Congress strikes a blow for liberty—and incandescent light bulbs
Congress finally does something worthwhile, giving the incandescent light bulb we all know and love a stay of execution:
The shutdown-averting budget bill will block federal light bulb efficiency standards, giving a win to House Republicans fighting the so-called ban on incandescent light bulbs.
GOP and Democratic sources tell POLITICO the final omnibus bill includes a rider defunding the Energy Department’s standards for traditional incandescent light bulbs to be 30 percent more energy efficient.
DOE’s light bulb rules ”” authorized under a 2007 energy law authored signed by President George W. Bush ”” would start going into effect Jan. 1. The rider will prevent DOE from implementing the rules through Sept. 30.
I positively detest all fluorescent light bulbs. And those energy-efficient mercury-based ones that go on ever-so-slowly are especially irritating (not to mention toxic in a landfill). What’s more, since waiting for them to come up to full power is so very annoying, I suspect many households (like some I’ve visited) keep them on all hours of the day and night just to avoid the delay, thus doing away with their purpose in the first place.
And I’ll believe this when I see it:
“In the real world, outside talk radio’s echo chamber, lighting manufacturers such as GE, Philips and Sylvania have tooled up to produce new incandescent light bulbs that look and operate exactly the same as old incandescent bulbs, and give off just as much warm light,” said Jim DiPeso, the [Republicans for Environmental Protection’s] policy director. “The only difference is they produce less excess heat and are therefore 30 percent more efficient. Same light, lower energy bills. What’s not to like?”
I can think of a few things, and so can he—although our objections might be moot if these new bulbs really work on the incandescent principle. But do they, and if so what do they look like? I can’t seem to find anything that addresses that question when I Google it—all the links seem to be about the ban.
[ADDENDUM: I found this, which mentions that the new bulbs are incandescent but doesn’t say what they are actually like, because the author has not yet seen them.]
[ADDENDUM II: Aha! Found some already-existing energy-efficient incandescent bulbs here, with consumer reviews. The opinions are not raves, although some people like them. And these bulbs are somewhat less energy-efficient than the standards Congress wants to impose. That doesn’t mean that the newer, not-yet-for-sale products won’t be better. If companies can manufacture a good incandescent bulb that is more energy efficient and not exorbitant, I would think most people would buy it without being forced to do so by Congress.]
I am happy for the extension in lightbulb choice. The mechanism, though, is what I fear for Obamacare. It will not be properly repealed. Some aspects may be defunded, but the entire legal text will hang over us like a sword. We will always be one compromise away from decapitation.
the current measure only temporarily de funds enforcement without new production it is a futile gesture.
Now if they could undo the mandate on toilets. I truly despise having to flush three times, because there isn’t enough water and thus pressure, to simply do the job. And it is much more wasteful (and annoying). If the government must mandate, then they have an obligation to supply or ensure the technology is up to par.
Beside that, in many bigger cities, they are having huge problems because of too little water to flush the internal workings of the sewers. So, you know what they are using in vast quantities? Bleach. Yeah, how is that low water consumption thing working out? Bah!
As for the lightbulbs, those darned newfangled things burn out very fast for me. It seems if your electricity isn’t pure-as-snow clean those bulbs burn out very fast (and usually in whole groups). I can’t and won’t afford to keep them in. Some academics asked, when I suggested that the bulbs are toxic, why I don’t just recycle them through proper channels. First, I didn’t know there was a way, second, I actually have a life. Silly academics.
By holding off the ban until the end of September, the Republicans have given themselves a good campaign issue.
“too little water to flush the internal workings of the sewers”
My Progressive city has also separated stormwater sewers from sanitary sewers. It’s nice to keep sewage out of the watershed, I agree. The positive spin is that our sewers could handle a couple hundred thousand more residents…if anyone wanted to move here.
