CFL Government Mandate...

[Deak Starkiller]

So, I am sure most of you have heard about the CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) mandate passed by Congress banning all previous incandescent light bulbs, right? Well here is the story it if you haven't. Anyway my concern is for collectibles, fluorescent light bulbs drain color. Basically if this is all we have to use then I am concerned about the quality of my collectibles degrading over time. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[The Ween]

What I worry about the most with these CFLs is disposing of them. They contain mercury and if you break one there's a health risk. Not unless they've changed them since I read that.

 

[Kabukiman]

I haven't heard about the CFL color drain issue before. I've been using CFL's for about two years now and haven't noticed a change in my collectibles.

It did take some getting used to the yellow light though as I was very much accustomed to the nice "daylight simulating" bulbs from GE. I hear they make CFL's of those now too, but I haven't used them yet.

 

[mr.thrifty]

You can find LED light bulbs now.. but Dayum are they expensive..

 

[darthviper107]

Yeah, there's some OLED light bulbs--but they're $80 a bulb, way more efficient though.

 

[duck of death]

I'm gradually switching all of my lightbulbs over to the daylight CFLs. The simulated daylight is so much nicer than the yellow light from both a mood point of view and because I do a lot of painting at night and now I can be sure the colors I'm using are accurate.

The CFLs are supposed to last for years -- I did have one go out after less than a year of use, but I'm pretty sure it was the POS lamp it was in and not because there was anything wrong with the bulb itself.

 

[devilof76]

<----Stocking up on incandescent bulbs to preserve the integrity of his carbon footprint.

 

[dr_teng]

The daylight CFLs (if you get the right ones anyways) are really nice, I've been using them for years. Nothing of mine has degraded in colour, but I haven't had that many collectibles for more than 2 years.

 

[Agent0028]

I can't decide if I'm okay with this or not. Its good for the environment, but the libertarian in me is disgusted.

 

[LordAzrael]

We've had that mandated in Australia for a while.

The light quality is way worse than regular bulbs and the electricity savings are negligible. Combine that with the safety issues of the mercury used in them and its definitely insane to be pushed own this path.

And its not just Australia and the US. The European Union has also gone down this road, and it would appear that greens want it to highlight AGW, whilst manufacturers want it as it allows them to maintain a higher profit margin and create new demand.


https://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress....blog-by-joost-van-kasteren-and-henk-tennekes/

An unholy alliance (discovered by Elsevier journalist Syp Wynia – see footnote) between a large multinational company and a multinational environmental organization succeeded in their lobby to phase out, and ultimately by 2012 forbid, the sale of incandescent bulbs, because of their low watt-to-lumen efficiency – not only in the Netherlands but in the whole of the European Union. The multinational company wanted to develop a new market for products with a high profit margin, and the environmental multinational wanted to impress the citizens of Europe with the imminent catastrophe caused by anthropogenic climate change. That would also be of benefit to its battered public image.

Their line of thought is clear: banning incandescent bulbs creates an interesting market for new kinds of home lighting, such as “energy savers” (CFL’s, compact fluorescent lamps) and LED’s (light emitting diodes). The mark-up on these new products is substantially higher than that on old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. The rapid expansion of the lighting industry in China makes the profit margin on ordinary bulbs from factories in Europe smaller yet.

Come to think of it, banning incandescent bulbs makes only marginal sense. The energy savings of CFL’s are small. They are somewhat more efficient when you take into account only the number of lumens per watt of electrical power, but they cost a lot more to produce. Also, their real life expectancy often is much less than the 7,000 hours promised in the ads. And don’t forget that they contain a few milligrams of mercury, which contaminates the environment when they are not disposed of properly. Most of them aren’t – a scary thought.

 

[Bamboota]

You can find LED light bulbs now.. but Dayum are they expensive..

Yeah....this was gonna be my suggestion. I find that LED lights are a little better than florescent...but they are pretty pricey.

 

[DarthNeil]

Only CFL (Canadian Football League) I care about. This is what I thought this thread was about when I saw the title. My bad.

 

[Deak Starkiller]

Aw Neil, you're such a troll MOD.

 

[dr_teng]

The light quality is way worse than regular bulbs and the electricity savings are negligible. Combine that with the safety issues of the mercury used in them and its definitely insane to be pushed own this path.

The electricity savings are actually quite considerable. 15 watt CFL bulbs put out the equivalent of 60 to 75 watt traditional bulbs. In the majority of families, that's going to be 5-15 bulbs on at most points in the evening. 150 is a whole lot less than 750, 6 or more hours each night, every night.

That's not counting larger houses, apartment complexes, any office (which would be running hundreds, if not thousands of lightbulbs).

Of course, for studio apartments or smaller apartments, you're probably not going to notice it too much.

 

[The Ween]

How do you properly dispose of one where it doesn't hurt the enviroment....or me!

 

[Deak Starkiller]

There should be recycle locations in your city. The IKEA here in Tempe can take your CFL bulbs.

 

[devilof76]

The electricity savings are actually quite considerable.

Who gives a damn?

 

[dr_teng]

Who gives a damn?

Most people that aren't incredibly shortsighted, and most people that like saving money.

 

[devilof76]

Shortsighted? I'm afraid you're going to have to be much more specific.

Electricity would be much cheaper if oil supplies weren't being artificially restricted (hence inflating price) by zealots on a power trip.

Of course, there's nothing shortsighted about giving the institution with a legal monoploy on the use of force the power to dictate energy policy. Nothing shortsighted about that at all, comrade.

 

[GrueSam]

but the libertarian in me is disgusted.

How do you properly dispose of one where it doesn't hurt the enviroment....or me!

Shortsighted? I'm afraid you're going to have to be much more specific.

Electricity would be much cheaper if oil supplies weren't being artificially restricted (hence inflating price) by zealots on a power trip.

Of course, there's nothing shortsighted about giving the institution with a legal monoploy on the use of force the power to dictate energy policy. Nothing shortsighted about that at all, comrade.