California to ban traditional light bulbs?

[Matt Timion]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/energy_ca..._lightbulbs_dc

A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

[white90crxhf]

i guess that confirms i will never move to california, flourescent lights suck!

[QDM]

I guess you have never tried compact fluorescent lights. They use 1/5 the power of an incandescent light and I'll bet you couldn't tell the difference in the light they produce. I've been using them exclusively for over 15 years.

Q

"i guess that confirms i will never move to california, flourescent lights suck!"

[GasSavers_Bruce]

I guess a lot of Californians will be driving around without functional headlamps in a few years.

[SVOboy]

Go go california!

[rh77]

They have a serious problem with rolling blackouts in the Summer and power companies out-of-State ripping them off. If the end-user doesn't preserve the grid, then legislation has to.

I don't like "traditional" fluorescents, either - but the new, compact versions have a warmer look -- I've replaced 90% in the house with these, and after a while, you only notice that they're brighter and don't create as much heat.

I agree with the idea, but they should have a provision of making them more affordable (subsidies, etc), as they can be costly up-front for the average income. If it goes through, perhaps they'll be cheaper nationwide, which is also a good thing.

I can see it now in 2012: on "Cops" they'll have incandescent bulb sting operations...

RH77

[cfg83]

Hello -

My Mom used to buy the ugly/clunky circular flourescents in the 1970's after the energy crunch, so I have always been flourescent. When I met my future wife she was incandescent-only, but made the transition to flourescent.

My only complaint is their reliability. Sometimes they last as long as they claim, but sometimes they burn-out early. And *never* buy the light-level switchables, they burn out fast. The best thing to do is watch for the incentives. Sometimes you can get them for as-cheap or cheaper than incandescents. In that situation, it's a no-lose proposition.

I think the legislation isn't smart because it is an easy target for the GOP to attack. Incentives and penalties are the way to go. Cheap flourescents and "gross use" electric bill taxes.

CarloSW2

[GasSavers_DaX]

I just bought a new home in October 2006 and it came filled with incandescents. As each bulb burns out, we're going through and replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs.

I CAN tell the difference between fluorescent and incandescent from what I've seen, but the fluorescent units are getting better. The main difference I see is that the fluorescent bulb takes a few seconds to reach peak light output, while the incandescent instantly has the max light output.

The first place I put compact fluorescent bulbs was in my garage door opener. Even heavy duty incandescents were burning out quick due to vibrations.

[Silveredwings]

I bet LEDs will eventually replace flourescents. It may take a while to get them bright enough, but they should eventually be cheaper to manufacture.

[white90crxhf]

compact fluorescent lights? shows my ignorance, when i bought my house a few years ago the kitchen had a old circular style flourescent light, it was terrible.

i bought some GE lights that only use 17watts but supposedly put out light equal to a 60watt, i am not impressed with them, even if they do last 8 years.

I will look for some of these compact flouresent light bulbs and give them a try.