Siegfried Rotthaeuser and his brother-in-law have come up with a legal way of importing and distributing 75 and 100 watt light bulbs — by producing them in China, importing them as “small heating devices” and selling them as “heatballs.”
To improve energy efficiency, the EU has banned the sale of bulbs of over 60 watts — to the annoyance of the mechanical engineer from the western city of Essen.
Rotthaeuser studied EU legislation and realized that because the inefficient old bulbs produce more warmth than light — he calculated heat makes up 95 percent of their output, and light just 5 percent — they could be sold legally as heaters.
Just in time for winter…
“… producing them in China…”
You can always count in the Chinese to disregard any and all green edicts for the almighty dollar.
Funny, that used to be said of America…. 🙂
Thanks to this article, Mr Rotthaeuser will now be getting a not-so-pleasant visit from the Euro-state.
It looks increasingly like all that happened after WW2 was those black SS uniforms were just put in storage until things calmed down, and the time was right. Anyone else feel like that?
“Just in time for winter…” Coldest winter in 1000 years? This should tick off the Greenland Inuit tour bus driver we had in Copenhagen in September. He was hoping that Global Warming would allow the Greenlanders to grow crops again like they did 1000 years ago.
Yup.Let’s get rid of them eeeeevilll incadescents,which require are bit more energy,and replace ’em with mercury filled twistys.Ummmmmmmm. CO2 supports ALL life on this ball of rock,and mercury KILLS it all. Good choice,Euro-weenies.
Too be fair,PMSH still hasn’t repealed our stupid ban an incadescents,due in 2012 (heh…..I’m stocked up for at least 35 yrs so far)
Let me predict here. Europe will have the coldest winter in 1,000 years, hundreds will freeze to death, and the AGW troofers will still say afterwards:
“It would have been even worse except that man-made global warming kept the climate warmer than it should have been. We must fight global warming.” (unsaid) so that the next coldest winter in 1,000 years claims THOUSANDS of lives.
I truly wish the Eurolander Warmistas freeze their eco-grifting patooties off this winter.
The longer, the harsher, the colder the better. May all their windmills freeze and stop spinning, their solar panels freeze & crack like pond ice and their people and industries suffer.
Why?
So these morons will wake up and and realize they have been conned from the get go and it is time to boot the morons from the decision making seats they now occupy.
C’mpn winter in Euroland . . do yer frik’n best.
Maybe, if it does turn out to be really bad, really cold, we could introduce them to the 40 below club.
Wake up? Unlikely. The typical European protest starts with shutting down the gas lines.
Can someone post a link to the legislation banning Incandescents? Neither my MP nor MPP has heard of it.
ta.
LOL love the way he manuvered around the leftards loopy legislation. I’ve got incandescent light bulbs stuffed in every drawer and book case, I’m not surrendering my light bulbs to the econuts or the leftards.
Viggen they’ve been banned by the Feds thus call your MP again.
The viggen, (is this from Saab? I had 3, loved them.) It seems to have started in Canada from Ontario, I don’t know where you are so…. start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs
Canada banned incadescents?
Is this the same Canada that has an overall average temperature of -3 Celcius during half of the year?
In all but high summer, anything that pumps heat into my home is good, because it makes my carbon-emission belching furnace work less. (This assumes I bought into the whole eco-warming thing anyway)…
The EnviroNazis will add a few degees to the temperature record and be claiming by spring that it was a warm winter and that the North pole ice melted to a clear water state.
I love the clever marketing saavy of Siegfried Rotthaeuser.
I hope he and his broder-in-law get rich.
Is it just me, or are the twisty bulbs burning out as fast as the incandescent ones?
Btw, 17C right now in delta bc, and the rhodos are blooming for the second time this year.
but, but, but isn’t the lopsidedness in output types the reason the incandescent type were banned in the first place? LOL !!!
time to stock up on some more trusty old Sylvanias !!!
Here’s the kicker right here, from the article: “because the inefficient old bulbs produce more warmth than light — he calculated heat makes up 95 percent of their output, and light just 5 percent”
Only God may know why you people insist on championing these outdated pieces of crap. There are a lot better ways of heating space than with incandescent bulbs, and, well, I don’t think I need to say anything regarding their effectiveness at producing light.
