 60W after Jan 1 2014.

I for one will not use CFL due having a Dog and Grandkids around that could easily break them and my personal preference to not contaminate my home.

Hopefully the LEDs will come down in price before my supply of Incandescent Light Bulbs run out.

Shorter link to not stretch page<<

The sky is not falling

Yes, they do take longer to warm up to give off the needed light.

I just turn mine on before I need them. Bit of a hassle at first but I am now use to them.

In my garage, I use to burn bulbs out all the time. Like 1 a month, now I have not repalced one for maybe 1.5 years.

I can deal with the slow lighting for not having to replace the incand bulbs all the time. I thought something was wrong with the wiring in my new house as I had such an issue.

Issues left with the change in bulb. Slowly we am changing every bulb in the house. There are a couple light fixtures that I have not found a bulb to foit yet but I am sure they are out there.

I would never go back to the incand bulbs as we are that happy with them even if they are a bit slow to light things up.

Just saying.

I think the CFS bulbs we have in the house have been doing well for lasting with the exception of the ones in our ceiling fans.

They take 4 each and we have 5 fans. They burn out much more often then incans. It might be because they are upside down and any heat is trapped near the base.

It might be a moot point if this doesn’t become law now…but what’s better?

Using more electricity to power incans
or
Using more mercury to pollute our lakes, rivers, streams and fish?

I know, using electricity isn’t exactly pollution free…yet.

Winers!

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/16/congress-overturns-incandescent-light-bulb-ban/

The sky is not falling

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I didn’t catch the story on the news or in the paper,I only heard it on talk radio. I guess Menard’s advertising department wasn’t notified either,judging from the ad I saw on tv this morning.

I bought a couple cases last fall. I bought them on sale and I’ve been using them up at the usual rate. I’m still glad I bought them. But when I did,a guy behind me in line told me he’d filled a walk-in closet with a lifetime supply…plus some he expected to sell at a “huge” profit.

Totally agree BK, there are downsides with both.

What’s it like to be 61, man that seems OLD.

I don’t have a beef with CFLs. I started using them here and there.

Anyone know if using them horizontally leads to them burning out faster? The one above the stove is horizontal and burns out quite a bit. I thought I hear somewhere where for long life they have to be straight up and down? It probably doesn’t help that Ihave old wiring in the house.

I have a beef with the government. If CFLs and LEDs were superior, people would have stopped manufacturing incandescents a long time ago.

I thought about hording and selling CFLs. Then I thought, who is going to pay an inflated price on them when they can get a CFL for cheaper than what I’d have to sell them for a profit.

You said exactly what I was thinking about this It’s like your a mind reader or a shaman

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If CFLs and LEDs were superior, people would have stopped manufacturing incandescents a long time ago.

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Ol’ Tommy Edison sure did make a good one, didn’t he. Over 125 years later and the design is pretty much the same.

Pretty sure the law dictating the end of these bulbs was dumped… you will be able to buy these bulbs as always as the ban on production got pulled in one of the packages passed in congress’ last session.

Pretty soon the Govt. will be dictating which side of underwear you should switch on any given day !!!!

I thought that was every other day!! Least that is what BK told me.

Only when your older than 60 Tom.

Who is the “elder” statesman of this website BK? You must know…

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Pretty sure the law dictating the end of these bulbs was dumped… you will be able to buy these bulbs as always as the ban on production got pulled in one of the packages passed in congress’ last session.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/201687-despite-gop-opposition-light-bulb-standards-to-phase-in-on-jan-1

It turns out that the republican bill only cut the funding for enforcement. The law still stands and unfortunately, most companies are set up to make the switch.

Incandescent bulbs may be pretty hard to come by in the near future.

Stupid government.

Why is the government outlawing mercury in everything else and then turn around and mandate the use of mercury laden light bulbs???

Could it be the GE supported lobby?

the little bit of mercury in the bulbs is supossed to be less than the mercury that we make by making electristy so I’ve been told,I hate CFL’s too!!! Stan

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Only when your older than 60 Tom.

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Yes I could have a few years on you BK. That’s called wisdom, not old age.

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Could it be the GE supported lobby?

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Yet no one is occupying GE.

GE in my opinion is a very bad company that has bought many a representative and pushed the green agenda. They make themselves out to be a green company, yet they are really only concerned with the green coming in from it.

For crimeny sake, the NHL has now gone green.

In my opinion they suck big time. Ever try to get several of a specific wattage from the same manufacturer to have the same color of white when they are turned on? And they don’t even put out he same amount of light. Almost like dyelots in thread and clothing. I know that some of us will dispose of them properly, but most folks will not make the effort to do so. They will end up directly in the garbage as the old style and that is mercury going back into the environment. Did the government think about that? And if you break one, and you will, then what? Evacuate the house and call HASMAT? As far as lasting as long? The jury is still out in my book. Unless I have bought some inferior bulbs, I have had plenty that have not come close to outlasting the old style when compared side by side. I’m not a fan of looking at the corkscrew design. I know they are now coming out with the normal bulb style, but there are still plenty of the others out there. Does the energy savings outweigh the intial cost and the proper disposal cost and what about the improper disposal? I have no issue with the government being involved with this, but do they really have everyone’s best interests in mind? Sorry for the rant, but this one touched a nerve.