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You had a good run, incandescent light bulbs. Essentially unchanged since Edison invented the first commercially practical incandescent bulb in 1879, save for occasional improvements in efficiency and production cost, it served us well for more than 100 years. But now the EU has declared that 2010 will be the official funeral of the incandescent light bulb — in Europe, at least. Canada, Australia, the Philippines and even Cuba have announced similar ban dates — the US has too, but was a little slower on the uptake — our ban doesn’t go into effect until 2014. (The bans don’t restrict the use of incandescents, only their sale.)
The well-publicized trouble with incandescents, of course, is that 90% of the power they consume is turned into heat rather than light. Since governments around the world have gotten ban-happy, General Electric and other incandescent bulb manufacturers have announced that they’re working on new bulbs called “high-efficiency incandescents” that may be up to four times more efficient than the kind we currently have — but it may be a case of too little, too late. CFLs use about a fifth of the energy it takes to power an incandescent.
Amazingly, the compact flourescent bulbs that seem so revolutionary today were actually developed in 1973, in response to the oil crisis — by General Electric! But the $25 million it would’ve cost to build factories to produce the new bulbs was deemed too expensive. The design was shelved, and eventually leaked to other companies, who introduced them into the global market in the early 80s, where they’ve slowly but steadily grown in popularity. Widespread adoption of CFLs in American households could reduce household power usage by up to 7% across the country. If this seems like a small number, consider that much of the lighting power used in the US is in parking lots and big box stores — and once those guys switch to more efficient lighting, we’ll see some serious drops in power consumption across the board.
Bring on the bans!
Comments (31)
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A ban is still very premature, because we don’t truly have a good replacement for incadescent bulbs. We need a highly efficient bulb that isn’t toxic before we start banning other types for inefficiency. Have you ever tried to throw away a CFL? Hopefully not, because you shouldn’t. They must be treated appropriately. I like CFLs and have replaced just about all bulbs in my house, but we need to realize that they are nothing more than a temporary measure.
posted by Craig on 10-23-2008 at 8:33 am
I bought myself a houseful of CFLs 2 years ago for Christmas. I spent $200 (They have gone down in price since) in bulbs, I carefully tracked my electric bill. I saved $50 month after month on my electric bill, I could not believe it. I wish the stock market treated me that well…
posted by Witty Nickname on 10-23-2008 at 8:37 am
Hm. This concerns me. I have a couple of lights in my house that require more than one bulb (the dining room hanging lamp takes 3 and the kitchen ceiling fan takes 4) and when I put more than 1 CFL into either of these, I get a very unpleasant blinking sensation (not unlike the way a tube fluorescent blinks when it’s at the end of its usefulness).
Considering the fact that I am prone to migraines, the thought of not being able to get incandescent bulbs is troubling and perhaps I’ll stop at Costco today and start stocking up.
posted by Rachel on 10-23-2008 at 9:01 am
I have also replaced most of the incandecents in my home with CFLs. While my bills are noticably lower, I have heard some things about CFL concerns (like how they end their useful life and how to dispose of them in a safe way). I also heard that if they break (like if accidentally hit) they explode and can be dangerous to clean up (more so than just a broken glass light bulb). Now, I don’t know how much of that is true, but if it is, it would be a concern.
posted by Ian on 10-23-2008 at 9:14 am
As with all things, there is another side of this story that you should tell – the truth about the dangers of CFLs. CFLs are not a panacea and it is a disservice to represent them as such.
posted by Vicki W on 10-23-2008 at 9:18 am
A ban is never a triumph. I’m in favor of CFLs and use them, but I don’t believe in banning the others. There are a multitude of uses for incandescents that fluorescents are not suitable for. Appliance lights, for one. I’ve had trouble with CFLs not lasting very long if used with the base up, too. Fluorescent candelabra bulbs are ugly. As alluded to before, CFL light can give some people headaches.
As for big box and parking lot lights, those aren’t incandescent anyway. Those use HID vapor lights, which are very efficient but buzz and usually don’t have a pleasing color.
posted by Dave on 10-23-2008 at 9:41 am
CFLs also will not survive in a dimming application for more than 2 or 3 seconds. Even if you find the ones that look okay in a ceiling fan, you’re going to blow the bulb if you try to dim the lights.
Night sensors, motion sensors? forget it. CFLs are toast in those apps as well.
posted by Josh on 10-23-2008 at 9:45 am
The most important reason not to ban incandescents. I have a dimmer on most lights in my house (i’m crazy and have to control light levels) CFLs require expensive dimming ballasts to dim, and often do so by using Pulse width modulation, which only increases the ‘flashing’ sensation (due to the fact that they are indeed flashing).
posted by SlapYak on 10-23-2008 at 9:47 am
I purchased a bunch of these CFL’s, but as I began replacing my lights, I come to learn you can’t use them in dimmers and in most exterior settings. I replaced what I could, but now I’ve got a box of these things and nowhere to put them.
I also tried buying LED flood lights, but you can’t use those for dimmer switches either.