From “Coldest winter in 1000 years”;
“…polish scientists…”
Isn’t that some kind of oxymoron?
BTJ:
One of the more elegant ways of heating a small area (a cabinet, for instance) in an unheated barn, toolshed, or garage, is to string a light fixture into it. Great when you don’t want the contents to freeze in winter.
When compact fluorescents are as versatile as GOF tungsten-filament bulbs, then it’s time to make the wholesale change. Until then, use the best bulb for the job.
Is it just me, or are the twisty bulbs burning out as fast as the incandescent ones?
They certainly don’t last as long as advertised, or nearly long enough to pay back the higher purchase price with lower electricity usage, as the Fruit Fly gang who shoved these stupid things down our throats pretend.
“One of the more elegant ways of heating a small area (a cabinet, for instance) in an unheated barn, toolshed, or garage, is to string a light fixture into it. Great when you don’t want the contents to freeze in winter.”
Maybe if you’re McGuiver…there are a lot better ways of heating a space…perhaps by using one of the many inventions specifically produced for heating a space.
Compact Fluorescents are NOT supposed to be used in closed space…that’s when their lifespan is drastically reduced.
Other than that, how are they less versatile? You can get them in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and if used PROPERLY they last forever.
Other than that, how are they less versatile?
Incandescents provide both heat and light, which in Canada is useful more often than not, for less total cost than CFs.
You want to buy CFs because they’re so awesome, go ahead. Let me save money with my incandescents.
BTJ,
In an attempt to lower my energy costs, I keep my house at around 17 degrees during the winter. (That should get me a lot of brownie points as being ecologically minded, right?) This has the wonderful effect of causing about 2/3 of the CF bulbs that I bought in order to “do my part to ‘Go Green'” to give off about as much light as a match for about 1-2 minutes, until they finally warm up. Makes it dangerous to move around on the stairs, or to work in the kitchen, but what the hey, right?
And I was stupid enough to try to replace as many of my incandescent bulbs as possible, so I also put them into the recessed lighting fixtures in my ceilings and the inverted holders in bathrooms and on ceiling fans. No one ever mentioned that the CF bulbs don’t like this kind of treatment (including the packaging for the bulbs!!); they get too hot, overheat, and burn out in about 1/4 of the time that an incadescent would last in the same usage. But I’m saving energy, right – it surely takes less energy to make 4 CF bulbs than one good old incandescent – NOT!!!
Before laws are passed mandating a change of this nature, the product being imposed on the public should be guaranteed to provide equal or better operation. That’s clearly not the case with CF’s, which have been rushed into expanding usage without proper thought, research, and information. (And I question the wisdom of “mandate laws” like this in the first place…………)
“how are they less versatile? … and if used PROPERLY they last forever”
Therein is the contradiction. To get the stated life expectancy, you can’t turn then on and off. You can’t use them in enclosed spaces. You can’t use them in cold temperatures. You sure don’t want to use them anywhere where they could get broke. So when you add up all the “can’t”s you sure CAN’T claim that they are versatile. But thanks for playing…
I put three of the energy saving bulbs in my bathroom fixture, fast forward a year and the damn things left some kind of chemical residue that I can’t get off the mirror. If they do that to glass what kind of damage can they do to our lungs and skin, organs etc? Fact is the feds put the cart before the horse in their efford to climb aboard the econuts energy saving wagon, why waste time on research when the left can force us to convert and if we end up with mercury poisoning it’s in the name of SAVING planet whilst poisoning ourselves.
bethesdaguy – what the he!! is that supposed to mean ?
I mentioned once how the twisty “green” bulbs were made in China and contained a mercury filament.
No one liked how I pointed that out.
“Incandescents provide both heat and light, which in Canada is useful more often than not, for less total cost than CFs.”
Hahahahaha! This heat thing is a JOKE! There are MUCH more effective and efficient devices invented specifically to heat spaces.