We have all sorts of low-energy bulbs here. You need a trained salesperson to advise you. I haven’t found any that even began to live up to the alleged life expectancy. As of Jan 1, our normal 60 watt bulbs are illegal. I don’t know what I’ll do when my modest stockpile runs out–I guess pay 6 times as much for very little benefit. I hate these busybodies.
It’s a small victory. Could have been a substantive victory – but the sleight of hand solution is not a real principled stand. To our legislators: For God’s sake, you have to power to put an end to this madness, why play stupid games?
If you can’t do this simple thing…. can’t give us the right to CHOOSE…
Repealing the light bulb law should be a no-brainer. It is only popular with the green left, yet it will be defended to the last tree-hugger. It is marginal if not insignificant in reducing electricity use while lowering consumer choice.
This must be viewed by the left as a key example of how the state will save us. Once the light bulb rule is gone, recycling cannot be far behind. And recycling is the principal sacrament of the green religion.
Aww… I was having so much fun buying and storing about a 10 year supply of 65W indoor floods as our house is 95% recessed lighting with dimmers.
It was always a stupid idea anyway as the dead last user of energy in a house is the lighting. Heating is number one, appliances number two and AC number three.
$7 bucks a bulb?! Pass.
And here’s the real funny–the “green” bulbs are only more efficient if you are using your air conditioning system. If your furnace, or heat source, is needed, the older incandescents add to the room heat. That is, no energy is “wasted”.
Sooooo, how many light bulbs does it take to screw up this country?
And these bulbs are somewhat less energy-efficient than the standards Congress wants to impose.
Hey, Congress, how about imposing efficency standards on the workings of Congress, and letting us worry about the goddamned light bulbs? Just a thought.
Hmmph. This comes right after I laid in a lifetime supply of 100-watt incandescents and bought more as a Christmas gift for my fluorescent-hating mother. Ah well, they’ll get used.
We stocked up on 40, 60, 75, and 100 watt incandescents when this nonsense began. I was planning to use them as trade items in the coming depression. Now congress has lowered their value. 😉
Notice how all greeness is govt and big business in collusion to raise the cost of things people have to buy. Who woulda thought facism could be so caring?
I had held off on stockpiling light bulbs, thinking that surely this idiotic ban would be repealed before it went into effect. I finally broke down a couple weeks ago and ordered a case each of 100, 75, and 60 watt bulbs through Amazon. On Dec. 2 I got a shipping confirmation e-mail, but when I tried to track the package, I got a message that tracking information was not available. So I just waited for them to show up.
I was going to try to contact them tonight to find out what was going on, but when I turned on my computer after getting home I was greeted by a new e-mail saying that my return was being processed and I would be issued a refund. WTF? I never received them.
Now I do want them, despite today’s news. As Neo said, this wasn’t a repeal, just a “stay of execution”.
But no matter what, the “Easy-Bake Oven” is still dead, isn’t it?
Lightbulbs, ethanol, CAFE; a long unbroken string of greeny legislate-and-harm. Reminds me how irritated I was with Geo W. never vetoing nothing. Hussein ain’t like that.
Peter K, your comment reminded me that there will always be a market for the light bulbs we like. They’ll just be called easy bake oven filaments or baby chick warmers. 🙂
Doom
Toilets AND faucets. My apartment building installed the new slo-flo faucets in everyone’s apartment last summer. Awful. They don’t even flow fast enough to make dissolve the dishwashing detergent. And the shower? Like the Seinfeld episode. Wish I knew a guy with a van like Newman and Kramer.
As to the new communist lightbulbs – I often agree with something the Honorable William F. Buckley once said – “The greatest blow to civilized living was the invention of the electric light bulb.”
It is a holiday cheer that for 12 seconds on this board, I can feel as if I was in the mainstream. That the amount of water we send down with our poop reflected our respect for the politicos who process our political waste.
In more sober times we will see that crappy lightbulbs were no salvation for crappy policy.
