George Will- the new lightbulbs aren't perfect so let's scrap the whole idea

[underpants]

Coping With the Unexpected Perils of a Bright Idea
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/WILLCOL0402_20090401-174101/246513/

CYNICS WILL see only potential for mischief by governments, including the U.S. government, using such measures to give a green patina to protectionism. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is having its own problems with one "climate-friendly good" that might not be. Last week The New York Times' front page carried this headline: "The Bulb That Saved the Planet May Be a Little Less Than Billed."

The story recounted some Americans' misadventures with the new light bulbs that almost all Americans -- all but those who are filling their closets with supplies of today's incandescent bulbs -- will have to use after the phaseout of today's bulbs in 2014. (You missed that provision of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007?)

A San Francisco -- naturally -- couple emerged from Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" incandescent with desire to think globally and act locally, in their home. So they replaced their incandescent bulbs with the compact fluorescents that Congress says must soon be ubiquitous. "Instead of having a satisfying green moment, however," The Times reported, "they wound up coping with a mess."

Although supposed to last 10,000 hours and save, The Times says, "as much as" $5.40 a year in electricity costs, some bulbs died within a few hours. Some experts, reports The Times, "blame the government for the quality problems," saying its push to cut the bulbs' prices prompted manufacturers to use inferior components.

FURTHERMORE, some experts have written a guide saying the new bulbs require "a little insight and planning." The Times says that "may be an understatement."

The bulbs, says The Times, "do not do well in hot places with little airflow, like recessed ceiling fixtures," and some do not work "with dimmers or three-way sockets." And: "Be aware that compact fluorescents can take one to three minutes to reach full brightness. This is not a defect." Well, if you say so. Because all fluorescents contain mercury, a toxic metal, they must never be put in the trash, so Home Depot and other chains offer bins for disposing of dangerous bulbs. Driving to one of these disposal points might not entirely nullify the bulbs' environmental benefits. Besides, The Times summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's helpful suggestions for coping with the environmental dangers caused when one of these environment-saving bulbs breaks:

"Clear people and pets from the room and open a window for at least 15 minutes if possible. Avoid vacuuming. Scoop up larger pieces with stiff paper or cardboard, pick up smaller residue with sticky tape, and wipe the area with a damp cloth. Put everything into a sealed plastic bag or sealed glass jar. In most cases, this can be put in the trash, but the EPA recommends checking local rules."

[leveymg]

1. George Will brought to you by Clean Coal and Exxon-Mobil

Always Unintended Consequences. Always.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. George Will - A Small, Petty, Corrupt Piece of Shit

I am still amazed that Will is allowed to pass himself off as journalist after getting caught writing about companies that he was receiving money from without disclosure.

Here's a "light bulb" idea - go away George Will!

[Kolesar]

5. Wow. Which companies?

And, yes, this editorial stinks.

[Wednesdays]

3. The answer to all this is to perfect LED bulbs

Light bulbs that consist of clusters of LED lights, use even less energy than compact florescent bulbs...they carry them at Wal-Mart. I have a couple of them in my house, but the brightest among them is only equivalent to around a 15-watt incandescent (despite their claim that it's like a 45-watt bulb), so the only thing I can use them for is a night-light.

Still, at 1.5 watts, that's pretty darn efficient. If they can make them so they're much brighter, they'd make even the CF lights obsolete, for LEDs wouldn't have any of the problems mentioned in the article: they're almost completely unbreakable, they last 20 years, there's no mercury in them, they work in a wider range of temperatures, they turn on instantly, and they can be used with dimmers.

[underpants]

7. You are correct but this is a redo of the "Windmills are ugly" management of the masses

Bring up wind power with almost anyone and within 2 minutes I guarantee you they will say something like "Yeah but those windmills are such eyesores". This was aggressively pushed by the anti-wind power forces 10-20 years ago. What's funny is that there was a similar outcry with cell towers but those have been hidden away AND people got used to them. I don't know what the official number is but I would suspect that most people out here in suburbia drive past at least 5 cell towers on their way to work without noticing them...anymore.

Will is just putting this out there and they hope that any discussion of the new lightbulbs (did Will write an article alerting we simple UHmurkans about the 2007 measure? ) will have some dolt say "Yeah, but there are some problems with those things....."

[HillWilliam]

9. I've got 100W equivalent LEDs in my house and they're wonderful

I replaced the CFL's in my diningroom chandelier and the CFLs in the spots in the kitchen with these babies and the light is much better and I'm using a fraction of the juice. I replaced the CFL's in my bathrooms and now I can see to shave in the shower. Overall, I'm tickled both at having more light and using a lot less power.

Maybe your WallyWorld hasn't caught up yet. I got mine at Lowe's. They have the directional and the non-directional kind there. The prices have come WAY-way down from what they were even six months ago. Keep looking; if there's a Lowe's in your area, try there.

The one problem remaining with the LEDs that I have is that the ones that will work with motion sensors are still really pricey. I have several motion sensor controlled lights outside (I live waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy out in the country) and the regular LED lights won't work with them. The directional LEDs I got are bright enough to light the whole back yard (and it's a BIGASS yard ending in woods), but I just can't use that type in the fixture I have. It won't be long, though; the prices are steadily dropping.