Heat rises, most light bulbs are near the ceiling, so the only space you’re heating is the space above the light bulb, the part that effects no body.
“This has the wonderful effect of causing about 2/3 of the CF bulbs that I bought in order to “do my part to ‘Go Green'” to give off about as much light as a match for about 1-2 minutes, until they finally warm up. Makes it dangerous to move around on the stairs, or to work in the kitchen, but what the hey, right?”
A truly ridiculous story. It doesn’t take CF’s ‘1-2 minutes’ to turn on, no matter if it’s 15 degrees or its 25 degrees.
“so I also put them into the recessed lighting fixtures in my ceilings and the inverted holders in bathrooms and on ceiling fans. No one ever mentioned that the CF bulbs don’t like this kind of treatment (including the packaging for the bulbs!!)”
It says right on the package not to put them in enclosed outlets.
“To get the stated life expectancy, you can’t turn then on and off.”
Sure you can! Turning ANY light bulb on and off repeatedly reduces it’s lifespan. So don’t use them in conjunction with a motion sensor…you wouldn’t want to use them anyways, you’d want a halogen or something of the sort.
“You can’t use them in cold temperatures.”
Sure you can, unless of course you keep your house below 0.
“You sure don’t want to use them anywhere where they could get broke.”
Why? Because you believe that mercury poisoning bullsh1t?
” If they do that to glass what kind of damage can they do to our lungs and skin, organs etc?”
Speak of the devil.
“I mentioned once how the twisty “green” bulbs were made in China and contained a mercury filament.”
You’re an idiot, they don’t have a filament PERIOD!
Hey, BTJ, if you want to call me an idiot, do so to my face instead of hiding in a basement somewhere.
And yes, these Chinese-made “green” bulbs have mercury in them. Play with one if you like but I warn you it could damage your health.
“And yes, these Chinese-made “green” bulbs have mercury in them.”
I didn’t say otherwise…I said they don’t have FILAMENTS.
I would say it to your face if I saw it…ever in Vancouver? I’d gladly meet up to tell you.
lightbulb in cabinet holding welding rod…
works well keeping flux dry even in the coldest winter..
Did they also phase out heat lamps?
I bought into the CFL thing well before they became mandatory. I have since stocked up on incandescents.
They don’t last in enclosed fixtures – I have no intention of replacing 3/4 of the fixtures in my house.
I put them out on my porch, and below about -5 they do not come on. Even if they are cheaper to operate I am not going to leave them on if I don’t need the light.
An incandescent bulb is just as efficient as an electric baseboard heater, and even if they are not that efficiently placed, the heat is still in the house.
I bought a couple of lamps made up of LEDs that fit in regular light fixtures just to try them out. They have there application I am sure, but they won’t be replacing CLFs or incandescents any time soon. They are not very bright and the light is a weird colour. I am using them on my basement stares, they provide enough light for that and they are almost always on because hell will freeze over before I can get my wife and kids to turn the d!@# things off.
People always had more lights on in the winter…lumens plus heat…that heat will have to be replaced….and in the summer very few lights on..
More Y2Kyoto.
Give Big Fat Ontario socialist Liberal McGuinty a punch in his electoral Big Paunch Solar Panels.
Dump Quixote McGuinty/Smitherman and their socialists before they bankrupt us all.
Gullible/greedy people now see/feel the end result of socialism: bankruptcy.
Socialism is fraud.
…-
“Spain’s Solar Deals on Edge of Bankruptcy as Subsidies Founder
German Vilimelis heard about Spain’s solar gold rush from his brother-in-law in 2007.
Across the plains around Lerida, the northeastern Spanish town where they spent weekends, farmers were turning over their fields to photovoltaic panels to capitalize on government solar- energy subsidies. Vilimelis persuaded his father, Jaume, who made a living growing pears on 5 acres (2 hectares) of land in Lerida, to turn over a portion of his farm for the project, Bloomberg Markets reported in its November issue.
Vilimelis, 35, a procurement manager for a consumer goods company, pooled his family savings and mortgaged his apartment to obtain a loan of more than 400,000 euros ($558,500) to cover the investment. Within nine months, the family’s 80-kilowatt generation unit — 500 solar panels on seven racks angled toward the sun — was feeding power into the national grid.
