New Zealand will ban traditional light bulbs in favor of energy-saving alternatives in 2009, says Energy Minister David Parker.
He said the move would cut lighting energy consumption by 20 percent by 2015 and save up to $376 million by 2020.
“It is intended that from late next year, these inefficient incandescent bulbs will be phased out because they waste so much energy…”
New minimum energy standards would mean no fresh stocks of the incandescent bulbs could be imported from October 2009.
Not a magic bullet, of course. But, overdue.
Anyone think the U.S.A. will do this before 2020? 2050?
You know, the cost savings are calculated on the new bulbs having a very extended life?
My shop lights do last a long time and are well worth it==the 4 foot long tubes. The lightbulb replacements hardly last longer than typical bulbs.
If I had to go with the new bulbs, I think I’d convert to the 4 foot tubes.
BUT–is this the right time or should the government wait for LED?
I wouldn’t mention it but when 99% of anything a government does is wrong, there is strong evidence this move by NZ is not right? – -I”m thinking of corn based bio-fuels right now, but its almost “universal.”
Reddy Kilowatt, haven’t seen him in a while.
Up in the great white north, incandescent lamps provide a 100% efficient use of energy during heating season. They heat up the space, and give us light for free.
Did you know that compact fluorescent bulbs use inefficient power converters? That is the electronics located in the plastic socket at the base of the light bulb. They offer only about 50% efficiency which means if the bulb is rated at 24w, the power converter will waste another 24w converting the voltage to make the CF bulb work at all. So in reality it’s 48w consumed by a 24w CF bulb (+ power converter) to generate as much light as a 100w incandescent.
Does anyone wonder how safe theses power converters are as they tend to overhear allot???
Does anyone know that they contain Mercury???
just food for thought before everyone jumps on the CF waggon…
Peter
Great, we’ll all be bathed in the blue-green hue of florescent lights. Everyone will look like the living dead. Oh, and you can’t use compact florescent in appliances like ovens, and what about theatre marquees and other traveling light displays? CFLs don’t stand constant power on/power off and simply won’t work in this application.
I wonder what the plan is for disposing of these mercury-contaminated bulbs? You can’t just toss them in the trash, so who is going to pay for proper disposal?
Where’s Dvorak? Shouldn’t he be decrying the ‘nanny state’ right about now?
I guess he’s busy photoshopping another Al Gore picture.
#1–Bubba==thanks, that was informative. I looked for a YouTube on throwing a neon tube against the wall==that illusion that the tube disappears into the wall because it breaks at point of impact into such tiny pieces?
We kids used to do that all the time–I did notice that “smoke” at the time and wisely decided not to breath it, the wind took it over to our neighbors?
So, yeah. 2014 is the US switchover to an exclusive China/Walmart product that spreads massive amounts of poison materials?
Again–maybe we should wait for even more cost effective, non polluting, American Made LED’s?
My governments track records remains remarkably incompetent.
I can’t stand florescent lighting. Gives me a damn headache. LED is a fairly promising technology, and it’s made some great strides. However, it’s still too early to declare that it will be the replacement technology.
What! They can’t ban regular light bulbs. I will starve since I cook all my food in an easy bake oven. The new light bulbs don’t cook my food at all. I had better stock up now.
Nothing like living in the past. CFL for home use haven’t been blue-green in color for years now. You really should get out more often.
The same thing they have been doing with fluorescent bulbs since they were first invented in the 1930s. Some of you act like this is some new invention.
Propaganda..
replacing a CHEAP incandescent with a bulb that cost 10-15 TIMES as much, to replace the purchase of 10-15 BULBS…is the price comparison.
EVEN if it used 20% of the same amount of electricity. In the END, the electric corp would RAISE prices, BECAUSE they arent making enough to keep those on TOP RICH.
Efficentcy SUCKS:
Lets do some basic math.
Lets say a City has all incandescent bulbs. and the Electric corp is charging you $50 per month.
You find a Cheaper CFL and install them through your home, and end up saving 50% of your power($25).
Others are seeing that you are saving MONEY, and decide to convert.
All these folks just COST the electric corp 50% of their profit.
NOPE…NADA..NEIT…it aint going to happen..
THE ELECTRIC CORP will double you BILL.
remember:
STORES dont PAY their bills…YOU DO and they USE Florescent bulbs.
Want to save on the Electric bill..
Transformers work EVEN when the device isnt PLUGGED IN TO IT.
Computers use EQUAL to 2-4 100 watt BULBS.
MANY of those little LED lights on TV/Components/DVD/LCD and so forth, are rated VERY HIGH wattages.. THEY ARE NOT the milliamp versions.
Micro waves take almost as much POWER as a comparable SIZE Oven. Look up Convection stoves(cheaper)..
Those funny devices that have MEMORY and SHOw the time..ALL the time..Insted of using a small Backup battery, they use AC voltage.
90% of your TV/LCD/VCR/DVD are running 9-18 volts, and at LEAST 1-5 amps at ALL times..
Another problem with CFLs is they won’t work on a dimmer. I have dimmers on almost every switch in my house. I would have to replace all of them to change over… no saving for me.
#12–ECA==thats a real dumb post. The cost/charge for electricity is going to go up no matter what you do. The whole point of efficiency is to lower carbon fouling/save the environment==saving the consumer money is last on the list, if it is on the list at all.
