Top 25 things vanishing from America: #12 -- Incandescent bulbs
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This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.
Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb. Should we merely brush aside the standard light bulb after such am impressive longevity in U.S. homes and businesses? I say yes, although there are a few caveats, one being that the standard lightbulb is a universal icon for industrial ingenuity worldwide and can evoke emotions as such. Not that my opinion matters much, now that the government has mandated a phasing out of the common incandescent bulb in the recently passed energy bill.
The cost for a CFL is still high compared to its century-old counterpart, but with the energy savings you can receive, the cost will pay for itself shortly. Besides, it's not all about cost, right? Aren't you doing the planet a favor by purchasing those costly CFLs in order to waste much less electricity in terms of wattage output? Yes, you are.
But one of the nuisances of new CFL units is that they can't be easily dimmed. For those with elaborate lighting control systems and those who prefer to set the mood with none other than lighting, the shedding of incandescent bulbs may be much harder to do. I'm convinced that if it wasn't for energy consumption, most consumers would still choose the incandescent light bulb over the longer-lasting CFL just for the flexibility factor alone. And, don't dispose of those newer CFLs in the trash -- the mercury contained in them is poisonous. They need to be recycled in special collection facilities.
Just like computers, cars and refrigerators, there will always be newer technology to come along and replace the old. In the case of lighting, getting the same amount of light output in one-seventh the energy consumption is a tasty treat indeed. But incandescent bulb won't just fade away nicely, though. I suspect it will be with us for at least the next ten years at least.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-15-2008 @ 8:25AM
Victor Escobar said...
CFL's are just a transition technology. LED's are the future, and they *are* amenable to dimming, plus their output is tunable so that they can give off a more pleasing light that mimics the sun's output.
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7-15-2008 @ 9:39AM
Bill said...
I don't really like the CFL's because they seems to give off more of a yellow light as they age. New they are whiter. But
after a while especially if your trying to read, there just seems
to not be enough light to read with.
Then, on top of everything else, you have to disspose of them properly. And I really don't have a problem with that. But it would be nice to return the bad bulb (CFL) to a store and get a small discount on your purchase of a new one. It would be more of an encintave to keep people from just throwing them in the garbage can!
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7-15-2008 @ 10:15AM
LMB said...
CFL's may be more efficient, but they stink. Their lighting is much dimmer than the incandescent bulb even when I purchase the CFL comparible bulb. When I want light, I want bright light, which is much better for reading also.
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7-15-2008 @ 10:02AM
Barry said...
I guess I will be the last person to change from a standard bulb. The main reason is that I don't want to have my home possibly contaminated by mercury, vapor or otherwise.
I don't want to have my home nor myself covered with the dangerous heavy metal.
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7-15-2008 @ 9:28PM
Lori said...
I won't switch either. Those of us who get migranes can't stand flourscent lighting. It hurts my head and my eyes. I use regular bulbs- though mostly 25 watts, sometimes somethings needs 40 watts, but I don't use more than that.
7-15-2008 @ 10:14AM
Larry Bailey said...
Mandating the CFL is almost the worst decision the government has ever made. It's not the governments job to decide what lightbulbs we are to use in our homes and businesses. If one of the CFL's is accidentally broken, a Hazardous Waste Disposal Team must be dispatched to clean it up. I've purchased case's of standard 40, 60, & 75 watt light bulbs, for the inevitability of not being able to find them one day. I'll go back to candles before installing Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs in my home.
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7-15-2008 @ 7:45PM
Lisa said...
Larry,
I'm with you, I've been stocking up, but then also, I was raised from birth until 13 way out in the country and we have a lot of tornados, wild winds, etc., here in the South, so we used Oil Lamps. So candles and oil lamps would be my choice after the departure of Edison's pride and joy. Maybe "George Orwell" was a bit ahead of his time but it's coming, and all these things put together, I'll pack my butt up and go back to that little house in the country and have a nice retirement, growing my own veges, some fruit, and eat venison stored each year that my SO takes care of. He doesn't even have them mounted after 30 years of hunting and we are over-populated with deer that we even have a "doe season".
I don't want to offend anyone, this is just my opinion of what "I" would do.
"Opinions can be argued, CONVICTIONS you stand and suffer for.
Lisa
7-15-2008 @ 10:52AM
Rose Marotta said...
I agree about the new bulbs not being installed in my house. Even though they may save you more on energy, that savings is quickly over ridden by just one bulb breaking and releasing mercury. The Hazardous Waste Disposal Team that must come out to your house costs thousands of dollars and untill they deconaminate your home, you cannt live there. So while you save a few pittiful dollars each month on your light bill, if you break the bulb you now have to spend thousands on clean up, plus pay for living elsewhere for awhile, another couple of hundred most likely. And then top it off you poison your family with the mercury. I don't think that is worth a few extra dollars saved, especially if you have children, and I don't think that we should be MANDATED to make the change.
