Sure Looks Like Donald Trump Is Gonna Lose the Lightbulb War

[babylonsister]

Sure Looks Like Donald Trump Is Gonna Lose the Lightbulb War
LEDs may make him “look orange,” but these new standards will kill incandescents.
Oliver Milman
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.


The Biden administration has moved to reverse the depredations endured by one of the more unusual targets of Donald Trump’s culture wars during his time as US president: the humble lightbulb.

The Department of Energy has put forward a new standard for the energy efficiency of lightbulbs that would essentially banish the era of older, incandescent technology in favor of LED lighting.

Incandescent bulbs cost Americans nearly $300 million extra in monthly electricity bills, to say nothing of the emissions.

The absence of lightbulb regulations helps worsen the climate crisis and wastes households money, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The group has found the use of wasteful incandescent lights is costing Americans nearly $300 million a month in needless electricity bills and releasing 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the lifetimes of the inefficient bulbs sold each month.

Trump, however, was not enamored by LED lights while he was in the White House. The twice-impeached president said that he looks “better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down,” complaining in 2019 that he “always looks orange” under LED lights. He claimed that if LEDs break they become “a hazardous waste site” and are “very dangerous with all of the gases.”

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/12/department-energy-standards-trumps-losing-incandescent-lightbulb-ban/

[Stuart G]

1. Thank You for posting...K and R..

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. A dumb man making the wrong bets on reality.

His proclamations meant nothing. When China committed to LEDs (20 years ago), the incandescent bulb was done.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. CFL bulbs contained vapor

I know people with closets full of old time incandescent bulbs. I saw a guy in a supermarket, about 2013, when the old bulbs were being liquidated, he had a huge shopping cart filled with lightbulbs. Older man, wearing a suit and tie, very certain of himself.

I love the latest LEDs. So far they haven't burned out like CFLs, the light is about the same or better than incandescent bulbs. And I really like the small LED flashlights. 3 AAA batteries last me 18 months.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. They are so much better. Dimmable, warm or cold kelvin, and almost no energy suck.

Why would anybody buy incandescent bulbs...unless you are use them to provide some heat (energy loss) with the lighting?

[EYESORE 9001]

5. Well, there's the Easy Bake Oven

Can’t bake a cake in one of those using an LED bulb.

[lastlib]

6. I stopped buying anything but LEDs seven years ago.

Since converting to LED lighting, I have almost NEVER changed a light bulb.

Only the flourescent fixtures in the basement, which are recessed into the ceiling, aren't LEDs--haven't found an LED fixture that can fill those spaces.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. If they use standard fluorescent tubes you can get LED replacements that work with a ballast (n/t)

[radius777]

23. Problem is LED's need special dimmer switches

and many homes have the old switches. Incandescent bulbs dim better overall (no hum, no flicker) and have warmer tone. LED's are catching up but old incandescents are useful in certain situations.

https://www.quora.com/Do-dimmable-LED-light-bulbs-require-a-special-dimmer-switch-or-will-an-incandescent-dimmer-work
Do dimmable LED light bulbs require a special dimmer switch, or will an incandescent dimmer work?
David Waedemon, former Control Systems Engineer at Covestro
A special dimmer switch. Technically they can work on both but it won’t be very easy. I don’t know the specifics of the circuitry but hopefully this will make sense.

A classic incandescent bulb produces 100% at 120V, 50% at 60V, 20% at 24V while and LED will produce 100% at 120V, 50% at 90V, and 20% at 60V.

So you can control the dimming on an LED, but at some point it will start to flicker and stop working. You would have to be very very touchy with dimmer to make it work correctly.

An LED dimmer usually has an on off switch as well as a dimmer. The dimmer portion takes it from lets say 100% to 10% in a smooth even motion. Trust me, it’s worth it to get a proper dimmer.

[OAITW r.2.0]

24. I replaced my kitchen track lighting from dimmable incans to LED

Replaced the integrated on/off/dimmer switch in the box, No peoblems with flickering/humming. Added a couple of extra lighting heads to the rail for better light control. Works slick, the heads are much smaller than the old incan cans.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. We haven't changed a light bulb in years.

