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How many politicians does it take to change a lightbulb?
Or in fact, all the lightbulbs
Don't get me wrong, I like energy saver globes where appropriate, but I can't read by them, the light isn't good enough. And before you suggest putting in a brighter globe, when I moved in here we discovered that putting 100w globes inbew them within minutes, the wiring isn't designed for it.
So I use a mixture of energy saving and incandescents. I don't think that being forced to change to something which will require me somehow - lack of powerpoints plus load on any one powerpoint being a factor - to plug in another appliance seems somewhat counter productive to me.
*grumble*
If they imrpove the technology and/or take into account these not so little issues then maybe it would be more practical.
Don't get me wrong, I like energy saver globes where appropriate, but I can't read by them, the light isn't good enough. And before you suggest putting in a brighter globe, when I moved in here we discovered that putting 100w globes inbew them within minutes, the wiring isn't designed for it.
So I use a mixture of energy saving and incandescents. I don't think that being forced to change to something which will require me somehow - lack of powerpoints plus load on any one powerpoint being a factor - to plug in another appliance seems somewhat counter productive to me.
*grumble*
If they imrpove the technology and/or take into account these not so little issues then maybe it would be more practical.
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i think its a cheap attempt to pretend to give a fuck.
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I think implementation has not been thought out as yet. Particualrly given they seem to be wnating ti do it on a tighter time scale than the California legislation it's based off.
Cheap maybe not the word - going to cost some light companies a lot of money... And a fuckload of inconvenience.
I do approve of encouraging their use, but they aren't always the viable option.
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Cheap = cheap publicity for the Hypnotoad, without actually having to do anything because everyone will go "what, no, that's dumb"
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There is that. But if everyone says it's dumb isn't that counterproductive?
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I'd prefer to see them introduce compulsory use of green electricity for a designatred percentage of every household's power bill or some sort of equivalent there.
I'd have at least waited to see how it was going in the pilot before trying to replicate it.
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Same story with water-usage (I have to admit that I take much shorter showers these days and have a bucket on the bottom of the bath, but I'm still yet to changing to a flow-restricted shower-rose).
Yes, residential usage is not the full picture and industry has to change as well...but burying your head in the sand and refusing to do anything "because industry doesn't" is a huge cop-out. It's easier to spout conspiracy theories and crank-up the air-conditioner. *sigh*
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I've got sod all water pressure in my flat at the best of times - shared water meter I think is the issue - a water saving shower hea would reduce it to a trickle I fear (side note).
I do take your point but I still think that the green energy switch would be more effective, but that's too much like actual hard work for the government to put in.
Oh trust me I know, I used to work for the department that got all the complaints about it and refusing to do anything because industry didn't blah blah, blah blah, *sigh*
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The compact fluorescent globes use a fraction of the power. When CFs are rated at "100W", they mean equivalent to a conventional incandescent globe rated at 100 watts...in reality, it's more like 20-25W. With an incandescent light-globe, the other 75-80W is wasted as heat (great for greenhouses or incubating/raising chooks from eggs, though).
That's the whole idea -- you can light a small house to the same brightness for the electricity load you'd previously spent lighting just one room.
One thing compact fluorescent globes don't play nice with is 99% of dimmer-switches. It takes some complicated electronics to dim them safely/properly (or have them work at all if installed with such a switch in the circuit). Are you sure this isn't the case?
If they imrpove the technology and/or take into account these not so little issues then maybe it would be more practical.
If you want to see efficient technology in use to save power and money, look at what they're trialling in America -- whole car-parks lit by high-power LEDs. They're even more efficient than fluorescent strip-lighting when you factor-in the cost of lighting such a huge area for 8-12 hours every day. Councils mightn't care about the pollution of power-generation, but they like the idea of saving millions yearly on their electricity-bill.
I can understand the complaint that they don't fit into tiny lampshades where a "fancy round" globe would normally go)...this has been partially solved so far by the small, spiraled design...but they'll need to shrink things further in some cases. It's nice to see that CFs now come in small-bayonet-cap and small-Edison-screw fittings, too.
IIRC, they're not resistant to extremes of temperature for use as lights in refrigerators or ovens (the base of the globe has a plastic casing and contains electronic components...incandescent light-globes have a metal and solid ceramic base). Refrigerator and oven globes are a special size/type anyway, so there's no conflict...especially since they're only used for a few seconds at a time.
To return to your main point, though: if you're concerned about CF globes not working properly in your home and don't think it's a dimmer-switch at fault, then I advise you to get your home's wiring and meter-box checked...something is FUBAR, and that makes it dangerous. eg: a handyman has installed a power-point and swapped the Active and Neutral wires. Most 240VAC appliances won't complain, but it will cause the occasional one to hiccup. It's potentially deadly.
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The LED idea is neat. And nod re the reasons for changing to them, but oh well.
As for the globe size, I have to remove the lightshades in my ceiling to use the compacts but eh, that's not too much of an issue. Also, do the spiral design ones come in the higher cpacities? I thought I'd looked - awhile abcka dmittedly, I ahven't needed globes in awhile - and they seemed to come in the lower brightnesses only, probably designed for lamps etc, rather than for me to put in the ceiling to accomodate a shallow shade.
Interesting points. As I said, I'm not compeltely against them, but thus far I haven't found it to be practical to swap all my globes over. I'll try it and see as they blow if the 100w equivalents are useful - I now have more hope that they might be at least.
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I'm gradually replacing the globes throughout my home. As each old incandescent one dies, I buy a CF globe to replace it. Gradual change-over, so I don't feel like I'm chucking out something that's still good, and it's easier on the wallet. I know that they work-out heaps cheaper in the long-run, but the setup cost can be high (which is why people are waiting for the price of LED lighting to fall before it starts to catch-on for use in homes and shops).
I think you touched on an interesting point elsewhere, too. The cost of converting puts people off, and sometimes they don't see the direct/immediate benefit of it.
This is a rental property, so the owners don't see any benefit investing in CF globes, solar hot-water, efficient insulation, etc. eg: if this place had good insulation, I'd be laughing in summer and halve my heating bill in winter...but the typical rental owner's POV is "Why bother paying for all that stuff when only the tenant sees the benefit?"
The CF globe in my lounge is 20W (replacing a 100W incandescent bulb)...it's a few months old and I think they only recently started making the small/spiral type that powerful. The old/large style was too bulky to fit inside the glass cover.
HTH.
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It's also fantastic for craft lamps - you can have a bright, daylight-spectrum craft lamp equivalent to a 100W bulb in a small desklamp fitting rated to 40W ... because it's really only 25W.
The economics also work out, particularly with California making the change - white LED lamps are even more efficient than fluoros and will work with conventional dimmer switches. What they really need is massive economies of scale.
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I hadn't thought much about the conversion but now that I have I'm going to try the 100W equivalents in my living room etc where I had kept using incandescents for brightness factors.
I have notied a difference in my power bill, yes. The LED stuff I'm defintiely interested in.
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The LED lights are still way pricey, and the "white" spectrum is a bit weird. But expect to see LED-based lightbulbs in the next ten years.
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