I have always wondered why are we talking about fluorescent bulbs at all when it comes to energy efficiency. LED bulbs like these http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/ last longer than fluorescent bulbs, use less energy, and are less toxic. They do cost much more a single bulb cost 7 dollars but you don’t have the issue of losing hours of life off the bulb ever time you turn it off and on as you do with fluorescent bulbs and incandescent bulbs. I guess when hippies like Al Gore want the save the planet why do it in a half ass way for light bulbs I mean if we want to spend 100’s of billions in carbon trading whats a $7 light bulb isn’t the enivernement worth it?
Seems silly to go with slightly better technology from the 1910’s than the light bulb from late 1800’s or use LED’s which are far better technology than both. This is to me is just another sign of how little science is in the global warming movement.
Foxmarks, the separate sewer system has been common in many cities for almost a century. In Texas, for example, where rains are less frequent, but quite torrential when they do come, you’d either have sewage washing out of storm drains, or, in dry times, BIG sewers that had a trickle of very foul waste in them, not moving until there was a rain, like in an ancient Roman sewer. A friend in Germany informs me that different parts of that country take the two different approaches. Those with a more constant amount of rainfall, have one sewer system. Those with more intermittent rains, use the two-pipe method.
Sayomara,
I agree that most likely LEDs are going to be the future. However, at $7 a pop, they are economically unfeasible. Wait until the price drops, and it will, then the switch will be on (pun intended)
As our bulbs burn out we have been replacing them with the new pigtail type. Guess what? They aren’t so bad. What one needs to do is go where you can see them lit in side by side comparison. Menard’s and other stores have these displays. It’s possible to install one that gives a bright warm glow. We can’t tell the difference. They last a very long time and they use much less electricity. It really is a savings in the long run, we have discovered over years of use. It makes economic sense to us more so than saving the planet.
But I am a light bulb pro-choice advocate and if consumers want an incandescent bulb then dammit let them have it. This nanny state movement has gone to far.
The leftists want the government to stay out of our bedrooms. But they have no problem allowing the government to invade our garages, kitchens and electrical systems.
Sayomara,
I still want the choice between the bulbs I use in different places. A rarely used closet light is different from the lamps I use many hours a day in my living room, which again is different from the warm light I may want from the hanging lamp with 5 bulbs over my dining room table. I will certainly use LEDs if I deem them to be the best choice for a given situation. In my kitchen, I still use a cheap little hand whisk for many tasks although there are remarkable Kitchenaid mixers available.
I agree that LEDs are ultimately the future of light bulbs. The ones I’ve seen so far have a harsh, blue-white light, though. I’m sure they’ll be improved over time.
They’ve already taken over much of the flashlight market. They’re good during power failures, because you can prop an LED flashlight on a table and leave it on for hours without draining the batteries.
The price will come down, too. I remember the first electronic calculators in the 1970s. They were the size of a brick, ran on batteries, and cost $250. Today they’re not much thicker than a credit card, solar powered, and are so cheap that they’re sometimes given away as promotions.
Dad and an uncle as well as mom and myself used to work for Philips lighting division. At that time it was based in heightstown nj it then moved to ky and then mexico.
The history of lamps is interesting including acollusion between the biggest to lower lamp lifetimes. I knew of the mandate for these back in the 80s
So why the change? Osram, one of the biggies makes led and so broke the consortium as philips and others dont. Flourescent cant compete w led so they eiter go back to incandescent or what will happen?
I am on ª blackberry in indonesia (surabaya) or else i would. Clue u all on more including the ne process of laser treating the filament to increase surface area tune color and raise efficiency
I think TV is up there as far as energy use now too.
This was always a meaningless gesture for the environment. Like the CFC ban for asthma inhalers. It does nothing, but it makes the people imposing the ban feel both good and powerful (sometimes the same thing).
I saw this link for Warm LED lights somewhere, and decided to try 2 out. I just got them yesterday, and installed the one over the kitchen table. You can’t tell the difference, but I think it might be superior to the incandescent that was in the light before.
