Australia to Ban Incadescent Bulbs

[Bill Bumface]

In 3 years you won't be able to buy incadescent bulbs in Australia. Surely their economy will collapse, as we all know thats what happens when countries make policies to reduce their greenhouse gas output.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement Tuesday, saying replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs would cut 800,000 tonnes from Australia's current emissions levels by 2012.

CBC Article

[Sylvanfan]

I tried to do that in my house, but found that half my fixtures weren't really made to accomodate the compact fluorescent lights. I have a couple of the bulb type ones where the compact flourescent burned our really fast. Theres also a few where the dome doesn't fit after the compact flourescent is installed because the bulb is larger than a regular incadescent bulb...I don't know if it was faulty bulbs, or if these bulbs don't do well if they don't like being enclosed in a glass dome. It's easy enough to switch bulbs, but if you start having to change light fixtures.....it becomes a bit of a pain in the ass. I mean electricity isn't dangerous or anything and your average person who knows nothing about it SHOULD be trying to change all the light fixtures in his house. Plus you'll have a bunch of old light fixtures suddenly needing to be disposed.

[Flame On]

Haha Hulk!
Good for Aus that's something that's incredibly easy to mandate. If a traditional bulb manufactuer can't see the writing on the wall and make the leap....well you know. Market forces and all that.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I tried to do that in my house, but found that half my fixtures weren't really made to accomodate the compact fluorescent lights. I have a couple of the bulb type ones where the compact flourescent burned our really fast. Theres also a few where the dome doesn't fit after the compact flourescent is installed because the bulb is larger than a regular incadescent bulb...I don't know if it was faulty bulbs, or if these bulbs don't do well if they don't like being enclosed in a glass dome. It's easy enough to switch bulbs, but if you start having to change light fixtures.....it becomes a bit of a pain in the ass. I mean electricity isn't dangerous or anything and your average person who knows nothing about it SHOULD be trying to change all the light fixtures in his house. Plus you'll have a bunch of old light fixtures suddenly needing to be disposed.

You're right. They should give up before millions die trying to wire new light fixtures.

More likely: Someone makes smaller flourescent bulbs that will fit in said light fixtures. No one dies.

[ken0042]

The one issue I have is with lights on a dimmer. Or the light that I have on my front door is on a photo-sensitive switch. Neither application seems to work well with the CFL bulbs.

But most of mine are CFL already.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

You're right. They should give up before millions die trying to wire new light fixtures.

More likely: Someone makes smaller flourescent bulbs that will fit in said light fixtures. No one dies.

Hopefully it works that way. Just saying it's not as easy of a switch as it seems...

[Shazam]

Replaced most of my lights with CFL a while ago. No problems here. CFLs are getting smaller and smaller all the time.

[Cheese]

Philips G30 and G40 lamps are good for size issues...

Lamps

Color rendition is close to Incandescent at 2700k
Lumen output is less but works just fine.
Super Long Life - Lasts 5 years, based on 3-4 hours average daily usage

[MacDougalbry]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I tried to do that in my house, but found that half my fixtures weren't really made to accomodate the compact fluorescent lights. I have a couple of the bulb type ones where the compact flourescent burned our really fast. Theres also a few where the dome doesn't fit after the compact flourescent is installed because the bulb is larger than a regular incadescent bulb...I don't know if it was faulty bulbs, or if these bulbs don't do well if they don't like being enclosed in a glass dome. It's easy enough to switch bulbs, but if you start having to change light fixtures.....it becomes a bit of a pain in the ass. I mean electricity isn't dangerous or anything and your average person who knows nothing about it SHOULD be trying to change all the light fixtures in his house. Plus you'll have a bunch of old light fixtures suddenly needing to be disposed.

Go to Ikea, and search around. They have the tiniest compact flourcescent bulbs I have seen. In addition to oblong chandelier bulbs, they also have tiny globe lights that are about the size of a golf ball. These come in 4w or 7w... get the 7w version.

[tussery]

Hrmm if a country is that worried about the enviroment they wouldn't be supporting a buld filled with mercury vapor. I say start looking at green ways to make electricty. Or invest more money in LED research.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by tussery

Hrmm if a country is that worried about the enviroment they wouldn't be supporting a buld filled with mercury vapor. I say start looking at green ways to make electricty. Or invest more money in LED research.

Well Australia will be putting out 800,000 tonnes of CO2 less in 3 years. Your country who decides to invest in research instead will likely be putting out 0 tonnes less. I'd say doing both would be the best answer. This isn't costing the government of Australia all that much in the scheme of things.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by tussery

Hrmm if a country is that worried about the enviroment they wouldn't be supporting a buld filled with mercury vapor. I say start looking at green ways to make electricty. Or invest more money in LED research.

It is wierd that they are concerned about the environment to this extent. Austrialia is one of the heaviest polluters and one of the two major countries that haven't sign Kyoto. Good to see they are finally heading in the right direction.

[Frank the Tank]

Thats cool. I have a few bulbs, but my wife HATES the light they give off. I think she is just picky, but she does have pretty bad eyes.

Aren't incandescent lightbulbs one of the most inefficient devices ever made? I thought I heard that while watching How It's Made or something?

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Aren't incandescent lightbulbs one of the most inefficient devices ever made? I thought I heard that while watching How It's Made or something?

Yeah, most of the energy is converted to heat instead of light.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

The technology is about 100 years old so it's due to be phased out...I wonder if Steven will copy this policy as a quick green hit.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Thats cool. I have a few bulbs, but my wife HATES the light they give off. I think she is just picky, but she does have pretty bad eyes.

You'll need to try a few brands. They're all just slightly different. I find Ikea has ones have a very "pure" light that's not in the "cool white" range (which I hate). I normally stick to the ones in the green packaging at Walmart/Rona. I hate the Philips brand ones.

[calculoso]

Anybody have any suggestions on some CFL bulbs to choose?

So far, the ones that I've found need a lot of time to warm up before they get to full brightness.. and don't react fast enough or provide enough light for quick trips into a room. Is this typical or have I just not found the right kinds?

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Yeah, most of the energy is converted to heat instead of light.

I knew I was a genius. Now if I could just convince the wife.....

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Haha Hulk!
Good for Aus that's something that's incredibly easy to mandate. If a traditional bulb manufactuer can't see the writing on the wall and make the leap....well you know. Market forces and all that.

The government bans a certain good (Why stop there? We ought to ban everything that hurts the environment. Especially humans). What does that have got to do with market forces? Producers keep making those traditional bulbs, so I would say that market forces speak pretty clearly…

[firebug]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Anybody have any suggestions on some CFL bulbs to choose?

So far, the ones that I've found need a lot of time to warm up before they get to full brightness.. and don't react fast enough or provide enough light for quick trips into a room. Is this typical or have I just not found the right kinds?

I have had the best luck with phillips.

The ones I have are at about 90% brightness instantly, no noise or flicker.

I have been unsatisfied with the speed and brightness of Noma, Sylvania, Ikea, & Luminus (Costco), as they often are delayed for a second when the switch comes on and then are only at about 25 - 40% brightness for a minute or two until they warm up.

~bug