$700 for light bulbs

[RWebb]

Looks like this belongs in PARF


BTW - IIRC, you will still be able to buy halogen bulbs in 3 years, and any specialty light bulbs are exempt (candlabra, etc.).

[emcon5]

Remember, those eco-friendly compact florescent bulbs have mercury in them.

You know, for the planet, or something.

[RWebb]

that's why you recycle them, hot rod

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by RWebb

that's why you recycle them, hot rod

I'm sure everybody will follow the government disposal rules.

Oh well...won't be my problem. I stockpiled the lights I like. !

[Aurel]

LEDS are the future, not those twisty fluorescent bulbs. They are still a bit pricey, but prices will go down as people buy more. 12W for the equivalent of a 65 W bulb, very bright white light, 30,000 hours lifetime. 60 bucks. I got one for the kitchen. The Porsche of lightbulbs .

[pwd72s]

when/if my bulbs are gone, I'm hoping LED technology will have advanced, and price has declined dramatically...

[lm6y]

FWIW, Used motor oil is GREAT to pour around fence posts. Kills the grass DEAD. Cuts a lot of time of of weedeating. Soak the new posts in it before you set them in concrete also. Keeps them from rotting.

Cataclysmic converters are going for around $85 at most scrap yards around here. I sold a few today for that.

[EarlyPorsche]

CFL bulbs are not only terrible at lighting they are terrible for the environment. Law makers are not handymen and have no idea the details of what they did with this one.

"Oh look burns less energy - so its the best choice lets go with it." --little do they know that all those bulbs will go out with ordinary trash and our kids will have 19 toes because of it...mercury is not safe folks...

[Schumi]

The house I'm renting came with nothing but CFL's. Hate them. The thing I'm noticing with them is that they take time to 'warm up' - at least these do. They start out really dim, especiall when I come home at night and flip on the living room lights- I can't even read. 5 minutes later and I notice they are up to par.

LED lighting is where it's at- they can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors- not just that shetty white- I need WARM light, not that white white CFL's put off. Hurts my head. LED's can be colored easily, so as to be warm yellow.

The sun is not white, neither should indoor lighting be IMO.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

CFLs suck - the lighting quality is terrible, they're an environmental disaster, they're all made in China (in addition to the trade deficit implications, think of the embodied energy of transportation/distribution), they take a long time to warm up, etc.

However they do pencil out for me in terms of life-cycle cost savings so I've switched everything over to them for now. LEDs still do not (best price I could find was about $60 per bulb, which is still far too expensive to realize a life-cycle cost benefit).

As time goes on I suspect LEDs will become far better in terms of the lighting quality (it's already improving) and eventually the costs will drop to the point where they'll start being viable. I don't expect this to happen for a few years though. Until then I'll use the CFLs.

For very specialized applications (like exterior security floodlights that I have on motion sensors) I have a stock of incandescents. For applications like that I simply can't wait for a CFL to warm up - I need the light right then and there.

The whole "green economy" is a joke. It's based on hugely falsified numbers and manipulated perceptions. The core concept of trying to encourage sustainable and ecologically-sensible thinking is valid, but the execution is being botched horribly by the interests most connected to it (and government, predictably).

[Schumi]

One thing to note about the CFL's are the robustness... At my old house we had really crap electric- bad wiring, bad transformer, lots of voltage spikes and whatnot when different things kicked on in the house. I had CFL bulbs in my room but still had big globe incandescent bulbs in the bathroom for bright shaving light.

I went through 3 bathroom light bulbs in the 2 years I lived in that house. However never once did a CFL burn out. So if I would have bought a CFL in the beginning for my bathroom, it would have about paid for itself in those 2 years. Of course, I wouldn't have had my nice bright early morning shaving light.

[Rot 911]

I tried to be Green, but switched back when I noticed that the supposed "5 year" CFL's didn't last any longer than an incandescent bulb did. What I saved in electricity, I more than spent on replacement bulbs.

[JavaBrewer]

I am running halogen bulbs in most of our downstairs can lights. They throw a very warm light and work well with a dimmer. I also have a ton of those halogen puck lights in the kitchen cabinets. I'm sure I would save $$ going with CFL but frankly I can't STAND them and I'm very sensitive to florescent flicker. Good lighting is important to me and many visitors comment that our home feels so relaxing - it's the lights folks.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

I tried to be Green, but switched back when I noticed that the supposed "5 year" CFL's didn't last any longer than an incandescent bulb did. What I saved in electricity, I more than spent on replacement bulbs.

I put a date of purchase and save the receipt, then take them back for exchange - some do fail early, others don't.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

I tried to be Green, but switched back when I noticed that the supposed "5 year" CFL's didn't last any longer than an incandescent bulb did. What I saved in electricity, I more than spent on replacement bulbs.

CFL's have some dark side to them and are not a Panacea.

Some things to consider with CFL's:

1-If the light is switched on/off often, they will fail early

2-The 5 year life is based on 8000 hours or 4 hours of use per day

3-When installed, some folks tend to use the bulb part to tighten it into the fixture. This has the potential to create a microscopic crack that leads to an early light fatality. Hold it by the solid (non-glass base) to tighten.

[72doug2,2S]

We could still get these on the black market, no? Could be a new business venture.

[RWebb]

Once the price goes up, they will be worth thousands. People will try to ply Paul with wine & cheese, begging him for his vintage light bulbs. But Paul will sell them for a small price to a guy in Turkey who appreciates them for what they are, in part just to keep the beautiful rare light bulbs away from people who think of them only as status symbols.

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

I am running halogen bulbs...- it's the lights folks.

I recently remodeled and bought floor & table lamps also - have dimmable halogen bulbs in everything. They supposedly have a long life and the light quality, to my eye, is the same as incandescents. Have CFL in the garage only - couldn't live with them in the house.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Once the price goes up, they will be worth thousands. People will try to ply Paul with wine & cheese, begging him for his vintage light bulbs. But Paul will sell them for a small price to a guy in Turkey who appreciates them for what they are, in part just to keep the beautiful rare light bulbs away from people who think of them only as status symbols.

exactly! (edit) Evidently CFL's are already law in Germany...an expatriot friend living there recently wrote of a great flea market "find"...two "real" light bulbs.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by DARISC

I recently remodeled and bought floor & table lamps also - have dimmable halogen bulbs in everything. They supposedly have a long life and the light quality, to my eye, is the same as incandescents. Have CFL in the garage only - couldn't live with them in the house.

CFLs are worth it in fixtures that are on several hours a day - I put 3 CFLs and 1 halogen in a 4 bulb fixture - no issues

we will all be happier when the LEDs get a little brighter & a lot cheaper