Goodbye 40-watt and 60-watt light bulbs! (United States)

das_nut said:
CFLs don't react well to being turned on for short periods of time. Try LEDs for that.

Although I abuse CFLs all the time, and I've only replaced 3 or 4 within the past five years. ;)
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Our apartment complex just replaced all the bulbs with the new CFLs. I find them not as bright, which makes it hard for doing needlework. I have a couple of lamps, and they took the liberty of replacing them as well, which I was not happy about. While I try to be green, I don't want to damage my eyes with insufficient light. I just wish they emitted more light, at least in the living room, where I do all my knitting, reading and such.
 
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PTree15 said:
Our apartment complex just replaced all the bulbs with the new CFLs. I find them not as bright, which makes it hard for doing needlework. I have a couple of lamps, and they took the liberty of replacing them as well, which I was not happy about. While I try to be green, I don't want to damage my eyes with insufficient light. I just wish they emitted more light, at least in the living room, where I do all my knitting, reading and such.
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I think they bought the cheap bulbs. :/
 
KLS52 said:
Great. I'm reading up on lightbulbs now. :p

5 myths about the ban:

http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA628.html
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That seems ... flawed. Take this part: LED and CFL lighting is cooler than incandescent and renders colors differently. That's inaccurate - you can buy warm CFLs and LEDs, as well as the more common cooler ones.

Here's the 11 steps to clean up a bulb, which they partially misrepresent (the article states that consumers are supposed to take the bulbs to a special recycling center, while the EPA states to check local regulations and if there are none, the bulbs can be thrown into the trash).

But lets look at the author, Amy Ridenour, which the link helpfully points out is the Chairman for the National Center for Public Policy Research.

What is the National Center for Public Policy Research? In their words:
The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today's public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.

In 1982, we started The National Center to provide the conservative movement with a versatile and energetic organization capable of responding quickly and decisively to fast-breaking issues. Today, we continue to fill this critical niche through a top-flight research and communications operation driven by results and the bottom line.
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But what else has Amy Ridenour wrote? Oh look, she has a blog!

Now just because she's a conservative wingnut doesn't mean she's wrong, but I wouldn't consider her a credible source of information.
 
das_nut said:
That seems ... flawed. Take this part: LED and CFL lighting is cooler than incandescent and renders colors differently. That's inaccurate - you can buy warm CFLs and LEDs, as well as the more common cooler ones.

Here's the 11 steps to clean up a bulb, which they partially misrepresent (the article states that consumers are supposed to take the bulbs to a special recycling center, while the EPA states to check local regulations and if there are none, the bulbs can be thrown into the trash).

But lets look at the author, Amy Ridenour, which the link helpfully points out is the Chairman for the National Center for Public Policy Research.

What is the National Center for Public Policy Research? In their words:

But what else has Amy Ridenour wrote? Oh look, she has a blog!

Now just because she's a conservative wingnut doesn't mean she's wrong, but I wouldn't consider her a credible source of information.
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Lol...damn, you're good. :)
 
I don't like the "ban" because it takes away choice.

I have 19 ceiling fixtures which were made for incandescent bulbs. I would have to rip these apart to use CFLs (or maybe not)*.

It's not that I "like" incandescent bulbs and "dislike" CFLs, it's that I am not convinced that CFLs can replace incandescent bulbs acceptably in all applications.

The "maybe not" qualification stated above is based on my recently seeing a new line of "mini spiral" 100-watt-equivalent CFLs put out by GE. These apparently fit into my ceiling light fixtures. All other 100-watt-equivalent CFLs will not fit.

I have been looking around for incandescent bulbs that are still for sale. My local Walmart seems to have plenty off-brand incandescent bulbs in 40 watts and 60 watts, and some Sylvania 75 watt bulbs.

Batteries-Plus seems to have 100 watt incandescent bulbs in stock in their stores (according to their website).
 
I went by a Dollar General store, and they had plenty of GE 90-watt incandescent bulbs in stock.

Wal-Mart still has plenty of 75, 60 and 40 watt incandescents for sale.
 
beancounter said:
In The Dark About Picking A Light Bulb? This FAQ Can Help
http://nhpr.org/post/dark-about-picking-light-bulb-faq-can-help
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Good article. Thank you.

I did notice a few things about it that I considered negative/incomplete. It talks about 50/100/150 three-way bulbs, and the fact that three-way replacement CFLs are available. But what about replacements for 30/70/100 three-ways? There appear to be no CFL replacements available for these. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) Why not? (I believe that three-way bulbs are not included in the "ban.)

BTW I bought and donated a three-way floor lamp to a local church which houses the office of a non-profit organization I belong to. I also bought and donated a 50/100/150 CFL bulb to go with the floor lamp. The bulb cost more than the floor lamp! I kid you not.

I was also concerned about the comments made about what type of bulb to use for a porch light, etc. CFLs probably won't work right. One fellow quoted recommends LEDs. But what about using incandescents? It appears that the rules banning the sale of bulbs do not apply to bulbs over 100 watts, so the same 150 watt or 200 watt incandescent that you used in the past should still be on the store shelves. At least that's what it looked like at Home Depot last time I was there.
 
I'm bumping this thread just to let people know I found some 100 watt incandescent bulbs for sale at Dollar Tree, a discount store where everything in the store sells for $1. These were Sunbeam-brand bulbs in a two-pack, so 50 cents each. They are labelled "rough service" bulbs, so I guess that is how they get around the "ban." Most of the rough service bulbs that I've seen in places like Home Depot are of a lower wattage and are much more expensive than 50 cents each.

They also had three-packs of 60 watt incandescent bulbs for sale, too.
 
GE is trying to sell its light bulb business, but it hasn't found a buyer yet.

By the way Amy, that article you posted has a lighting analyst quoted at the end. That's me actually!

I wonder if the people earlier in the old 2014 comments talking about hoarding 100W and 60W bulbs have thought this through from a global warming standpoint. It would be like saying you are stockpiling coal in your backyard to burn after the coal is phased out in favour of renewable energy.

Energy efficiency is as important as what type of energy in reducing carbon footprints, perhaps.

I was doing some calculations for work last week and I estimate very roughly that the entire carbon footprint of the world this year is 1.5% lower that it would have been had LED never been used in lighting. That's actually a pretty decent contribution. About 500 coal power plants shut down would be about the same.
 
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I won't repeat what I said earlier--incandescent bulbs are still available as "rough serv ice." bulbs.

I have many fixtures in my house that require incandescent bulbs or at least bulbs of a similar physical size.

Also, compact fluorescent bulbs might be a better choice than LEDs.

It's also unclear to me what sort of bulbs are better for outdoor use--like porch lights.
 
Joe said:
I won't repeat what I said earlier--incandescent bulbs are still available as "rough serv ice." bulbs.

I have many fixtures in my house that require incandescent bulbs or at least bulbs of a similar physical size.

Also, compact fluorescent bulbs might be a better choice than LEDs.

It's also unclear to me what sort of bulbs are better for outdoor use--like porch lights.
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My folks still get 40/60-watts... and get yellow "bug light" bulbs for outdoors.... I keep forgetting to grab some energy-efficient bulbs from Jerry, he's got a huge bucket full of 'em from the school because they went LED.

Also, we have very old lamps here that take the 3-way bulbs.... I've been trying to argue on the side of upgrading certain things.... LOL :rolleyes:
 
I have nothing against "energy efficient" bulbs.

Since LED bulbs tend to be more expensive, but last longer, I would tend to use them in areas where you practically have to be an acrobat to get in and change the bulb.
 
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