Posted on 01/01/2011 6:48:26 PM PST by SmithL
Californians can start saying goodbye to traditional 100-watt incandescent light bulbs now that the state has become the first in the country to require a new standard for the screw-base bulbs.
Experts say the new rules, which took effect New Year's Day, will save residents money and energy. California is already the nation's leader in energy efficiency standards.
As of Saturday, what used to be a 100-watt light bulb manufactured and sold in California will have to use 72 watts or less. The 72-watt replacement bulb, also called an energy saving halogen light, will provide the same amount of light, called lumens, for lower energy cost.
Similar new standards for traditional 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect in California over the next few years, with wattages reduced to 53, 43 and 29 respectively.
The new rule does not ban incandescent light bulbs; it just requires those bulbs to be 25 to 30 percent more efficient. And it only affects incandescent light bulbs manufactured after 2011, not light bulbs already in use or on store shelves.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
They have some pretty neat LED bulbs now that you can use in a regular light socket. They cost more but last over 20,000 hours.
Halogen bulbs require special handling... need to wear gloves as oils from bare hands heat up the bulb and shorten their lives... but if you install them carefully, they can last for years before needing replacement.
When/if that comes to the rest of America most people will just fire up two 60 watt incandescant light bulbs instead of buying the expensive hi-tech replacement.
I’ve had a couple burn a hole through the base. In both cases, it was contained to the fixture.
I’ll wait for the price to come down some on the LEDs.
“We moderate the temperature using a simple incandescent light bulb.”
Any electric heater of the same wattage will work.
In a similar application I pressed a 150 W “cartridge heater” into a surplus heat sink’s fins, and I get good temp control. The lifetime of the cart heater is many thousands of hours. Here is an example, but I got mine surplus for practically free. The main challenge was getting the right diameter cart to press-fit between the heatsink fins.
http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/CartridgeHeaters.html
Still, though, if you want to use an incan lamp, the f, I mean friendly, government should butt out. There was a proposal in CA to require the use of remote radio thermostats that would report their settings to a van driving by, and some talk of enabling the van to re-set the thermostat remotely “in emergencies”.
The original plan in America was a government so limited they’d leave us alone. We’ve got to get back there.
I’ve always wanted to ask the people who LOVE CFLs if they are color blind. Can they not see the difference between incandescent and fluorescent? Good for you if you can’t. I can, and I’m NOT color blind, or a cretin.
Mark Steyn was in for Rush on Thurs and read the Maine EPA instructions for what to do if you break one of those stupid bulbs, it’s insane! I had a few, I accidentally broke one, I have removed the remaining bulbs and put back the incandescents, and am stocking up on the good old ones. One other salt in the wound, the good bulbs - made here- the toxic mercury filled pieces of crap- made in china. Government steps in it again.
“I change the incandescent about every 3 months.”
Incans can be installation-specific, like designed for base-up or base-down. Be sure you get a base-down type if you burn them base down, and base up if, you get it. The average incan can run at least 1500 hours, and there are ~2K hours in 3 months.
It should be on the packaging. Toxic Gorebulbs have similar constraints. Burning them base-up can be bad, as can burning them base-up and enclosed in a globe. The inverters can get very hot.
Lighting is complicated these days and requires some care and label-reading.
Overview of a two-page doc from the EPA of how to clean-up after a CFL breakage. Strange how I don't recall them issuing instructions like this for thermometers.
CLEANUP AND DISPOSAL OVERVIEW
The most important steps to reduce exposure to mercury vapor from a broken bulb are:
1. Before cleanup
a. Have people and pets leave the room.
b. Air out the room for 5‐10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outdoor environment.
c. Shut off the central forced air heating/air conditioning (H&AC) system, if you have one.
d. Collect materials needed to clean up broken bulb.
2. During cleanup
a. Be thorough in collecting broken glass and visible powder.
b. Place cleanup materials in a sealable container.
3. After cleanup
a. Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly. Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
b. For several hours, continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off.
The Hg is a convenient issue to organize the “community” against a government intent on banning incans and forcing us to choose other alternatives, as well as other incursions into our lives.
It’s not really about the Hg, in other words, it’s about getting people to oppose bigger and more powerful government.
I am waiting too, but I think they will be pretty good. I do like the fact they are efficient in the sense that the energy they use goes for light and not heat. If I have to light my house - which the power company keeps upping my rates for - I want to get the most out of it and have it go towards lighting the house, not heating the house.
I hope they stocked up. They kids are gonna be pissed if they don’t have heat sources for their new Easy Bake ovens received from Santa.
“They cost more but last over 20,000 hours.”
I’ve been buying LED lamps for some time now. Most have either been nowhere near as bright as advertised, or have had serious quality issues. A “100 W equivalent” 60 LED sunflower lamp lasted a month then half the LEDs went out. And it was probably as bright as a 40 W incan.
My main reading lamp is an LED unit, it’s bright but lights 1/2 a newspaper.
They have a way to go, which is one reason I invest in them. They’ll get better.
I bought a lifetime supply last year when I thought they would force us all to use the mercury laden bulbs. So... I've got mine.
Well, I’m not switching to some other lightbulb. Same with cell phone use. I don’t believe in stoopid laws.
I had one in a chandelier explode when I turned in on. Thankfully no one was at the table when it happened.
I do?
Hey, I'm on your side.
I even photoshop blurry blades in photos of the hundreds of idle windmills along Altamont Pass in California so all those stupid people don't find out that the windmills haven't worked in years, and they're all rusting away...
The mercury layer concerns me. Meant no offense, it just does.
Interesting idea about that heater. However, I’ve built such a good root cellar that that much heat might make it too warm. I once had two 40-watt bulbs going in there, and even at -40 degrees F I was getting temps in the high 30s, which is a wee bit too warm for my veggies and butter. I suspect 150 watts would turn the place into a sauna.
Now if I could get a thermostat which would turn it on and off when the temperature went below, let’s say, 33 degrees, when it might even make it more energy efficient.
We live in a place with real grinding poverty, though, and the technology involved with a lamp and a bulb are available to just about everyone. And it works. And when the bulb burns out, I don’t have to call Fairbanks and wait two weeks for it to arrive.
My greenhouse, on the other hand, would a great place for that kind of low level heat. Thanks.
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