I am now a convert! But I see a need for all 3 types of bulbs in my house, so I’m very pro-choice on bulbs.
http://www.amazon.com/EarthLED-ZetaLux-7-Watt-White-Light/dp/B004IR7PKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324135366&sr=8-1
I have a couple lamps that I leave the CFL bulbs on all of the time – the amount of light they give off is so slight, that they are more of a security light. I figure the electric usage is less than having a timer on the lamp.
When my current batch of CFLs go out, I’ll be replacing with LEDs, but the test LED I got got very hot on the base. In addition, the light was forced upward because of the base, so not good for reading.
I did get a stash of 100 w bulbs since they lifted the ban so late, who knows if the stores can get them?
Here’s how I plan to dispose of those little Mercury laden Compact Fluorescent (CF’s) Lamps.
When the burn out, I plan to package them securely so that they don’t break in transit and send them to a random list of politicians who support this ban of incandescent lamps. Let them reap what they’ve sown.
@rickl I agree We should have choice I’m all for that and your right price is coming down the Same LED bulb that is $7 now was $20 only a few years ago a few more years and I’m sure they will be able to be Fluorescent consistently in price.
My Point is why are so many Environmentalist so hung up on fluorescent bulbs when there is better technology. It seems to me this is just one more side of how inflexible environmentalist are, Sure when Al Gore Wrote Earth in the Balance Fluorescent might have seems like a cost saver but his option hasn’t changed with the times.
And why aren’t rich environmentalist like Gore who cost really isn’t an issue using LED bulbs themselves? The answer of course is this has never been about the Environment its also been about control of other people lives.
John Dough
Actually you will probably get a nasty visit from the Secret Service.
Tactical mistake by the Republicans. The majority of Americans will be unaware that Republicans obtained this temporary reprieve for the incandescent light bulb. If instead the ban had been allowed to go into effect, after a few months, those same dim bulbs would have blamed the absence of bright lights on Obama, because many of them think he runs everything. Well, actually, so does he . . .
Liz Says:
December 17th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Most current table lamps have vertically-mounted bulbs. This is fine for incandescents, since their light goes in all directions.
LED bulbs tend to be more directional, so a reading lamp optimized for LEDs will need to be redesigned somewhat. Their bulbs should face downwards and off to one side.
People are rational. People are not stupid, especially with their own money. If fluorescents are really better, people would buy them without a law forcing them to abandon incandescents.
The existence of this ban shows that all politicians and bureaucrats are filled with contempt for the people who pay their salaries.
Hang them all and start over.
Cfls actually do not save you the cash
Theoretically they use less as an abaolute measure
But they are connected to the power grid and their power is noisy
Most people dont know that they have to pay for energy they dont actually get!!! its too long to explain on ª blberry, but u can loook it up as to line conditioning so that ac supply is smooth not noisy because of what u connect
Post never made it can u help neo?
Dropped posts again
In an earlier post Michael said: “Actually you will probably get a nasty visit from the Secret Service.”
I don’t care. These lamps are safe (So say the dems). As long as I pack them correctly so they don’t break and state what the contents are, I’m willing to take the chance.
BTW the above suggestion comes from an active Secret Service employee……. who’s Pe’od about the ruling too.
I pay my attorney handsomely. I don’t expect him to keep me out of jail…. I just don’t want to spend the night…
Artfldgr: I didn’t see any comments of yours in the spam folder this time, so I’m not sure what happened. But there’s a comment from you showing above your other comments on this thread. I’m not sure whether that’s the one you thought hadn’t gone through, and it had appeared later after some sort of delay.
Let me know if the problem keeps happening and I’ll try to figure it out and fix it.
I must have some magical aura that makes CFLs turn on when I push the switch and emit a large amount of light. I use them all throughout my house without incident.
They are not better for reading, I have eye probs and definitely notice the difference. Here’s a thought: let screw Odumba and the Gorical into a base and see if they light up!