Solar investors such as Vilimelis were lured by a 2007 law passed by the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that guaranteed producers a so-called solar tariff of as much as 44 cents per kilowatt-hour for their electricity for 25 years — more than 10 times the 2007 average wholesale price of about 4 cents per kilowatt-hour paid to mainstream energy suppliers.
Thanks to the incentives, the family met the monthly cost of the loan and even earned a small profit. Once the debt was paid off in 2018, Vilimelis looked forward to making even more money during the 15 additional years of subsidies guaranteed under Spanish law.
‘You Feel Cheated’
Now Vilimelis and more than 50,000 other Spanish solar entrepreneurs face financial disaster as the policy makers contemplate cutting the price guarantees that attracted their investment in the first place.
“You feel cheated,” he says. “We put our money in on the basis of a law.””
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/10/19/spains-solar-deals-on-edge-of-bankruptcy-as-subsidies-founder/
http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2010/10/19/smitherman-showing-his-red-roots/#comment-92936
One clear and simple point that BTJ is overlooking is choice.
Tell me why I shouldn’t be able to choose the incandescent bulb, because I personally prefer many of their features.
We could always count on them in the chicken coop to keep the chicks warm for a few weeks instead of using a bulky heater which gave off too much heat.
BTW…haven’t heard any news about those twisty bulbs being mailed out of Suzuki’s place….
Heh, BTJ, I have light in my unheated garage and OUTSIDE so I can see something in winter around my house as I come and go.
You know when and WHERE it’s (really) DARK, and (REALLY) COLD many months a year. Same in my basement , where it’s not really cold but I want a light that TURNS ON when I turn on it on, not 5 minutes later, when I’m already gone.
I like CFL’s, and normal FLs, I have a couple here and there in places where they make sense. Even in the basement and the garage ( on a second circuit for the warm months, or when I can wait 10min for them to get going)
(Halogens and xeonons are fine too, but not appreciably more efficient, and their light and bulb forms and price leave to be desired. LED are nice but but there yet, for most purposes)
I REALLY OBJECT and am offended by a ban though, as other commenters have brought up not only are they a (minor) mercury hazard, and they do not last anywhere what they are advertised for except under ideal conditions, but it’s frankly NOT THE JOB of government to ban them anymore that it is to bann steam engines or propellor planes or old cars.
If these products are so good and price efficient they will find their own market.
Why are you trying to justify your position to BTJ? He’s not interested. He’s here to stir the pot. Ignore him!
You probably noticed anyway that he’s considerably dimmer than the standard 40W CF issue.
I think a lot of the bad experiences with CFLs are based on the earlier designs that were sold 10-20 years ago. Those were expensive, bulky, and were quite slow to start. They’ve came a long way since then.
The ones I’m buying these days are much better. They are compact, cheap, start fast, and have “warm” light similar to incandescent bulbs. Also performance vary from brand to brand. Don’t let a disappointing experience with one brand ruin the whole thing.
Many people buy the wrong “color”. The names are misleading. The glacial “Cool White” and especially the blueish “Daylight” are to be avoided, unless that’s really what you want. The “Warm White” or “Natural White” are the ones you want.
In my house, CFLs represent about 75% of the bulbs. Of course they don’t all last the advertised “10 years” or “7 years”, but so does the incandescents. How many times I’ve changed an incandescent after only a few weeks, especially the ones that get turned on and off often, like corridors. Since I’ve started using CFLs, I’ve found myself doing much less bulb replacing. Most of the CFL bulbs I’ve deployed 6 years ago are still working. I’ve found that outside the house is probably the best place to use them, since generated heat is lost. And they do start in the cold, even at -25C. They just start really slowly when it’s very cold.
I usually avoid CFLs where dimmers are desired, and where halogen lighting is more appropriate, like under cabinets. Also, since they are a little bit taller, they don’t fit nicely in some lamps.
I’m not using them because I want to be “green”. Its just because I’ve found they are a more appropriate product in many circumstances. 100W and 75W are also an appropriate product for some circumstances.
