Battle of the Bulb

[caraher]

I'm not sure which hurts more here, the evil or the stupidity...

http://www.nationaljournal.com/battle-of-the-bulb-20110708">Battle of the Bulb

House Takes Aim at Efficiency Standards

By Coral Davenport

House GOP leaders are ginning up excitement for this week’s high-wattage vote to roll back lightbulb efficiency standards—or, as Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, likes to call it, the “Save the Lightbulb” bill.

The bill, and the rallying cry of “Save the Lightbulb!” have become unlikely hallmarks of the tea party movement, touted by presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann and talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Tea party conservatives have targeted an obscure lightbulb efficiency provision tucked into a broad 2007 energy law as symbolic of what they call government overregulation. They passionately decry the law as a “ban” on the familiar incandescent lightbulbs that Americans have used for most of the last century.

<snip>

After meeting with Philips, some Republican energy-policy staffers privately admitted that rolling back the lightbulb law seemed like a bad idea, especially when they saw that the efficient bulbs looked exactly like the old bulbs, and learned that manufacturers feared they would hurt their bottom line.

Despite the quiet heartburn that the bill is now generating in some moderate Republican offices, GOP leaders are still driving it forward, in hopes that the House floor debate will generate campaign talking points for tea party candidates across the country—including Bachmann.

I thought "moderate Republican" had become an oxymoron...

[hedgehog]

1. and to think, LED bulbs are rapidly approaching the cost/utility

point that makes them worth buying.

I figure by the time my CFLs go dark, I'll be replacing them with LEDs.

My biggest problem with CFLs? I have a lot of crystal light fixtures that used to get washed whenever I changed bulbs. Now I have to haul out a ladder and take them down especially to wash them.

[txlibdem]

2. LED bulbs solve the problems of both the old incandescent and CFL bulbs

CFLs take up to 2 minutes to reach full brightness -- LED bulbs turn on at full brightness immediately
CFLs come in only the screw in type and 360 degree lighting -- LED bulbs come in all shapes, sizes, colors and plug types and spot or flood lights
CFLs do not last as long as they claim, I've replaced 4 in one year in my kitchen -- LED bulbs actually last longer than they claim
CFLs put out a "yellowish" light that is not the same as incandescents -- LED bulbs light looks exactly the same as incandescents we're used to
CFLs contain a tiny amount of mercury (which is poisonous) -- LED bulbs contain no toxic chemicals and are solid so they won't break as often

All the major light bulb manufacturers will have LED light bulbs in mass production by 2012: GE, Sylvania, NEC, Sanyo, Philips, and now a Florida company called Switch has beaten them all to market with high quality LED light bulbs priced far less than the competition. LEDs are looking up.