Google?

[photon]

That's fine, you're just arguing the degree to which it has an impact; I agree it's small, but the impact isn't zero and has shown in the past to be very significant when scaled up, which was my original point; if these initiatives don't have the actual impact that's implied, what's the point of having them. I'd rather they make an initiative that raises awareness AND does something that has a net positive effect.

[FireFly]

I'd like to propose then an hour where no one farts. If everyone can avoid farting for an hour, we'll lower greenhouse gas emissions a bit. Oh yeah.

[Resolute 14]

I plan on leaving every light in my house on for an hour simply because I hate David Suzuki.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by photon

So I turn off all my lights in my house for an hour and save a bit of electricity, but then my furnace has to work a little more to replace the heat lost from not having the lights on, using more natural gas. Brilliant.

Originally Posted by photon

I never claimed it did the job of the furnace well

I think you are implying in your first quote that you end up with no net benefit by turning off the lights, due to the furnace having to make up for the heat from the bulbs. Therefore, you kinda ARE claiming they do the job of the furnace well, otherwise your complaint makes no sense - clearly if the bulbs do a poor job of heating, then the furnace won't have to work very hard to make up for them being off.

Originally Posted by photon

How evenly the heat is distributed doesn't say anything about efficiency. Forced air heating is for comfort. In-floor heating can accomplish the same thing.

Yah, 'cause it is in the FLOOR, not the ceiling. The floor heats the air, the air rises and heats the whole room. In-ceiling heating - like, say, racks of lightbulbs - isn't gonna catch on 'cause all the heat is going to stay up top.

Originally Posted by photon

The bulb/fixture and air surrounding the bulb are part of the house, so they are heating the house. It's not like that heat stays around the bulb, physics demands it flows away to cooler areas.

See, that's where I have an issue - it seems you're saying that the lightbulb is going to heat up the room, the "cooler areas". It just isn't so - the same effect I am alluding to with the fireplace example. The closer you are to the bulb, the higher the heat, and the effect of the heat is probably almost unnoticeable more than half a metre away.