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8-04-2008 @ 5:28PM
Sputnik said...
Give me a break. Thousands of dollars for the Hazard Waste Disposal Team to make a house call and clean up after a broken lightbulb? They only contain trace amounts of mercury vapor, and you can just sweep up the broken glass and throw it out yourself. The problem is with every household in the country throwing them in the garbage, as there would be a cumluative amount of mercury in landfills as a result. A single broken lightbulb doesn't contaminate your home. How much is Big Lightbulb paying you for this fear-mongering? Are you and Larry Bailey working a tag-team on us?
All joking aside, I do hope they figure out a way to get them to work with dimmer switches correctly. Also, they don't put out as much of the visible light spectrum as incandescent do, so some colors look weird or faded. Hopefully LEDs will fix these problems, and save our soles from the looming mercury diaster!
8-22-2008 @ 4:19PM
Meezer Mom said...
This reply is actually for "Sputnik". There was actually a story on News 4 here in the DC area about a woman in suburban Maryland who had one of those bulbs break in her daughter's bedroom. Knowing the bulbs have mercury in them, she called her local government to find out what she had to do. They referred her to the EPA who told her she HAD to call out a HAZMAT team to clean it up and that she and her family would have to leave their house and not go back in until the HAZMAT crew had declared it safe. All at her own expense, of course! The amount of mercury in the bulbs may be small, but the reaction of local officials is rarely proportional to the problem. I have two very active cats as well as a roommate who suffers from migraines. I will not be putting these bulbs in my home. In my opinion, this mandate is the worst example of Congressional micromanagement of citizens' lives since the requirement for low-flow toilets (if you have to flush three times, how are you saving water?)
7-15-2008 @ 10:57AM
Krista said...
I hope they don't disappear completely! Migraine sufferers can't stand CFL's, they are so bright & when you have a headache or a migraine ( & you have to keep functioning) it just makes your eyes & head hurt more. I would much rather keep the standard bulb any day over the CFL's. So migraine sufferers beware we are in for a lot more pain if they do away with the standard bulb. And yes I have been a room where a CFL bulb was working & I had a migraine & it made it much worse....I couldn't wait to get away from the place we were visiting because I was getting sick. Been there, done that....
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7-15-2008 @ 4:03PM
Amber said...
CFLs, like other fluorescents, cycle. That's one of only three Migraine triggers I have. Besides triggering Migraine disease, they also can trigger seizures in epileptics.
7-15-2008 @ 8:05PM
Lisa said...
Krista;
I agree with you about the lights. At first I couldn't figure out what was this "smell" I would get, right before the AURA came on to onset my migraines. I finally realized it was the lights!! Again, give me a good ole fashioned oil lamp and some candles (stack up on wax as they will probably find a reason to take that off the market soon too!!) and I'll just move myself way back in the country and sit on my porch swing like I did as a child, and nothing is like a good book curled up in a feather bed, patchwork quilt, fireplace going, cooking on gas stoves because of the weather, and in this case, all I'd have to do is get some INDOOR PLUMBING (yes, this old house I grew up in until we moved to the "city" -- itty bitty city at the time) because I refuse to keep walking out there over the unsturdy bridge in the middle of the night as I think I could work that problem out before moving back!! I hated that! But well water for bathing in a 4-footed bathing tub, no television, no phone, no dryers, hang 'em out on the line, etc.. I know I going a little OFF TOPIC here but really and truly, how many of you wish our kids could experience what we did as children (as I mentioned above was my early childhood). At any rate, migraines hurt, and make you sick, and if you don't get away from the culprit immediately, you'll be in the ER getting a shot to stop the vomiting and pain, or maybe a doc you have FINALY FOUND who believes you REALLY HAVE MIGRAINES and works to find a remedy that works for you. Thanks for your post.
"Opinions can be argued; CONVICTIONS you stand and suffer for."
Lisa
7-15-2008 @ 11:11AM
Dolly said...
I don't like the looks of these new squiggly bulbs, and it seems to me we are going backwards in time instead of forwards using them. Wonder if they will put mercury back into thermometers once again for hospital use.
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7-15-2008 @ 12:02PM
Shawn said...
This is the biggest scam in HISTORY!!
These "ECO" friendly bulbs contain MERCURY and LEAD both are extremly dangerous to humans and the environment.
Whats worse is they keep shoving these bulbs down our thoats and never mention what they contain or how the package says to "DISPOSE of in a HAZARDOUS waste facility" .. Well I dont know about you but I have no idea where one is, and I will bet 90% of the america doesnt either and will end up throwing it away in the trash when it dies.
