Posted on 9/17/2010, 6:25:59 PM by Andrea19
...The ban itself was intended to save on electricity costs and limit pollution one light fixture at a time, replacing traditional incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs). To this end, CFLs have failed in their original purpose: their much touted electricity sipping qualities have resulted in buyers leaving them turned on far longer, often draining more energy than they saved. Who would have ever thought that the federal government’s interference with an everyday household item could backfire?
As might be imagined when the federal government bans something as commonly used as a light bulb, there are also severe economic ramifications. With more and more manufacturing plants shut down due to the ban, many Americans have found themselves out of work. As of this writing, the last major manufacturing plant for incandescent light bulbs in the U.S. is closing. Located in Winchester, Virginia, the GE plant provided jobs for hundreds, jobs that are being eliminated due to the ban. Their work is now being shipped overseas to places like China, where production of CFLs is much cheaper.
The switch from incandescent bulbs to CFLs has been dogged by a variety of other problems, as well...
Read more: http://www.atr.org/bulb-act-better-economy-environment-a5396#ixzz0zoOkHZEq
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.org ...
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Ping.
What a crock, this is like that phony claim that water saver toilets waste more water because you have to flush 2 or 3 times every time.
They’re being made in China because no American manufacturer is going to risk the lawsuits from everyone that’s going to get Mad Hatter’s Disease from making them.
I have a light on a basement stairway like that. Since I don't have to live with the light or try to read under it, I replaced it first. Now I have a tendency to just leave it on all evening instead of turning it on when I need it. During the winter it's on all day because that is my normal entry from the garage so I don't have to enter my house in the dark. I never left it on that much when it was an incandescent bulb.
Maybe not every time, but there have been many issues with sewer systems that were designed to function properly with x-amount of water flow that were having major problems because of the low-flow toilets not sending enough water down the line to sufficiently do the job.
I have never seen that problem.
Mostly affects older cities and older neighborhoods. The problem is the water flow isn't sufficient to send the waste down line, then the solids settle and cause problems with blockages, corrosion (metal pipes), and smells. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1294099/lowwateruse_toilets_might_be_too_effective/index.html
Dim Bulb Act.
We have that problem in one bathroom in our house, the pipe takes a lot of turns quickly, still passed code, but with a single flush the crud is building up in the first few turns and gets clogged easily.
I just tell my kids to flush 3 or 4 times when pooping. Still probably saving water.
But the key is to go buy new toilets — they have finally figured out how to make low-flush toilets that actually flush, so we are going to replace all our toilets at once.
On the other hand, I disabled the low-flow constrictor on my shower when I installed it, because that’s just stupid. I can turn the water on or off as I need to.
And I happen to love the CFLs, for MOST things, but not for every location — and I strongly oppose banning incandescents, because people who have money have a right to spend it on energy waste if they want.
What I have done is bought those LCD nightlights, and have them on all the time in the halls. They use almost no electricity, and keep us from having to turn the hall light on and off when we are just passing through — which also means it doesn’t get left on.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1294099/lowwateruse_toilets_might_be_too_effective/index.html
They have figured out how to get the toilets to flush, but they still haven't solved the lower water flow issue to properly flush the pipes down the line in the older neighborhoods.
I’m well aware of problems from sewer lines that were improperly installed but that doesn’t apply to normal sewer systems.
Low flow toilets work fine in sewer systems.
Gee! It really is Bush´s fault!
That is about a system that is already plagued with problems and that they already have to flush with additional water, in other words a section that is broken, it does not apply to normal systems.
“About 19,000 feet of sewer lines in the area have slopes below minimum county standards because they were built many years ago, the report said. Those lines already have or could have problems with solid materials settling and causing odors, clogging and corrosion.
The county already periodically uses potable water to flush sewer lines to move the solids, and flushing would have to increase with use of gray water and low-flow toilets, the report said.”
Are you leaving your garage CFL on because it is brighter after it has run for a good length of time?
This is the problem. Older neighborhoods country-wide were built differently. The problem pops up all over the place. This is just one story that came up on a quick search.
Good information in your post. I also had to replace a 1970s low flow toilet with a newer toilet. I love the toilet until I noticed it continuously goes through this strange water charging thing. I hear water flowing but I don’t know where it is going. It is one more thing I’ll have to fix.
You need to source all this stuff, not just say it. Besides, that example you gave was already having to use water to flush those lines that were badly laid and in need of replacement, that is true anywhere and has nothing to do with which toilets are in use.
No. It turns on at about 80% brightness and then is to 100% within a minute. The main problem is the switch is in the wrong location. It's a great entryway light for where my garage, back door, basement stairs and kitchen come together. The problem is the switch is about an arm's length inside the kitchen and it can't be turned on until you're already inside the house, so I tend to keep it on even when I don't need it. I should have it rewired to have a couple switches at the top of the stairway and one at the bottom, but it's not worth paying an electrician a couple hundred dollars for the wiring and new switch boxes to save about $10 of extra electricity a year.
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