They used to blow out all the time, usually at the worst possible moment.

[malaise]

12. Same here

[Takket]

7. it was an absurd fight when he started it

by the time he had started it, most of the major brands and retailers had already moved on to LEDs. They certainly we're going to spend millions of dollars to stop their assembly lines, revert to incandescent, and start making them again. it would be like asking auto makers to suddenly go back carburetors on their engines instead of fuel injection.

[sl8]

14. The standard, pear-shaped incandescents remained banned.

TFG eliminated the next step - phase-out of specialty incandescent bulbs, e.g., chandelier bulbs, globe bulbs, track lights, etc.

Bad move, yes, but it wouldn't have involved going back to standard incandescent bulbs.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-led-light-bulb-regulation-canceled-20190905-bdroqsaqsrgwzcsvlbh6qvvlz4-story.html

[canetoad]

10. LEDs don't make him look orange

It's all the shit he plasters on his face in the mistaken belief that it makes him look young, fit and healthy. Hell, I wish he would drop dead.

[Klaralven]

11. As long as we maintain good relations with China, where the LEDs are made, we'll be OK

[ProfessorGAC]

15. He Was Going To Lose Anyway

The profit margins on standard incandescent bulbs evaporated long ago.
No company was going to retool their lines to back to making bulbs at a penny of profit, each.
Besides, most consumers liked the long life of the alternatives.
So, narrowing margins and very unlikely to see significant market growth.
Of course, a businessman who never understood how to actually make a profit wouldn't understand that.

[sl8]

16. TFG eliminated the phase-out of specialty incandescent bulbs.

Last edited Sat Dec 11, 2021, 02:45 PM - Edit history (1)

The standard, pear-shaped bulbs remained banned

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Ah!

Didn't know that. Thanks.
Even still, other than the small base candelabra bulbs, I've gone LED even for the backyard floods. I've had the same pair of 5 years now.
I'm still thinking that margins on those bulbs are still paper thin. (A 4 pack of small candelabra bulbs used to be $5, but the Ace by my house now has them for $4.49. Ten years later 90% of the cost.)
So moving to the other technologies is likely a better business move. In fact, that same Ace has the LED version for $2.69 for a 2 pack. I'd pay an extra buck for a bulb that last 5-10 times longer.

[sl8]

18. It was still a bad move on his part.

I'm with you on the advantages of LEDs. Other than in the oven, I haven't used incandescents in years.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Agreed!

If manufacturers didn't care, what was the point.
Good point on the oven bulb! Which reminds me; I've got to replace the bulb in our oven!

[sl8]

25. Looks like I was wrong.

It looks like TFG acted against both the upcoming specialty bulb requirements and the general purpose bulb requirements already in effect.

Sorry about providing the bad info.

[...]

In September, the Trump administration announced it would roll back a rule to apply energy efficiency standards to specialty light bulbs like three-way, flame-shaped and globe-shaped bulbs. At that time, it also indicated that it might block the rule regarding the general-purpose bulbs as well.

In response, several states — including California, Vermont and Colorado — passed standards that would match the federal requirements called for under the Bush-era law.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental and consumer groups have gone to court in an effort to stop the rollback affecting specialty bulbs, as did fifteen states, New York City and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Horowitz said that the response to this additional move on traditional pear-shaped bulbs would be a similar challenge. His group, he said, “will be exploring every option, including legal action, to fight this illegal rollback.”

[...]

[keep_left]

22. He's so dumb that he probably didn't even know he wasn't bringing them back...

...and even if he did, he wouldn't have cared. Everything is marketing to Drumpf...the sizzle, not the steak. Same with the dishwashers, shower heads, etc. He was obsessed with those too.

[David__77]

21. Yes the ship has sailed.

Same with decarbonization.

[gratuitous]

20. He'll always have his high flow toilet

Gotta get those hamberders to go away in something less than 10 flushes.