The things I really don’t like is the banning of the incandescent lamp though. I don’t want to be forced to use a product for ideological reasons. I’m “pro-choice” concerning light bulbs.
The old bulbs waste a lot of energy. Maybe they are good for some stuff but you can always find another solution.
The twisty builbs are for more efficient. They do last much much longer. The price has come down quite a bit and so they are now fairly cheap.
The LED lighting now coming out will soon be replacing old bulbs and twisty bulbs. (If your car or truck is less that 5 years old you have LED tail lights for sure and probably most lighting in the car is LED lighting.) This is simply because they require little energy so you are increasing gas mileage, run cool, and last for a very long time. Obviously LED lighting for Christmas lighting has been around for awhile and are safe (your tree will not catch fire, etc.). Stores are starting to sell them (I have friends who are engineers and obviously like to test out the latest things and have already started to light their homes with LED’s).
The days of the old bulbs and twisty bulbs have come and gone and I have no doubt that LEDs will be replaced someday with something even better.
BTJ: “Why? Because you believe that mercury poisoning bullsh1t?”
On the EPA site, they have a 2 page article on how to clean up a broken CFL (a mere 2 pages)
It contains the following statements:
Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
But then you would know better…
But back to your original post where you asked, “how are they less versatile? – please look up the word “versatile” in a dictionary. You will see that YOU have poked sufficient holes in your own defense of the CFLs. But maybe logic is not one of your strong points.
I’m using the CFLs outside and in hallway lights. Can’t use the heat outside of incandescents and I don’t sit around reading in hallways.
Thanks for the link Kate!!
I am now in germany and the new house if full of this CFL crap. I’ve been replacing them with my incandescant stockpile but it is very handy to be able to replenish. I’ve just ordered 100 to see what they are like. Yes, 10 could have sufficed for this check, but I like the idea as well!
I’ve sent this around the office, most of the germans are also now placing orders. Everyone is expecting this guy will get shut down soon.
BTJ:
Maybe if you’re McGuiver…there are a lot better ways of heating a space…perhaps by using one of the many inventions specifically produced for heating a space.
We have a cottage in rural Quebec. (We live in Toronto.) It’s a long drive, but we like to go down two or three times in the winter to ski. Now, when we arrive after a six-hour drive leaving Toronto on a Friday night, it’s usually close to midnight. It’s cold. And the last freakin’ thing I want to do is get down on my hands and knees with a funnel and a jug of water and try to prime the pump. So my carpenter brother built an insulated box to surround the pump and the water tank. He installed a 60-watt bulb, which we turn on when we leave in the fall.
Now, you talk about better purpose built heaters for such small space heating requirements. I’d like to you – SPECIFICALLY, like a manufacturer’s name and part number – name something that’s as small, as inexpensive, and as durable as a traditional 60 W bulb for such a task. Now, BTJ, this is what we call “PUT UP OR SHUT UP”. You assert that there are better devices – NAME ONE that’s as inexpensive to replace, uses as little energy, and was so simple to rig up. (We used the socket from an old lamp; child’s play, no MacGyver required.)
We’ve been doing this for the better part of ten years. Never had a problem, and we replace the bulb every fall, just in case. Total electricity cost for the winter is less than $20.
Oh, BTJ, you’re just not clever.
Please, you’re making strawmen to argue with. Quote me where I stated that I agree with a ban on incandescents. Of course they shouldn’t be banned, but they sure as hell shouldn’t be worshiped! They have their applications, as many of you have pointed out…but there are many applications where they’re a waste of energy, the most common ones…to light large areas..such as “I’m using the CFLs outside and in hallway lights. Can’t use the heat outside of incandescents and I don’t sit around reading in hallways.”
This statement right here is ALL I’m advocating:
“I’m not using them because I want to be “green”. Its just because I’ve found they are a more appropriate product in many circumstances. ”
Sure incandescents are good in your ski cabin, great use…and in your basement, sure…whatever floats your boat…but to use them purely for the ‘stick it to the greens’ ideology is ridiculous and childish.
