I would make a trade. They can take away our ability to "waste" our money on incandescent bulbs if we can take away their ability to waste our money on everything else.

Dealsies?

"Dealsies." Love that. Thanks for the new word.

P.S. As regular commenters here know, I drive a Honda Insight hybrid, circa 2004. Last year, I spent $153 on gas. All year. But, I chose to buy that car, which probably saves more in energy in a year than these people will save with CFL bulbs for an entire lifetime.

Although I don't like to waste resources, it is not a waste, but extremely prudent of me to light my tiny house, and especially, the small room I write in, in a way that doesn't drive me into a depression.

I've also been getting bags at the supermarket (though I used reusable bags before pretty much anybody) because it allows me to leave bottles out for the homeless so they won't have to root through the trash cans.

Government does not know what's best for us.

Absolutely right that government does not know what is best for us.! I really wish they would bud out of our private lives, but it appears that they are digging their way into every facet. I actually dread reading what new, stupid ass law they want to pass, or who is getting in trouble for things that the government has no business bothering them about. It is getting rather creepy.

They haven't outlawed incandescent lights. They've only outlawed
the inefficient ones. In Jan 2012, those bulbs you've been buying
will go off the market. However, Phillips Halogena bulbs meet the
standards. They'll still be sold.

Their 70W bulb gives the light of the "standard" 100W. The light
quality is better, and the life is longer. Plus, like all
incandescents, they instantly provide full brightness and they're
dimmable.

Ron,

If you applaud what the government is doing, then please give me the links to your data.

If the government in this case is forcing me to be happier and wealthier, then it will be the first time in my life.

I hate those stupid CFL's. Most of them cast a yellow light, which is a bitch to read by.

I may have to make some storage space in the spare bedroom...

Those Halogena bulbs are crap! The light is decent but they lasted for like a week before they burnt out. Unacceptable!!!

Andrew_M_Garland:
Is this what you wanted?
http://www.examiner.com/green-technologies-in-st-louis/incandescent-light-bulb-improved-for-2012-not-banned
If not, please let me know what your Google keywords were when you
failed to find what you were looking for.

Daghain:
My experience differs. I put in 5 over a year ago. I have yet to
have one fail.

Note: this isn't the first government efficiency standard. The
first I can recall is the air conditioner standard, where units had
to meet a minimum EER. That one was more important, as the person
installing the cheap, inefficient unit (often the landlord) may not
have been the one paying for the electricity (often the tenant).

I think they're less concerned with you wasting your money and more concerned with you wasting energy, which drives up energy costs for all. Inefficient incandescent bulbs only use 10% of their energy consumption on light. So for every $100 you spend on light, $90 goes out the window. Imagine a car that used up 90% of its fuel just starting.

We demand solutions but are rarely willing to make sacrifices.

"We demand solutions but are rarely willing to make sacrifices."

This was never a problem I demanded a solution to. Therefore I don't think it's unreasonable for me to have a sacrifice forced on me.

"My experience differs."

Wonderful. Then you buy them. They aren't an acceptable substitute for me.

Exactly Elle!

I have no problem with the new fluorescents - but the problem here is government nannying.

Let people make their own decisions.

Amy's point about her car is kind of funny. The early hybrids (like Amy owns) were basically created because of government standards. And despite what the manufacture claims, they are some of the polluting cars. The difference is that creation comes in the manufacturing and extraction of all the rare earth elements used in them (e.g. for the batteries). This was reported on in the IEEE Spectrum a couple of years ago ... unfortunately I no longer have access to their site so can't get at the article anymore (and it might have been one of their magazines besides Spectrum). According to that article, the hybrids only came close to efficient conventional cars if they were heavily used effectively spreading out cost of the early pollution over many miles. For very few miles (like it sounds Amy drives), a SUV might pollute less overall.

To recap, Amy used a government program in the name of low emissions only to actually pollute more - she is right government is bad. But since she is polluting more, doesn't that mean she should be one of the first ones to have to switch to CFLs or LED lights?

I don't like the nanniness of the effective ban. But it is one of the most reasonable of the not so reasonable things the government has done.

Oh, and the anti-depression lights are usually CFLs.

Add the CFL'er "controversy" to the birther crowd to the anti-TSA spasmodics, toss in a few Christians, gun nuts, gold nuts, war-mongers and plutocrats, and you are starting to put together a political party. I think. Remember Vince Foster!

Michele Bachmann, we are calling you.

