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Stocking up on Incandescent Bulbs.


rubberdinghy

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Yeah yeah...they are bad for the environment blah blah blah.

What's the story? Should I be stocking up? They are going to be banned soon eh?

I'm most worried about my XMAS lights. I like the incandies instead of the LED's. Canadian Tire's still got them. I may just buy boxes and boxes

PS. I also don't have an outside plug so I run a gasoline generator just to keep them running night and day.

KIDDING!

but seriously, are they gonna be gone soon?

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Well, energy efficient bulbs are not a healthy alternative since they are loaded with harmful mercury and UV radiation. They are also tough to recycle and thus toxins will leak into the soil when they are thrown out. My militant treehugger wife is not an endorser of CFLs (compact flourescent lights) either. Stock up on the old bulbs.

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I started stocking up on incandescent bulbs earlier this year. I can't stand the light that CLF's give off and Christine witnessed one explode and burn at her parent's place. I don't know for sure if they're being banned but they don't seem to be stocking as much of them at stores these days.

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I started stocking up on incandescent bulbs earlier this year. I can't stand the light that CLF's give off and Christine witnessed one explode and burn at her parent's place. I don't know for sure if they're being banned but they don't seem to be stocking as much of them at stores these days.

They aren't being banned, but there's lots of controversy surrounding the government-endorsed switchover.

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My understanding is that initially you'll see the availability of 100 watt incandescent bulbs drop. (early 2012) by the end of the year the 60 watt bulb will be hard to find. There are ome great LED alternatived being developed but the cost about 10 times as much to purchase. The upside is that they last for ten thousand hours and draw a quarter of the energy.

Here's a neat article on the development of LED bulbs in

Wired Magazine

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Working in municipal recreation, I just learned this morning that I am to host an LED light exchange this Xmas. Efficiency Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power have sent me a list of common questions that you guys might find rather, well, illuminating (sorry). Unfortunately, it doesn't touch on the issues Jaimoe brought up, and I was kind of hoping it would. Anyway, might help with Dinghy's decision making.

"1. Why should I switch to LED Holiday lights / Why are LEDs better than traditional lights?

LED (Light Emitting Diodes) holiday lights are a better choice than traditional lights because they:

• Are more energy efficient.

• Use 90% less electricity than traditional glass holiday lights.

• Last at least 10 times longer than traditional bulbs.

• Produce very little heat, reducing the risk of fires

• Contain no glass, making them durable and safe.

2. How long will they last?

LED lights last at least 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. Some manufacturers rate the bulbs for up to 20 years. (They often have a rated lifespan of up to 100,000 hours, and typical holiday usage is about 200 hours per year.)

3. How often do I have to replace the bulbs?

LED lights are permanently attached in their sockets and are not changeable. However, if one LED fails, the others still work.

4. Where can I buy them, and how much do they cost?

LED holiday lights are widely available at local major department stores, hardware stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. Each LED set costs approximately $10 - $12 on average. Sets vary in string length, bulb size and colours (some even change colour) and costs will vary, so shop around.

5. What is the LED Holiday Light Exchange program?

The LED Holiday Light Exchange program is sponsored by Efficiency Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power to encourage the use of energy efficient holiday lighting. Residents bring two strings of traditional glass holiday lights for free recycling to tree lighting ceremonies across the province and receive one string of LED holiday lights in return – a gift from Nova Scotia Power and Efficiency Nova Scotia to help you on your way to energy savings. Please note that quantities are limited, based on a first-come, first-served basis; one LED set per person.

6. How long has the program been running & what has it accomplished?

The program began in 2005 with six exchanges and has grown every year, with 91 exchanges being held in communities around the province this year.

Some of the successes we’ve seen in the past include:

• 156,000 people have attended the light exchanges

• 38,220 sets of LED lights have been given out to replace old inefficient holiday lights

• Enough energy has been saved to power 135 homes

• The emission of 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases has been prevented

7. Does it cost anything to exchange my old lights for the LED lights?

The LED Holiday Light Exchange program is completely free. For bringing in two strings of traditional glass holiday lights, you will receive one free string of LED holiday lights in return – a gift to help you on your way to energy savings.