Well, the idiot BTJ has really made a fool of itself this go-round. Bear with me: “Hahahahaha! This heat thing is a JOKE! There are MUCH more effective and efficient devices invented specifically to heat spaces.” So name one. An incandescent light bulb is a resistance heater, and as such, it is 100% efficient. 95% of the electrical input is emitted as heat, either by direct radiation of infrared energy, or by air convection from the hot bulb. And the 5% that is emitted as light is eventually re-radiated as heat by the surfaces it illuminates. (Deny this, and you are denying one of the underlying pillars of AGW theory.)
“Heat rises, most light bulbs are near the ceiling, so the only space you’re heating is the space above the light bulb, the part that effects no body.” Bzzzt! Wrong again. Heat doesn’t rise; hot air rises, because it’s less dense, and therefore buoyant in a body of cooler air. Radiant heat, being energy has no mass, and travels in a straight line from its source to whatever object it may strike. Put a standard bulb in a desk lamp, and place your hand beneath it. You will feel the heat.
“A truly ridiculous story. It doesn’t take CF’s ‘1-2 minutes’ to turn on, no matter if it’s 15 degrees or its 25 degrees.” I’ll give you part marks for that. 1-2 minutes is a long time, but there is definitely a warmup period of a number of seconds between the time that a CF first emits light on startup and the time it’s making its rated output. That can be annoying to some people, and it’s part of the reason why CFLs are unsuited for use where they will be switched on and off frequently.
“you wouldn’t want to use them anyways, you’d want a halogen or something of the sort.” Halogens are incandescent lamps. They are just a little whiter, and a little more efficient than conventional tungsten bulbs. They are still excellent sources of heat. Touch a lit halogen bulb, and see for yourself.
“You’re an idiot, they don’t have a filament PERIOD!” You are the idiot, BTJ. They do contain mercury, and they do have a filament, actually, make that TWO. Each CFL has a pair of wires coming out each end of the bulb. Those wires are the leads to a small filament in each end of the tube. The filament energizes when the bulb is turned on, and that heats up the gases inside the tube (including a minute amount of mercury vapor). The heating ionizes the gas sufficiently that it begins to conduct current, and once the gas is fully ionized, the current flow diverts away from the filaments, and they run at whatever temperature the ionized gas sustains. Functionally, they are the same as the standard straight-tube fluorescent lamps that have been around for better than 60 years. Those also contain mercury, but current ones use less than was used originally. FWIW, when CFL bulbs die, it’s usually been, by my direct observation, that one or both filaments have gone open. The ballast from such a dead CFL is still functional, and will work fine with a standard fluorescent tube within its ratings. I have three such modified lamps in service now. They work just fine, too and in fact start faster than they did with their old magnetic ballasts.
“There are MUCH more effective and efficient devices invented specifically to heat spaces.” So name one.”
Oooh..tough one…hmmm…a ‘space heater’ I believe it’s called.
” Bzzzt! Wrong again. Heat doesn’t rise; hot air rises, because it’s less dense, and therefore buoyant in a body of cooler air. Radiant heat, being energy has no mass, and travels in a straight line from its source to whatever object it may strike. Put a standard bulb in a desk lamp, and place your hand beneath it. You will feel the heat.”
On a technicality…when you’re heating a space what are you attempting to do? Heat the air. Unless you’re content with only heating the scalp of anyone over 6’4″.
“Halogens are incandescent lamps.”
I believe the only concern here is the average 60W incandescent light bulb.
You got me on the filament…however…the filament is still not made of mercury (a ridiculous statement if you know anything about the state of mercury at room temperature and higher)
Thanks for the Link Marc, I never owned a Saab, only borrowed one from the government from time-to-time. I will ask my MP again, but I think they will do this by order-in-council or somthing like that? Not with legislation.
