Posted on 07/12/2011 11:54:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
That is, the heat benefits of the bulbs. Figure that, for the most part, the lights will be be turned on when it's dark (piercing observation, I know). That'll be more during the colder, winter months and less during the warmer, summer months.
I wonder what percentage of household heating the bulbs contribute during the cooler months? Do CFLs (or LEDs) merely shift energy consumption from "Electric Lighting" to "Heating"?
Doesn't really matter to me, I use incandescents, and have no desire to switch. It's just one of those unintended consequences that my engineering mind ponders.
First they came for our light bulbs
But I wasn’t a light bulb so I did not stand to object...
Or the benefits of heat (aka “Warming”) in general. Funny thing, but if the mythical “Global Warming” is so bad, why is the ecosystem in tropical regions so much richer than in the Arctic and why do people (in our hemisphere) generally vacation and retire in a southerly direction?
RE: First they came for our light bulbs
Well, don’t stop now, I’m waiting for the final punch line...
RE: Doesn’t really matter to me, I use incandescents, and have no desire to switch
Well, the question is, what are you going to do come January 2012 when even selling them is outlawed?
The underlying point is that no one on our side is making this an "either/or" issue. If you like fluorescents, knock yourself out. What is reprehensible is the prohibition on a product that has served us well for decades, and which is objectively safer for personal use than its alternative.
This is preposterous, nanny-state governance writ large (or small, depending on your point of view). The fundamental question: if they can ban incandescents, what would keep them from banning anything they choose?
WRONG!!! FALSE!!! INCORRECT!!! ERRONEOUS!!!
I'll grant that they may not "last for crap" in your house. Some of my friends have had similar poor experiences with them. I, and many other of my friends, have found them to last for an undetermined time. That is, the "curly bulbs" we installed 5 years ago are still working just fine. I have several rooms (garage and basement) with a mix of Edison lights and compact fluorescent lights on the same circuit. Edison lights have been replaced several times, CFL have not.
AND they don’t work in the COLD FREEZING WEATHER, like my shed!....................
I don’t mind the light CFLs give off but, they don’t last near as long as touted. And the warmup time is annoying.
I’ve been told by someone w/ the power Co. that they have to run 15 min. before you start getting any savings.
So I’ve started going back to incandescents in some fixtures.
LEDs are way too expensive and I question the longevity.
While the actual LED may last, what about the other electronics in the light?
In my kitchen I went through 3 sets of (5) mercury bulbs while the incandescents kept chugging along. Outdoor lights on the other hand have been around over 4 years.
I hate liberal busybodies.
I also hate bull$#!++ers. I especially hate "conservative" bull$#!++ers ... they make honest conservatives look bad.
Your generalized comment that compact flourescent lights "don't last for crap" is simply false. It's wrong. It's incorrect. It makes the rest of us look bad by association. You're in a hole. Stop digging.
That’s what I find puzzling about the CFL vs EL situation. The CFL work very well in some places, and spectacularly poorly in some places. I haven’t seen any kind of pattern.
I have bought these crappy bulbs fro several sources, Sam’s, Wal-Mart, Big Lots, et al. They are all crap!
My ceiling fans eat those things! I have six in the house and each has 3 -4 of those bulbs. They die in less than a year. When it gets cold, the porch light and the shed light comes on dim and stays dim until it warms up in about 5 minutes or they don’t come on at all.
And another thing I have noticed, when a circuit that has several of them on it is turned on, the motion detector lights outside the house will suddenly come on! Must be some kind of electromagnetic spike on the line that triggers them!................
I figure that I'll eventually switch to LED's. The fact that they'll never need to be replaced, coupled with the lower power consumption, will make them cost effective. But not yet, not at current prices.
I do have one LED in place now, it's at my Dad's house, in a fixture that's @#$#@@$ near impossible to get to. It's been going for a good while now - couple of years or so - so I'd call it a "success".
Add NE winters also.
Fred Upton brought the bill up this way to be sure it failed. He was one of the people who sponsored the original bill this bill would amend. He knew this bill couldnt get a super majority.
2) I see a need to place proper emphasis on your statements, so that you understand where you're going wrong.
"My ceiling fans eat those things!"
"I have six in the house and each has 3 -4 of those bulbs."
I don't doubt the truth of either of those statements.
However, to to assert that your experience, in your house is in any way predictive of what everyone else will experience is ridiculous.
My experience with them is entirely positive. None have burned out. All provide equivalent light to similarly rated Edison bulbs in the same room on the same circuit. All provide full light within about 10 seconds.
I would be wrong (as you are wrong) to generalize my experience.
If I were still teaching high school physics, I would use this conversation to illustrate the utter fatuity of extrapolation from a single data point.
Solution: in the short run, don't fight it, just stop using CFL’s in the ceiling fans. When you are looking to replace the ceiling fans talk to the salesman about this issue, see if they've redesigned the fans so the motor and the lights aren't on the same circuit. In fact there's no reason you can't just drop by this weekend and talk to someone at the store nearby that sells ceiling fans and see what they have to say. They might have a better idea than I do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.