So in 10 years will have a mercury and lead problem to deal with in our lakes and rivers.
So keep on living "GREEN" you mindless sheep and keep on buying them so we can make a bigger mess.
p.s. for the record CO2 is not a HAZARDOUS gas.. plants need it to stay alive, and the CO2 levels will drop as plants flourish under these mildly high periods as the planet cycles up and down as it has for millions of years.
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8-04-2008 @ 2:08PM
Liz said...
Not only are CFL's bad for the environment, but there is only one place in the world that makes them and we are forced to purchase the lightbulbs from only them - CHINA!!!!!
So the trade off to "saving energy" is polluting our world and making China richer! We are not allowed to make them in this country because the EPA has banned mercury as it is hazardous!
What the heck is congress thinking to pass a law mandating the use of CFL's by the year 2014 and banning the incandescent bulb?
Who is profiting from this (because that has got to be the reason). There is no way they are thinking of the American people and what is best for them.
And why the heck didn't Bush VETO this new law?????
Honestly, I am really sick of all of the agendas - No One is for the people anymore!
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7-15-2008 @ 12:38PM
concerned said...
Energy savings and the chance to reduce consumption of electricity produced from fossil fuels is wonderful. Unfortunately CFLs are the next ecological disaster waiting to happen. Most people will simply dispose of them in their regular trash. Wait and see. Beyond that, if one breaks, you are supposed to have a hazardous material cleanup team handle the issue. How many folks will do that? This is a hugely bad idea which will have very serious consequences. Mark my words, and when it happens, remember you were told. LED lighting is safer, friendlier, and just as energy efficient if not more so. Most newer emergency vehicles are using LED warning lights, and they are quite bright. If we are going to "save the world" from the so called "evils" of traditional lighting, then lets be smart about it. CFLs are clearly dangerous to us and our environment, and are a very stupid answer to a questionable problem.
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7-15-2008 @ 12:42PM
Ken Layton said...
These news stories keep omiting the fact that this "phase out" refers to common household incandescent bulbs with a wattage of 25 watts or greater.
Not affected are incandescent miniature lamps, halogen lamps, projection lamps, oven/refrigerator lamps, special application lamps, car headlights, electric sign lamps like the 11 watt clear ones used on movie theater marquees and carnival rides.
Still to be addressed are the varying shades/colors of the light output from different brands of CFL's and some of them catching fire! Most CFL's cannot be used with dimmers, installed in enclosed fixtures, used in damp areas or in bathrooms. CFL's don't light reliably in cold weather if you use them outside. In some cases CFL's have triggered siezures in people.
What about people who have three way light fixtures that use a three way bulb? What about those people who need the brightness of a 150 or 200 watt bulb?
Sure I have a few of these CFL's, but I have found they don't get anywhere near their advertised life. When they burn out I throw them in the trash. Remember that ALL fluorescent lights have mercury in them as do mercury vapor and sodium vapor bulbs.
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7-15-2008 @ 12:38PM
Jon H. said...
I have three dislikes of the CFL's:
1. One of the biggest selling points: it will save you money on
your energy bill. True, until the power CO.'s see a loss and raise rates to make up the difference. ( Already happening with deregulation...)
2. Slow start up in cold weather. When theres a big bang in your back yard during a winter storm, you do not want to wait 5 minutes or more for it to warm up enough to see past the edge
of your porch. CFL's must be great in hot places like CA & FL were many of the EPA loving nuts live, but when you have winters that can reach a toasty zero degrees F or less, CFL's are not an answer. ( ESP when they're trying to eliminate the incandescent bulbs completely!)
3. What you use to light your home should be your choice!
The time they wasted trying take away a simple freedom of choice, is only worsened be how much taxpayer money is being wasted on this this and how much will be wasted by trying to enforce it. ( Light bulb police. Smuggling of bulbs from Canada! ) (Why don't they go back to wasting billions on sports hearings, the new flame retardent jock straps are giving male players an unfair gender advantage or something.) What's next, outlaw candles because of greenhouse gases?
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7-15-2008 @ 1:42PM
Daisy said...
I will not give up my SAFE lightbulbs until I absolutely have to. I think it is STUPID and WRONG for the goverment to try to force UNSAFE lights on us. I figure in a few years we will be paying a lot more then we saved thanks to those bulbs. A lot of people don't know or CARE that they have to be disposed of properly and will throw them in the trash which means they will end up in landfills which means mercury in our ground water. We think clean up from one broken bulb is costly and a HUGE mess, just wait until we have to deal with mercury poisoning in our drinking water.
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