“Oooh..tough one…hmmm…a ‘space heater’ I believe it’s called.” And electric space heaters have a resistive heating element, and a fan to move the heated air around. Or not. There are many on the market that heat radiatively, just like a light bulb. In fact, some of them ARE light bulbs. Ever hear of a “heat lamp”? They are just a flood light optimized to work in the infrared region. They are commonly used to dry out fried chicken in convenience stores. ;>) But as far as efficiency goes, none can put out any more heat per watt of electrical consumption than a light bulb. 100% is as a good as it gets. Only a heat pump can exceed that, and only because it uses electrical power to move existing heat, rather than create heat on the spot. You will probably look long and hard for a heat pump in the 60-watt size range. That technology does not scale down easily. The point to take away from this is that the so-called “wasted heat” from incandescent bulbs is not wasted at all if they are being used in a heated space.
And I agree the filament is not made of mercury; it wasn’t I that made that statement. But there is in fact a little mercury inside every fluorescent lamp. It’s used because it has the property of being very easy to ionize, thereby initiating the arc discharge in the other gases of the tube, mainly argon, IIRC. If there were truly mercury-free fluorescent lamps on the market, one would think they would be heavily promoted as such, seeing as the public has been conditioned to see mercury as such a bogeyman. Me, I’ve immersed my hand in a beaker of the stuff, and lived to tell the tale. But it’s ALL types of fluorescent lamps that contain mercury, not simply the CFLs, so it’s hypocritical, IMHO, to rag on the latter for the their mercury content, and give the traditional 4-footers a pass.
I have some CFLs in my home, but the quality is spotty, to say the least. And the light quality is very different. Fluorescent lamps emit light on a number of spectral lines. Between those lines, they don’t emit, period. The light from an incandescent is a continuum, everything, in some measure, from the far infrared to ultraviolet. Some halogen lamps emit enough UV that they are supplied with a thick filter glass to block it from damaging the user’s eyes. The continuous spectrum from an incandescent lamp is more pleasing to the eyes than the peaky light from fluorescents, compact or otherwise.
And this is why you guys are not really fit for survival. But lucky for your kids, they have us, since you don’t seem to care.
This is a pathetic attempt by a pathetic human being to give losers like you some sort of way to feel like you can go on F-ing things up, even though you’ve been handed a new way of doing things that actually conserves energy. After all, isn’t that what conservatives are supposed to do? Conserve things and not waste them?
Sheesh.
“And electric space heaters have a resistive heating element, and a fan to move the heated air around. Or not. There are many on the market that heat radiatively, just like a light bulb. In fact, some of them ARE light bulbs. Ever hear of a “heat lamp”? They are just a flood light optimized to work in the infrared region. They are commonly used to dry out fried chicken in convenience stores. ;>) But as far as efficiency goes, none can put out any more heat per watt of electrical consumption than a light bulb. 100% is as a good as it gets”
I understand that, clearly there are devices that are just like an incandescent bulb, BUT, are designed to HEAT…ie. have a fan, direct heat in a useful way, are close to the ground. You seem to be attempting to prove that a light bulb is just as efficient and effective at heating a space as a ‘space heater’…it’s not.
“The point to take away from this is that the so-called “wasted heat” from incandescent bulbs is not wasted at all if they are being used in a heated space.”
Yes it is…here’s how space heating works…you heat the cool air close to the ground…that air rises and heats the people in the room.
A light bulb usually sits at head level or above, heats that already relatively warm air up, it rises past the area where people are…thus not transfering heat to people.
“But it’s ALL types of fluorescent lamps that contain mercury, not simply the CFLs, so it’s hypocritical, IMHO, to rag on the latter for the their mercury content, and give the traditional 4-footers a pass.”
I never said otherwise…all I said was breaking a CFL or any fluorescent is nothing to panic about. Plus, they’re not easily broken compared to your average piece of glass. If you are afraid of the mercury in fluorescents, I hope to hell you don’t eat fast food, do wash your hands on a regular basis, do practice safe sex, don’t use illicit drugs, and on and on with the myriad of other potentially harmful things out there.
“The continuous spectrum from an incandescent lamp is more pleasing to the eyes than the peaky light from fluorescents”
For sure, so use an incandescent in your reading lamp…use fluorescents to light large areas such as hallways, offices, kitchens, etc…plus you can have indoor plants with fluorescents (a minor plus).