I imagine, with the impending ban looming, companies will work to resolve these issues over the next few years.
posted by Florida on 10-23-2008 at 10:49 am
CFLs also aren’t recommended for three-way switches, which it seems all our darn old hand-me-down lamps have.
posted by Southern Buddhist on 10-23-2008 at 10:54 am
I’ve got a small stockpile of incadescents for my 3 way light and the bathroom fixture. CFL’s are harsh and I don’t want to use them in the bathroom for applying makeup.
I do have an outdoor CFL for my porchlight that works well, though it does take some time to come to full brightness. Also living in NC, it doesn’t get too cold for it to not work properly in the winter.
re captcha: colonies rule
posted by k on 10-23-2008 at 10:55 am
I get enough headaches from flourescent lights at work, and I’m not looking forward to using CFLs at home. When this ban hits, I’ll be stockpiling a lifetime of incandescent bulbs.
posted by Morphy on 10-23-2008 at 11:18 am
The ban in America, at least, does not ban all incandescent lights, only those for which a “suitable replacement” has been created in the form of CFLs. This means, for example, that many wide-form flood lights will still be available after the ban, as will most three-way bulbs, etc.
This means that those high-powered incandescents that are used in parking lots and at baseball stadiums will still be there after the ban – so don’t hold your breath on this ban actually having much of an effect on energy consumption. If anything, it will only have an effect on lining the pockets of light bulb manufacturers, who make far more money for CFLs than incandescents and who will be able to charge much more for the remaining incandescents.
posted by Nathan Miller on 10-23-2008 at 11:37 am
CFL’s are full of mercury! People throw them away (few people dispose of any household toxins the way they should) and then they leak mercury into the groundwater supply. I hope we really, really care about polar bear survival because we’re asking for major problems with CFL’s that impact us more directly than global warming.
posted by Brian on 10-23-2008 at 11:40 am
To those with dimmer switches:
Dimmable CFLs are available in many shapes and sizes! You do NOT need a specialized dimmer (although they may not work as well in dimmers made in the 1970s or earlier). You can buy these bulbs in specialty light bulb stores, where they have many different styles and “temperatures” (CFL-speak for “color” — the higher the temperature, the warmer the light — closer to the yellow glow of an incandescent, and less like a Walmart store).
I recently purchased my dimmable CFL floodlights (R30, the kind that fit in the recessed cans) at Home Depot for about $10 a bulb. Not bad for the long life (8 to 10 years) and reduced heat output (which means less A/C in the summer!)
Something to know about the dimmable bulbs: you MUST have the dimmer set to FULL BRIGHTNESS when you turn the light on, but once it can be dimmed pretty smoothly to about 25% power. Turning the lights on at a lower brightness will cause the bulbs to fail.
Good luck with your bulbs, everyone!
posted by Leslie on 10-23-2008 at 12:05 pm
Home Depot collects the used CFL bulbs and sends them to be processed so no Mercury is leaked.
posted by Leslie on 10-23-2008 at 12:09 pm
Craig: “A ban is still very premature, because we don’t truly have a good replacement for incadescent bulbs.”
[sarcasm on]
What does having a replacement have to do with anything? This is a government ban! It’s politically correct!
We’re far from a suitable politically-approved replacement for oil, but that hasn’t stopped Congress from banning as much drilling as they can in this country.
We don’t have an effective politically-approved way to generate electricity in this country, but that hasn’t stopped the ban on building any new power plants in the last 30 years.
Didn’t you know that this is politics? They can legislate new technologies into existence!
[sarcasm off]
posted by gmsc on 10-23-2008 at 12:15 pm
I replaced a number of the bulbs in my home with CFL’s. I really did not notice much of a savings in electricity. Perhaps because many of the lights in my home that are used most often did not have a suitable CFL replacement. I have two exterior floodlights which could not be replaced, I have three ceiling fans that require a smaller bulb so they could not be replaced. I have a lamp in the libarary that takes those candleabra and I have several lights on dimmers. With thwo kids I can’t reasonbly expect them to turn the switches to full power before powering up.
posted by Dan on 10-23-2008 at 12:33 pm
What about the fact that these wonderful new CFLs contain mercury and are very dangerous when broken? I wonder if anyone has considered the effects of people breathing mercury dust after a bulb breaks, since nobody is going to follow the prescribed procedure for proper disposal of a broken CFL. Then, of course, there’s the fact that they give of horrible white light. I think CFLs are a terrible idea, and I plan to stockpile regular light bulbs before the ban goes into effect. Maybe I can sell them on the side and make some money.
posted by Craig on 10-23-2008 at 12:56 pm
I use a dawn simulator to wake up, and I can’t use CFLs with that. So now I’m going to suffer from SAD. Awesome. Thank you, people who ban stuff.
posted by emk on 10-23-2008 at 1:31 pm
How does this ban effect Theatrical lighting? Lighting design in theaters pretty much relies on incandescent bulbs. Try creating a bright Summer day with CFLs. That day just got really crappy.
posted by NJLD on 10-23-2008 at 1:40 pm
gmsc said “They can legislate new technologies into existence!” which made me think back to a few years ago when Congress mandated that all new TV sets include the V-Chip – before the V-Chip had actually been invented. I wonder how much the CFL lobbyists paid for this ban?
posted by Craig on 10-23-2008 at 2:32 pm
Okay, going to Home Depot. Buying every incandescent bulb I can find. Also writing a couple letters to my Congress people.