So lets see, if the public demands more electricity, the cost goes up==supply and demand. But if the demand goes down, the price goes up to maintain profit levels==immune from supply and demand?
As we move to hybrid electrical vehicles you can explain to us how the oil companies will just charge more to make up for the lowered demand for their product?
ECA, that’s exactly what happened in the energy “crisis” of the 70’s. Prices whet up, inspiring people to replace appliances with more efficient ones, install better storm windows, replace electric heat with gas, etc. The power companies went crying to the Public Utilities Commission because consumption went down, and so did profits. The PUC agreed, and let them raise their rates enough to negate any savings from the increased efficiency.
Wait until everyone finds out none of their dimmer switches or 3 way bulbs work any more. Maybe THAT will wake up Americans.
Government, get out of the way and let the free market work. It will result in people buying more efficient bulbs for most of their homes, but free to by incandescent where it makes sense. Energy use will still go down, everyone will be happy, and we won’t have to live with the unintended consequences of your nanny meddling in our most mundane decisions.
My god… it’s a thinking Republican! And he’s an elected official!
You can get dimmable CFLs. Unfortunately bulk unit shifters like Home Depot only stock the useless ones that either give off no light, or are outside spots.
Free market doesn’t work if you can’t buy the damn products. Look how many people masturbate to the iphone, when it’s 3-4 years behind what the Jap and Koreans have.
Here in the US, we’re screwed over by one or two companies controlling the market. If it’s not in the shelf, it doesn’t exist (for us).
Uh, sorry to say this, Hop – but, you have to get out more, as well.
Philips as well as a few others make CFL’s designed to work with dimmers. have done so for a while now.
Let’s just unplug Las Vegas, then we can all go back to the warm and fuzzy incandescents. Sorry Uncle Dave….
“Anyone think the U.S.A. will do this before 2020? 2050?”
–Depends on if Obama gets elected.
@#20: As any other Obama-like measure this would mostly hurt middle class in the end. My example: none of the sockets in my house can support CFLs. They are different physical size and simply do not fit in the perfectly good lamps in my house. My estimated cost of replacing all lights in my house with the ones in which I can put CFLs: 2000-3000$ . How long before CFL savings repay me that back? Would Obama Govt. pay me for this cost? Even if YES: from whose pockets would that money come? (mine, again because any rich person or company will have a way to pass any of their tax increase down to me).
Stop the nanny-state and let innovation and market work properly.
To clarify my size-of-the-CFLs comment: If I place CFL light bulb in any of my existing lamps I can’t place back the shade or glass cover back over or in some cases I can’t even place CFL into the socket as the physical size around it (appropriate for ordinary bulbs of the appropriate wattage) is too small. One of the issues rarely pointed about the CFLs.
Moss – Unfortunately, they don’t sell them cheaply at Sam’s Club.
“Anyone think the U.S.A. will do this before 2020? 2050?”
Just after they change to metric.
RBG
The US has already banned regular light bulbs, at least the high wattage ones. It was in the last energy bill.
CFLs have been tested, and found to increase energy use. If it costs less to burn the bulb, then people will use it more. When you have a light that takes forever to get to max brightness, people tend to just leave them on.
I prefer those halogen lamps. They have higher wattage, but they last forever. I bought one more than ten years ago, and it’s still on just its second bulb.
I’ve converted most of my house to the newer bulbs, but they don’t work well in steamy bathrooms – every one of them has burned out and melted down in high moisture situations. Also they don’t work well outdoors during the winter. And of course the microwaves and conventional ovens and the refrigerator don’t like these. Oh, and try fitting them into cealing fan glass covers – they’re always an inch too shallow. So banning the bulbs by legal edict is just plain dumb – let the market do the work here.
When LED lighting is available and affordable THEN I’ll switch, until then it’s to old school bulbs at my home. CFLs are not an acceptable substitute.
I feel that CFLs are being pushed hard so the manufacturers can make a profit until LED is perfected and makes them obsolete overnight.
How about outdoor use up here in the North country. I was dumb enough to try a CFL in my porch light.
Takes about 10 minutes to come on when it’s below zero.
‘course global warming should help
Maybe the US will be the ones to leapfrog the other nations this time.
We’ll skip compact florescents and jump right to LED.
#1 – BubbaRay
That guy obviously didn’t know much about the issue. As for the mercury issue… yes, CFLs contains mercury, but if you look at a comparison between a CFL and incandescent, you might notice that you actually put out less mercury when using the CFLs.
The CFLs being made in China… I guess that’s true nowadays, but most of ours are made in Hungary. People might want to be more active in searching.
We’ve had CFLs throughout our house for the last eight years, and we’ve never encountered any interference with any other equipment. This is just more FUD.
#10, #11 – gquaglia
#17 – Paul
#18 – moss
Thanks for bringing reason into the discussion.
#30 Mister Meister
>>you might notice that you actually put out
>>less mercury when using the CFLs.
All of the mercury from incandescent lights come from burning coal to generate electricity. So once we get with the program and adopt more hydro, wind, solar, nuke, etc. power sources, the CFLs will become the losers in the environmental equation.
Also, power plants are regulated, and at least mercury emissions can be monitored, if not not eliminated. Unlike 300,000,000 Americans throwing mercury-laden CFLs in the trash, where the toxic contaiminents leak into the soil, the air, and the groundwater.
Doesn’t seem like a slam-dunk to me.