Is losing the incandescent light bulbs still a deal-breaker for you (as an energy saving solution)?

[CreekDog]

it's just one way of saving energy.

these don't mean that you have to use flourescents, the idea is that there will be new technology that saves energy.

it won't be the only way to save energy, but since everyone uses light, saving energy in lighting is a big deal and a part of reducing our carbon footprint.

and for those of you about to chime in to say, "how do you know Sandy is from global warming/climate change???" (as if finding out that it wasn't would make saving energy a bad idea...).

to that i say that if we have historically unprecedented storms with increasing frequency, the idea that humans could be doing what lots of humans say we are doing (altering the climate) should be alarming enough to at least not dismiss the light bulb issue out of hand.

[dballance]

1. I wonder how many people railed against losing their oil lamps /eom

[littlemissmartypants]

5. I have them still and they are great for outages in storms. n/t

[DonRedwood]

17. I hope you aren't using whale oil....

[littlemissmartypants]

21. No but the

Whale bone corset and a whale of a joke make it hard to laugh though.

[SheilaT]

2. When I moved part way across the country four and a half years ago,

I bought all fluorescent bulbs. So far, I haven't had to replace a single one.

I'm just a trifle concerned that they will all burn out on the same day, which will be very expensive to replace all at once.

Could be worse. In recent years it seemed as if the incandescent bulbs simply didn't last very long at all. Every single week I had to buy bulbs, because at least one had burned out.

[PDJane]

3. No. It isn't.

I have two incandescent bulbs still in operation in this apartment. They are in the walk-in closets, and they're there because one closet has the breaker box and tools, and the other has emergency stuff. The fluorescents don't brighten fast enough to be useful. Those lights are also on and off; they're rarely on for more than a few minutes.

Everything else is fitted with IKEA compact fluorescents.

We also have energy-saving appliances, and since we're in a MURB, we rarely need the heat turned on. The windows have been replaced with more efficient ones, and we face straight west....which is fine right now, but a bitch in the summertime.

The city composts and recycles. It works.

[CreekDog]

9. Amazing what can be done when it is tried!

[limpyhobbler]

4. ok but just don't try to take my plastic grocery bags away.

just kidding you can take 'em.

[PDJane]

6. Good. I have canvas ones....one of them emblazoned with the DU logo.

[CreekDog]

8. I think they should become 5 cent or 10 cent deposit eligible

just like bottles and cans, etc.

people would still have them, but there would be money in recycling them.

it would be a start.

but i'll be fine with plastic bag bans, though they seem somewhat incomplete where i've seen them.

[DonRedwood]

18. in the 90s switzerland passed a law that the plastic had to be biodegradable. we could do that too

our garbage bags are biodegradable but they are kind of spendy (and they decompose too fast in the summer...we've had them fall apart in the can before....)

[Rain Mcloud]

7. Lets see here 13 watts versus 60 watts,10,000-15,000 hour life versus 600-2000 hour incandescent.

Seems a no-brainer.
Pity that the LED lights are not quite ready for prime time.
The Tesla style HID lights which use a transmitter seem promising however,with an estimated 200,000+ hour lifespan.
However short of some miracle break through in research for Carbon Dioxide and Methane and CFC(Chlorofluorocarbon) Sequestration Technology,it seems just a little too little and too late to do much good.

I am rather afraid the Sulphide based bacteria in the world's oceans are going to get enough foothold to poison the atmosphere and exacerbate what we have done already by burning the forests from the dawn of time for cheap energy.
Re breathers,anyone?

[CreekDog]

13. Oh, I know an old fashioned and natural way to do carbon sequestration!

restoring and building wetlands.

works!

[kentauros]

10. I can't remember if I have ANY incandescents here.

I know I had to use them at one time in a lighting fixture over my sink (I live in an apartment with "questionable" wiring) but it doesn't seem to be burning them out any longer. (Just checked and they are still incandescent, so I'll be replacing them this week.) That fixture had actually burnt out several CFLs, so I put the cheaper bulbs back in. I may have just had a bad batch of CFLs, too.

Every other fixture I have is fitted with CFLs (daylight kind) except for one desk-lamp halogen I've had for fifteen years or so (IKEA brand.) It doesn't get used much, so that's why it's lasted so long

Oh, here's a cool site for all kinds of energy-saving lighting and lighting kits for y'all

[arikara]

11. I get where you are going with this...

but I think there are better windmills to tilt at. We still use incandescent bulbs and we stocked up on them. We have a very small power bill and minimal power consumption because we do other sensible things like hang our clothes to dry instead of using the dryer. We do keep the lights off when they are not in use although a useful by product of the incandescent bulb for this time of year is heat and many low income people living in apartments will be missing them if they didn't have the means to stock up.

I'm not trying to be rude but honestly I feel no shame in using them, at least they can be safely disposed of without damaging the water table, unlike the toxic mercury filled florescents. And I can see with them, unlike the weird light from the expensive LED's.

Maybe this storm is due to global warming, but my theory is that Mother Earth is pissed off at the way people have been fouling their nest and behaving badly towards her and her other residents, and she is trying to clean herself off.

I hope if you are in the path that you and your family keep safe!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Leds are getting better by the day.

Home Depot carries a 6 inch recessed retro-fit Cree that is every bit as good as incandescent.

Still a little pricey but that is getting better. We did 25 of them in our house at 39 bucks apiece. They are down to 29 bucks now.

The price makes more sense when building out new fixtures in new construction or remodeling when you would have to spend $6 - 10 dollars for a trim ring and $5 or 6 bucks for a good halogen bulb. Even better in a bath/shower as they are wet area rated and wet trim kits get pricey (20ish bucks).

I've installed close to 100 in client's/friend's homes since we did ours.

Our conversion bill was a bit high but it was done as part of an energy overhaul (insulation, sealing etc.) and a friend paid for most of the lights as a gift for housing him while unemployed so that was nice. We took out total available lighting wattage from around 2400 down to 400 for the entire house (that included some display/spot lights etc.).

Current project - basement bedroom:


Our kitchen (crappy photo):



Friend's kitchen:

[reformist2]

12. I still use nothing but incandescents. I'll save energy *my* way, thank you very much.

[CreekDog]

14. you're not welcome

[Luminous Animal]

20. It's always refreshing to see people make it "all about them" instead of addressing

the importance of a national policy to solve a very deadly and important issue.


That was sarcasm, by the way.

[reformist2]

23. LOL! But you will not get my old-school light bulbs!!!

[tech3149]

16. Boy did you start a shitstorm!

I'm not really sure what your point was but seriously who is stupid enough to pay more for utilities than they need to?
I started using CFL's when they first became available. Some of them truly sucked and I still have them in use. I was able to cut my electric bill to no more than $30 a month and generally about $12. I had to move in with my parents to care for them and my old man couldn't stand CFL's, or so he thought. I started changing out incandescent to CFL's and cut the electric bill by 20% within a few months. The biggest drain now is that damned electric water heater.

[CreekDog]

19. i like your post, but actually, I didn't create a storm

because most people here are agreeing with the concept.

[backscatter712]

22. You're preaching to the choir here.

Switching my lights to CFLs saved me a good chunk of change from my electric bills.