"Paul M. Eldridge" wrote:
On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:53:43 -0400, Marissa Payton
wrote:
"Paul M. Eldridge" wrote:
On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:45:20 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:
"Paul M. Eldridge" wrote in message
There is NO ban on incandescent lamps; the federal government has
simply established minimum efficiency standards similar to what it has
done with selected household appliances.
Not today, but the idea has been brought up on both local and federal
levels.
Hi Edwin,
Maybe so. I don't have a crystal ball so I can't predict the future,
but I can correct falsehoods. The claim was made that Congress had
already passed legislation outlawing these lamps (or is intending to
do so) and that's simply not the case.
Around December 2007, US Congress passed an energy bill that, inter alia,
included the phase out of incandescent 100 Watt light bulbs by 2012. I
expect, but can't predict with absolute certainty, that more flavors of
incandescent bulbs will be phased out in the relatively near future.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/busin...e-know-it.html
Hi Marissa,
I would normally expect U.S. News and World Report to get the story
right, but in this case the facts don't support the claim. Here's
what I wrote earlier in this news forum to response to someone else
who was told (incorrectly) that incandescent lamps were going the way
of the dodo bird:
--- Begin Quote ---
The provisions related to incandescent lamps within the "Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR6)" are limited to "general
service" only -- basically your standard A19 household lamp. "General
service" is defined as:
1) having a medium (E27) screw-base;
2) a light output of between 310 and 2600 lumens;
3) an operating voltage of between 110 and130V; and
4) a standard or "modified" light spectrum (e.g.., GE's "Reveal").
Incandescent lamps that are explicitly EXCLUDED from this regulation
include the following:
appliance
black light
bug
coloured
infrared
left-hand thread (used where lamps may be stolen)
marine / marine signal
mine service
plant light
reflector
rough service / shatter-resistant / vibration service
sign
silver bowl
showcase
3-way
traffic signal
G & T shape
AB, BA, CA, F, G16-1/2, G-25, G30, S and M-14
When these regulations are phased-in starting in 2012, general service
lamps that produce approximately the same amount of light as a
traditional 100-watt incandescent will use no more than 72-watts; a
lamp with the output of a 75-watt incandescent will be capped at
53-watts, a 60-watt bulb at 43-watts and a 40-watt bulb at 29-watts.
As mentioned in my previous post, Philips currently sells general
service lamps that meet this new standard, and within the next few
years, GE expects to have lamps that will be four times more efficient
than the ones they sell now.
--- End Quote ---
Again, as noted above, I can walk into Home Depot today and buy
incandescent lamps that meet these forthcoming standards, so anyone
who wants to continue using incandescent lamps can do so.
I'm glad to hear that. I'm not surprised that media got portions of the story wrong, but I expected the
overview to be more fact-based than it apparently was. I will read the full law text as soon as I get the
chance. I find it ironic that traffic signal bulbs are exempt, especiallyy since they are easily replaced by
LEDs, which are very energy efficient and contain no mercury.
As LED technology improves, I expect we will see that type of lighting more and more throughout the home too.