The Dems? What a bunch of weenies, but man oh man, who do you vote for?

Got a bunch of 'em already Amy.

Hahahaha. And as soon as good LEDs come out, I'll get them to. I really do hate having mercury and other deadly chemicals hanging right over my head.

I think they're less concerned with you wasting your money and more concerned with you wasting energy, which drives up energy costs for all. Inefficient incandescent bulbs only use 10% of their energy consumption on light. So for every $100 you spend on light, $90 goes out the window. Imagine a car that used up 90% of its fuel just starting. -- Strawboss at July 9, 2011 12:32 PM

Yes -- efficiency can be good. But at the same time it can cost more.

Back in early 80's the IRS upgraded a mainframe to a smaller, more efficient unit. They also had to replace the main HVAC units for the whole building. The water cooling system had to be yanked with the mainframe which was tied into the building's heating.

A large bank HQ went and bought scads of LCD monitors to replace all the CRT's. They had to add heating systems. The AC side also started turning the building into a refrigerator.

Not to mention what happened to all the old CRT's with lead, cadmium, etc. and how they are disposed.

Not all that glitters is gold.

I loathe CFL's. I bought a ceiling fan without realizing it only took a specific type of CFL bulb. Unfortunately, the fan sat in the garage before being installed until it was too late to return it. The bleeping thing gives off awful light and buzzes constantly when it's on. So, for now, we have a floor lamp that uses regular bulbs (2 100 watters!!) to light the room. Eventually, we'll replace the stupid ceiling fan.

> Of course, what I really want is a pony.

You can't have one.

On the other hand...

I've been assuming that everyone will come to their senses. That people will realize that the conventional bulbs are in fact environmentally superior to these newfangleds in almost every respect. That's the a great deal cheaper for very good reasons. That the entirety of the most modern economy of the world favors them for a dozen reasons. That the only sensible thing to do is give up on CFLs before the deadline hits.

But if it doesn't...

Amy, I'll hope you, with your stash of conventionals, will remember all the little people in your life... The one's who visit your blog just for the Hell of it....

I'm buying them up: 20 here, 20 there.

Stephen Chu can suck my dick.

I can't believe it will come to that. I can't believe local authorities, in government and elsewhere, won't protect themselves, let alone the rest of us and our infrastructure, from such a flippantly counterproductive expression of enviromentalist preciousness.

But I do have a friend, Guido, who knows how to handle "clients" who misplace their payments... Capiche?

"I bought a ceiling fan without realizing it only took a specific type of CFL bulb."

This may become a bigger and bigger problem. Yeah, we can stockpile incandescent bulbs fairly easily and inexpensively. Stockpiling lamps that can still use incandescent bulbs might be less easy and more expensive.

You can buy the guts of fixtures at Lowe's or Home Depot for about 1.98 a piece.

Another problem is that people don't realize what is coming out of the wall is ~120V and what the special fixtures use is a transformer to step it down. You should be able to gut the fan and get it back to 120.

I went to a computer store and asked about a car adapter for my laptop. I want one with at least minor surge protection. The guy could only come up with a suggestion to buy an inverter to take the 12V DC from the car, crank it up to 120AC, then crank it back down to 12V DC to go into my laptop. Meanwhile a 12V DC capacitor bank is all I'm looking for. I'm just worried about if I turn the fan on high or raise/lower while powered my laptop will take a hit.

I explained this to the guy in several quick sentences. He was still flabbergasted that I had a clue.

I'm joking about helping Amy staff and operate a gang of inner-city bulb dealers... But when you read Balko's news stories, you realize that there are lot of goofy agencies out there who are eager to do SWAT work.

$50 wager: If the ban is in full force for one year, their WILL be a violent, no-knock raid on someone's home resulting in death. Anyone want to take the bet?

Fahgeddabodit, Crid. I'ma tired ah you blowin' my covah.

Those CFLs emit the most disorienting, agitating, nauseating blue light. There was an article in the NYT the other day about blue light agitation of the brain:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/05light.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=blue%20light&st=cse

"Artificial light has been around for more than 120 years. But the light emitted by older sources, like incandescent bulbs, contains more red wavelengths. The problem now, Dr. Brainard and other researchers fear, is that our world is increasingly illuminated in blue. By one estimate, 1.6 billion new computers, televisions and cellphones were sold last year alone, and incandescent lights are being replaced by more energy-efficient, and often bluer, bulbs. "