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If I may clear up some confusion:

LED bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs are not the same thing.

The compact fluorescent bulbs are the ones containing the toxins such as mercury.

LED bulbs contain harmless light-emitting diodes.

The future looks bright - with advances in LED bulb technology, the compact fluorescent bulbs will soon be on their way out.

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I am often dismayed by the attitude that the consumers of energy are more at fault for the way the electricity is being produced when alternative technologies exist and could easily be proliferated worldwide in a few short years.

International climate treaties, 'targets' and still no large scale infrastructure spending and alottment for R&D...unless I missed the geothermal electricity plants that could be built anywhere for example (or more specifically, a lack of examples that would shoot down my perspective and lead us to not 'have' (barf) to change to toxic fluorescents to 'save the planet'.

Considering that large scale industrial agriculture is far more energy intensive and wasteful than incandescent bulbs, then where's the new law banning potatoes, wheat, and ethanol fuel?

I have a couple of full spectrum CFL bulbs from Verilux and I really like them but I still prefer incandescent lights. LEDs flicker and are still expensive. I'll try them but not until they're priced within reach.

If we actually move to ban incandescents I'll be buying cases of lightbulbs. I can't buy into the farce that climate change is my fault when there's still a significant demand for electricity outside of residential use. I wonder how much things will change when people start driving electric cars en

masse.

How much 'fossil fuel' is burned when we do a google search?

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We'll there a whole lot of folks on the planet and if they all make incremental change, the effect can be large.

For example the EEEEE has calculated that "The potential energy savings 'of phasing out incandescent light bulbs' are 10 billion Euros per year in Europe alone, along with 25 million tonnes of CO2. Globally, these savings are roughly four to five times. "

They go on to say "There is also a striking unbalance between the amount of electricity used by incandescent bulbs, their sales volumes and the work they actually perform: Incandescent bulbs consume 25 % of all electricity used for lighting in the world, but they only produce 4 % of all electric light. This is despite the fact that they represent 2/3 of all global lamp sales!

Huge savings can thus be made in the way we are lighting our offices, roads, shops and factories. It would be a real shame, if we let our nostalgia for a century-old, inefficient bulb, obscure the need to switch to more energy efficient technologies."

Now this article is four years out of date, but its points are still valid. For real research and development to occur, there needs to be a market. Thats what these regulations have done. They are creating demand wich will spur inovation. Supply & demand are what the market economy is all about. I'm all for leveraging the good parts of capitalism and consumerism to make some headway towards resolving our environmental issues.

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CFL bulbs are a false economy in terms of dollar value and energy efficiency.

First of all, it's not enough to calculate the lumens produced per Watt consumed during use. You have to consider the entire life cycle of the bulb.

Manufacturing CFL bulbs is much more energy intensive than incandescent ones - and each bulb has its own mini electronic ballast. The mercury in each CFL is bad enough, but consider the manufacturing process of all of those little circuit boards. Plus, when one dies, if you are a good environmental citizen you don't throw it out. So what do you do - drive somewhere to dispose of it? And what does the person you brought it to do? Ship it to china on a boat to be "disassembled" - and do they recapture the heavy metals or just take the pricey bits out and chuck the rest in their own landfill?

You also have to consider functional life. These packages with their sky high life ratings are selling misinformation. CFL bulbs get dimmer over time, and when they fail completely, it is not a simple matter of a filament wearing out - any number of parts in the bulb can fail and cause the entire thing to stop working. Worse, these ratings are based on continuous use - every time you turn one of these off-and-on it shortens the functional life. So you can only trust the quoted lifespan under perfect conditions and only if the bulb is never turned off.

CFL makes some sense for applications where the lights are on all the time. For most houses though, it is actually a better environmental and financial choice to stick with incandescent bulbs and simply turn the lights off when you don't need light!

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