Screwed by the Govt. again!

[Rot 911]

More govt. regulation that screws the consumer.

Went to Lowes last night to get a new ceiling fan. Noticed that all of them now only use the candelabra (small) base light bulbs. I ask why. They say new govt. regulation. ****ing great. I do a quick google search and sure enough find this:

The law is the Energy Policy Act of 2005, PL 109-058, commonly called EPACT 2005. Leaving aside the fact that the bill provides huge financial incentives to oil companies and does nothing to reduce dependence on oil imports, I want to point out a largely overlooked provision of the bill: regulation of ceiling fans.

EPACT prohibits manufacture or import after January 1, 2007, of ceiling fans or lighting kits that do not include bulbs. The bulbs must be of the new compact fluorescent type. That certainly sounds like an energy-conserving measure.

But wait–some fan light fixtures have small candelabra size sockets rather than standard size sockets, and you can’t buy compact fluorescents in that size. So the bill allows the use of incandescent bulbs if the fixture uses candelabra sockets.

Hmm, say the fan manufacturers. If we use standard size sockets, we have to ship compact fluorescent bulbs, which are expensive and contain mercury and are not dimmable (unless we ship the even more expensive dimmable ones, which don’t work all that well yet). But if we simply switch to the candelabra base–even though candelabra bulbs are even more wasteful than regular incandescent bulbs–we can ship the cheap and easy incandescent bulbs.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Ridiculous. Want to save energy? Fine, deregulate the utility companies and let them start charging five bucks a kilowatt for electricity. You'd see sustainable choices being made by people wit' a quickness.

Of course that'll never happen. Big Brother knows what's best for you and will do your thinking for you from here on out, right? Where's that puke emoticon?

[RickM]

I agree...candelabra bulbs are expensive, burn out quickly and, comparatively speaking, offer poor lighting.

FWIW, dimmable CFLs are dynamite. The examples I have work very well and were less that $2 per bulb. I have 12 installed and 12 more ready to go in.

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by RickM

...candelabra bulbs are expensive, burn out quickly and, comparatively speaking, offer poor lighting.

Liberace is spinning in his grave!

[thrown_hammer]

Can't you just pay to have your carbon credits offset?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

But wait–some fan light fixtures have small candelabra size sockets rather than standard size sockets, and you can’t buy compact fluorescents in that size.

That's not true. I have some CFL bulbs at home that came with the small size threads and an adapter to adapt them up to the larger (normal) size threads. I got them at HD this summer.

[island911]

Yes, but what you guys are missing is that those cheap CFL's are not dimmable. So now we only have to think "on" or "off" ...no more having to adjust brightness.

It's a binary world, doncha know . .. get with the times.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Originally Posted by RickM

I agree...candelabra bulbs are expensive, burn out quickly and, comparatively speaking, offer poor lighting.

FWIW, dimmable CFLs are dynamite. The examples I have work very well and were less that $2 per bulb. I have 12 installed and 12 more ready to go in.

Rick, where did you find dimmable CFL's for $2? I need lots.
I recently remodeled the house and put electronic dimmers everywhere. I am swiching to all CFL's and cannot find cheap dimmables. The standard CFL's either will not turn on with electronic switches or when they do light, they buzz and will not dim.

At first I hated the slow start of the CFL's when you hit the switch, now I expect it and like it - easier on the eyes when you wake up in the middle of the night to take care of the kids.

[RickM]

Here you go: http://cgi.ebay.com/12-DIMMABLE-Compact-Fluorescent-Light-Bulbs-15w-75w-cfl_W0QQitemZ230217869160

The seller, 6801goodbuy, delivers quickly via Priority mail and told me he would exchange any bad bulbs if they didn't work correctly out of the box.

I have to agree, the slow start is desirable in many situations.

BTW, this guy's prices fluctuate. Sometimes 75W bulbs are more expensive than 100W, sometimes not.

Edit: Link corrected...thanks Island.

[cgarr]

Wait till you go shopping for a new toilet, I think they only use a pint of water now?

[gr8fl4porsche]

Originally Posted by RickM

I have to agree, the slow start is desirable in many situations.

Especially in the bathroom where I have multiple 100's in action to really light the place up for grooming.

Thanks for the tip

[island911]

CO₂ emissions down / Mercury emissions up. --ain't it grand?

But at least they buzz, work terrible in cold weather, and have a very narrow color temp.

Rick, those aren't dimmable.

[RickM]

Mercury is very minimal and will be disposed of properly. The bulbs I'm using don't buzz. I believe inexpensive/older dimmer switches are often the culprit. I am very satisfied with their performance.

Thanks for the heads up on the auction. Link corrected.

PS: if you look at all the sellers auctions you'll notice that he uses different pricing schemes. Some are much less costly than others.

[island911]

CFL's are seriously flawed . . .but I don't have too much issue about that.

What does piss me off is that this (half-baked) technology being PUSHED with laws/regulations. ...from private-jet compound-hopping politicians.

[Bill Verburg]

I installed a Panasonic FV-11VHL1 when I redid a bathroom this summer. As far as I'm concerned it's perfect, you can't hear the fan, there is a back draft falp on the duct, there's a 4 watt nite lite and the 2 x13w fluorescents throw a very pleasing light

[jyl]

Where did you get them?

I searched for dimmable CFLs a year ago and they were too expensive. Glad to hear things have changed.

Originally Posted by RickM

I agree...candelabra bulbs are expensive, burn out quickly and, comparatively speaking, offer poor lighting.

FWIW, dimmable CFLs are dynamite. The examples I have work very well and were less that $2 per bulb. I have 12 installed and 12 more ready to go in.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by jyl

Where did you get them?

I searched for dimmable CFLs a year ago and they were too expensive. Glad to hear things have changed.

John: See my Ebay link above.

Island: I agree, not perfect but the best contender in my mind. LEDs would be nice but their light is too directional, brash and they're dimming challenged as well. While they last a long time and use a small amount of energy the cost is still prohibitive.

[island911]

FWIW, the directionality of LED's is in the lens.... generally the lens is designed 'spot' or 'flood' -both directional. The are dimmable, though not thru voltage levels (like typical dimmer control) but can be pulsed for brightness control.

As to "fluorescents throw a very pleasing light" .... are you kidding? More like a seizure inducing mono-chromatic strobe light.

[jyl]

Some people have subjective objections to CFLs, specifically to the light quality. Fine, but realize it is subjective - YMMV.

I have "warm" light CFLs in about half the rooms of my house, and the light quality is perfectly fine - subjectively to me.

Thanks for the pointer to the dimmable CFLs, Rick.

[john70t]

Also notice that living room fans/lights often only have two candelabra sockets, so to get any light in a large room you have to use 2x60W bulbs....in the smaller candelabra base. Yeah right, no fire hazard there.

I've been looking for a 4-bulb standard light and/or fan but can't find any. Use one 15W or 40W incandescent for fast startup and color spectrum, and the rest 9W or 11W florescents for savings. Lots of diffused light for ~60W.