I will not spend the rest of my life ill-feeling and depressed due to the sickly green-white light CFLs give off. I will not quit reading because CFLs give me headaches with all their damn flickering. I will not stand for it. My lovely warm yellow light will not be taken away from me.
posted by S on 10-23-2008 at 4:42 pm
I’m sorry, “specialty light bulb stores”. You have got to be kidding.
recaptcha: off elevator — the ban people clearly got off their elevator too soon
posted by Michelle on 10-23-2008 at 4:48 pm
Please don’t think I’m stupid, but I don’t understand something.. Now, I realize that mercury is a bad thing, but where does mercury come from, anyway?? Does it not COME FROM somewhere in our environment? How is it suddenly MORE toxic when we return it to the earth?
posted by Vickey on 10-23-2008 at 6:01 pm
I hate fluorescent light, and CFLs aren’t much better. I think when the stores run out of incandescent bulbs I’ll just stop using lights at home. Candles may make a comeback.
posted by Harlequin on 10-23-2008 at 8:56 pm
I can’t wait for LEDs to be more prevalent. They are so much more efficient! Interesting thing about the Edison invention. There’s a place or two that have original bulbs that are still burning bright. They are over one hundred years old! Efficient?
posted by Space Cowgirl on 10-24-2008 at 8:48 am
A few years back when they came out with the true daylight bulbs, I switched every one of my lights. I can’t stand the yellow glow of the originals, and my daylights are brighter then the old 100 watts my husband preferred. I have family who always complain my house is too bright, but I pay less for electric then them.
Rachel, they shouldn’t be blinking. We have ceiling fans with multiple bulbs in every room except bathroom and laundry room (which both have multiple lights on one fixture) and I never have a problem. They may not be in tight, or your fixtures are going out.
I know Menards (it’s like home depot or lowe’s) has CFLs for dimmers now, I haven’t tried them yet.
I do have a complaint. We just recently starting replacing all outlets and lights in our house (old house, old fixtures) and I’ve noticed an alarming trend in ceiling fan lights. They will only fit a bulb with a base the size of a christmas light! They’re trying to make everyone use fewer watts by forcing them to use chandelier bulbs. Luckily, Westinghouse has a converter so I can use the bulbs I want.
posted by Lorelei on 10-24-2008 at 9:04 am
I have replaced many of my bulbs with CFLs. I noticed the reduction in heat.
Didn’t notice much electrical savings.
Many of my fixtures have dimmers or timers, so they can’t readily use CFLs. I agree with Dan, you can’t count on someone only turning on a dimable CFL at full brightness. I have a room with 6 dimable floods. At $10 a pop, each mistake would cost $60.
Also I haven’t found any reasonable candelabra bulbs. What will people do for their dining room chandeliers? I also have a number of halogen lamps, that can’t use CFLs.
I figure the cost to replace all my light fixtures, dimmers, timers etc… to be compatible with CFL would cost me in the thousands. (Dining room chandelier, Drop lamp in kitchen, halogens under counter, halogen high hat over kitchen sink, two bathrooms with 9 halogen high hats, sconses over sink in bathroom, halogen living room torch, two outdoor bulbs, outdoor floods on motion sensor, 4 dimmers, 3 timers).
posted by Stew on 10-24-2008 at 9:27 am
OMG! The horror has hit! If they ban incandescent light bulbs little girls will no longer have easy-bake ovens! The horror, I know how bad i wanted one, and this means other girls will have a joyless childhood like me!
btw, not sarcasm, I LIKE the easy bake ovens.
and now the catchpa says $500 totalled, is that what I win?
posted by Lorelei on 10-24-2008 at 12:44 pm
Some corrections on blog entry and comments:
1. CFLs are not “full of mercury”, it’s actually very little per lamp, about 5 mg or less. But many millions added together will still add up to tons of mercury in nature unless recycled correctly. And most CFLs today are still NOT recycled (although awareness is increasing).
2. I hope stores that accept burned-out CFLs for recycling are aware that mercury vaporises at room temperature, so they make sure that staff or customers don’t break them. (I asked Ikea the other day and they were rather alarmed at this information and promised to look over their recycling routines a s a p.) Next time you deposit one, ask if the CFL will break before chucking it in their recycling bin.
3. CFLs use many times more energy in production, transport and recycling than incandescent lamps.
4. They don’t save nearly as much energy as claimed, but closer to that of a good halogen lamp (which contains no mercury and gives the same high quality light as incandescent lamps).
Look at my website for referenced information, check out the sources and do the math yourself. (And no, I’m not selling anything, don’t even have ads, I’m just fed up with all this massive misinformation campaign.)
Hopefully my fellow idealistic environmentalists will see that they’ve been hoodwinked into acting like a free marketing outlet for the lighting industry, the result of which is likely to cause a global ecological disaster! Please wake up and check who fed you the (mis)information and why, before it’s too late!
posted by Halogenica on 3-22-2009 at 1:36 pm