[Wednesdays]

16. I'll check it out!

Thanks for the tip! :)

[HillWilliam]

19. No prob!

I think you'll like the new generation. I'm going to change some of my fixtures to sconces to accommodate the unidirectional kind of LED. The amount of light I'm getting, the quality, and the savings are all worth it to me. YMMV. Try one or two in different situations and see what you come up with. You might go through a couple of different configurations. For what you get back in savings, heat gain, and not replacing incandescents, it may well be worth your while.

Out here in the sticks where power is iffy, we were popping incandescents left and right. That got expensive just in replacements, let alone the power consumption. In summer, it was the added heat gain against air conditioning. Going to CFL's took care of the replacing problem and "most" of the heat gain and a goodly percentage of the power consumption.

The first LEDs I didn't like at ALL. They were hideously expensive and didn't light very well. I have a few 1/4W nightlights around and figured those would be it. This new generation light much, much better. The 100W equivalents took a little getting used to because I wasn't used to having light I could actually SEE by after having had CFL's for years. No heat gain and much less power... I'm starting to like them a lot.

Best of luck! PM me with your results; we'll trade notes.

[Betty]

4. I have those light bulbs throughout my house

and most have been going strong for at least three years.. no burn outs, no breakage. And I go to Home Depot regularly anyways, so when the time comes to get rid of them, it's a trip I'd be making already.

[underpants]

6. I did have one burn out quickly but hey it was the first year model

the rest of them have been burning for over two years.

[a la izquierda]

8. You read my mind.

Well except the Home Depot part. We do Lowes instead.

[HillWilliam]

10. You got it

Home Depot: red-red-red, anti-worker, and anti-union. They donate almost 100% to the RNC and repuke causes. I don't give them one thin dime EVER.

Lowes: fairly Blue and NC-based. Being from NC, I like to support the "home team".

[underpants]

11. I can recycle them at Lowe's ?

I have three that I have been holding on to

[HillWilliam]

18. I haven't seen any recycling at Lowe's

I've been taking my dead CFL's to the county household hazardous waste disposal, where you take paint cans and stuff. I'll keep an eye out and repost if I see anything.

[Wednesdays]

13. Indeed

We've been all-florescent since 1996, and I feel it's been WELL worth it.

Most of our bulbs last 3-8 years, and only very rarely have bulbs worn out in less than a year. That is, if they're the name-brand bulbs. I tried the cheap, off-brand bulbs once and they weren't very good...those are the ones that go kaput within a few weeks. Also, I learned to avoid the "big packs" of 8 CFL bulbs you can get at Sam's club...it's a pain to open the plastic packages, invariably there are one or two defective bulbs in each pack, and it's a hassle to return them.

I have consistently gotten good results from the "6-packs" of GE bulbs from Wal-Mart (one of the very few things I buy at Wal-Mart anymore). I estimate I save at least $100 a year in electric costs by using them over incandescent bulbs, and probably a lot more because they burn a lot cooler and therefore save on air conditioning costs during the summer.

[Igel]

23. Wish I were so lucky.

I put in 6 of them maybe a year and a half ago, and I've replaced at least four of them. While they've saved some electricity, that hasn't paid for the price difference between them and incandescents.

That's not counting the one that was cooked by a lamp with some quirky dimmer/on-off switch built in that the ballast didn't much like (the lamp's working parts didn't survive, either, to my wife's great joy).

I pitch them in the dumpster when they die. The nearest Home Depot's maybe 5-6 miles away, in a direction I go maybe once a year.

[hasidic acid]

12. I have an idea: Since George Will isn't perfect...

;-)

[Wednesdays]

15. Will Lowe's recycle him, too?

:shrug:

[old mark]

14. About 6 years ago, we replaced about 85% of our incandescent bulbs with CFL's.

Our electric bill went down by about 30%, and has stayed very low. Some of those bulbs are still running today. We have had to replace several, but we look for multi-packs of them on sale, and keep a few spares around.
We also changer over to CFL's for those incandescents that burned out that were fairly high use, till we have over 90% CFL now.

Our electric bill is around $100/month for 2 people in a 9 room house.

mark

[underpants]

17. About the same for us

I didn't realize we had 9 rooms

when one does go out there is a moment of pause... HEy! A lightbulb went out!!!

[old mark]

20. Yeah, pretty rare to have one not work - it has become a big event

almost...
Compared to their initial cost, the amount they have saved us over the years is very high - a great investment, really.

mark

[Puzzler]

21. I guess he's forgetting about Edison...

... didn't Edison have to try hundreds of different metals/substances before he found one that worked reliably?

Or, how about the TV 60 years ago? Lousy picture, bad reception, small screen, only black & white. Nah! Let's scrap the whole idea!

What a fucking moron Will is :(

[bemildred]

22. Why the heck did we ever give up on candles anyway?

People should sleep when it's dark, that's the way God intended it to be. No good will come of all this meddling with God's plan.
:sarcasm:

[underpants]

25. I, for one, blame the wheel

since that thing came around everything changed. Of course, back then we just worshipped the largest nearby natural feature like the mountain or the river or if nothing else was available the sun but we have evolved er uh advanced since then but not too much advancement thank you.

[Enthusiast]

24. We love our CFLs!

We have them everywhere! George Will is just doing the wishes of his corporate masters. Ever notice how all Republicans are against even the most meager attempts at conservation?