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Australia is proposing the ban of incandescent bulbs, next time you need to replace a bulb, consider compact fluorescent -
The environment minister said the move could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tonnes by 2012."It's a little thing but it's a massive change," Malcolm Turnbull said.
The decision will make Australia the first country to ban the light bulbs, although the idea has also been proposed in the US state of California.
Mr Turnbull said that he hoped the rest of the world would follow Australia's lead in banning the traditional bulbs.
"If the whole world switches to these bulbs today, we would reduce our consumption of electricity by an amount equal to five times Australia's annual consumption of electricity," he said.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australia pulls plug on old bulbs - [via] Link.
One problem with this is that you can't use compact fluorescent bulbs with dimmer switches. I made the switch to compact fluorescent bulbs in all of my lamps at home except for my ceiling fan. I tried them in there first, but when you dim them they strobe like a burned out fluorescent bulb. Made me sick. I say make the taxes on incandescent reasonably high to discourage their usage, but don't outlaw them. Sometimes you need to set the mood....
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~What about the mercury content? I hope they have strict recycling plans.
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I hope that along with the whole "saving energy" thing that they make sure people don't just throw these light bulbs away. I would much rather have a country of people wasting some electricity than dumping a bunch of mercury into landfills.
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Don't forget LED.
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One MAJOR drawback that is rarely mentioned, is the amount of time it takes for the bulbs to come up to full brightness.
When I turn on a light, I want it to be fully on NOW, not five minutes from now.
To compensate for this, many people will end up leaving the lights on all the time, which will reduce the savings.
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This ban must carry some special-circumstance clauses, right? What about incadescent bulbs in electronics and appliances? Unless... do extremely-compact fluorescent bulbs exist? on the order of a mini-maglite?
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mine go to full brightness in like 30 seconds, with adiquate light 5 seconds after it is turned on.
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Problems with this plan (and the one like it in the works for California, as I understand it):
In addition to the above mentioned issues (mercury, delay turning on), my experience has been there is a WIDE variation in quality from one manufacturer to another. Some I've bought really did replace 60W incandenscent bulbs. Some were nowhere close, and failed sooner than the 60W would have as well. And while mastershake916's bulbs may come on fast, not all that I've used do.
Not only are there issues with appliances (fans, range hoods, etc) but also some types of lamps, where for example you have a shade made to clamp onto an incandescent bulb. Where are you going to clamp on to one of these without having the shade all askew?
And there are size issues, not all of these bulbs match the form factor correctly, so even if you aren't physically putting a shade onto the bulb, it may not fit the harp. Most commonly I've seen this with some who don't seem to count the base as part of the height of the bulb.
In general, it's a worthy goal to replace what you can, but an outright ban seems like it doesn't take reality into account.
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These bulbs also do not work well in closed fixtures such as ceiling or wall globes. It says right on the package that they should be used in open fixtures only. The heat causes premature failure. I tried it anyway and found that these bulbs burned out in about 6 months. So they cost more, put mercury in the environment, don't come on immediately, and can't be used in all fixtures.
When it makes economic or practical sense, people will choose them on their own. (Think CRT vs. LED or plasma displays. )Why can't the government just stay out of it? Nanny states bug me.
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Do these idiots have special exceptions for people with seizures who cannot have fluorescent lighting?
Idiot nanny state.
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It's australia...nobody follows the laws anyways :-)
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In addition to the above mentioned issues (mercury, delay turning on), my experience has been there is a WIDE variation in quality from one manufacturer to another.
I imagine it would work like other electronics. With more people using a particular product, it will become evident which bulb is better than another.
One problem with this is that you can't use compact fluorescent bulbs with dimmer switches.
Sure you can, you just need to buy a bulb that allows it :P
One MAJOR drawback that is rarely mentioned, is the amount of time it takes for the bulbs to come up to full brightness.
Depends on what type of bulb :P But for CF's, I do agree. However, I don't need full brightness in the first 30 seconds I enter a room. The bulb in my room kicks on after a few seconds and immediatly has enough brightness to prevent me from tripping over something ;)
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Another drawback for CF's is cold temperature operation (and perhaps even high temp - not sure). Common Fluorescent ballasts are not really cold weather friendly (which could be why my lights work so easily -- Warm Florida Temperature).
Another hurdle.... Automotive lights o.0
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