What did they expect?
A bit back, the nanny-state busy-bodies in congress passed a law prohibiting the sale of incandescent light bulbs to make hippies and Al Gore feel better or something. Some us stocked up on pre-ban bulbs. This sounds like a great idea, unless you work at a factory that makes the old light bulbs.
September 9th, 2010 at 9:32 am
This sounds like a great idea, unless you work at a factory that makes the old light bulbs.
Also if you want your kid to do her homework under a reasonable light. Wadda.
I have a very small prescription for nearsightness, only need glasses to drive. My ophtalmologist says it it is environmental. Poor lighting while reading and writing when I was young.
September 9th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Does anyone know how to get involved to stop this idiocy? This is the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing. If I heard about it back then I would have thought it a joke.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:16 am
and
Hmmm. I wonder if the two facts are related.
Of course, if the .gov didn’t see this coming before they passed the law, then they’re really stupid. What’s really disturbing is the fact that I can’t tell if they’re really that stupid, or if they just don’t care, and that I could easily believe either one.
September 9th, 2010 at 11:12 am
And now, LEDs are fast replacing CFLs as the light of choice. Maybe the old incandescent folks can move over to LEDs….
September 9th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Yote, its too late. This legislation was adopted awhile ago as part of a Democratic faux environmentalism/energy bill.
Jake, they don’t care.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Environmentalism: legislate a tungsten bulb out of existence. Put a mercury-based bulb in its place. Scold us if we don’t dispose of them properly.
September 9th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
GE supported the “incandescent ban”, as back when it was being debated they had plans to produce high-efficiency incandescents that could produce up to 60 lumens-per-watt. Even at that time the writing was on the wall for the current light-bulb manufacturing places, new investment in the new tooling needed for the new bulbs would take place in facilities with better access to reliable power and less expensive labor. February 2007 is when they announced it, but by October ’08 people had ferreted out that when GE restructured a year earlier they had dropped that research thinking development of even more efficient LED lighing would give better ROI.
If you like the light of incandescents there will still be halogen and other higher-efficiency incandescent lamps that fit your current sockets. Currently they cost about 10 times as much and give only about twice the expected average lifespan. That’s still pretty good in convenience factor for things such as relatively inaccessable outdoor lights on electronic switches.