[Newsbot]

Title: B.C. switches off incandescent bulbs in 2011
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2011-01-01 15:57:04
Canadian

[Public_Domain]

[andyt]

This is utter bullshit. When you're heating your house, (ie winter) incandescents are a net savings of energy because of the heat they put out. Also, compact fluorescents have a much shorter real lifespan than advertised - so they cost way more to use than incandescents. And as the article points out, fluorescents are very polluting when disposed of - and nobody is going to recycle them. Also their light is fugly and way too dim, way too hard on the eyes. Have to convert to halogens I guess, assuming they will still be sold.

[Brenda]

$1:

If you break a CFL bulb, you should not vacuum it up, said Young. Instead, sweep the contents into a plastic bag and take it to a recycler.

Sure. Can anyone give me an example how to do that with carpet, instead of hardwood?

Other than that, I don't use 75 or 100 W bulbs anyway, so I don't give a flying ****

[sandorski]

Ya, most people use 60watt, so big woop. I stopped buying Incandescents a few years ago now, still have some in fixtures I rarely use.

[Canuckism]

These things will end up being banned in a few years...

[Gunnair]

andyt andyt:

This is utter bullshit. When you're heating your house, (ie winter) incandescents are a net savings of energy because of the heat they put out.

I've heard this argument before and I'm rather curious to see the proof of this.

[wildrosegirl]

$1:

But you can't just throw compact fluorescents out when they die and must recycle them, because they contain mercury, according to B.C. Hydro's Jennifer Young.

"CFLs should not be in the garbage for disposal,"

$1:

Each CFL contains about five mg of mercury, enough to make 6,000 gallons of water toxic.

Mercury can cause brain and kidney damage in humans.

I've been using these for about 10 years and this is the first I've heard of any of this. Once again, the general public is offered a "wonderful new product" without the full details of what the hell they're using. This should be good for another wave of health issues in a few years.

[Zipperfish]

Another day, another ban in BC. Welcome to the nanny state.

[ShepherdsDog]

There's also the warnings about how much UV radiation these bulbs give off.

[Zipperfish]

Brenda Brenda:

$1:

If you break a CFL bulb, you should not vacuum it up, said Young. Instead, sweep the contents into a plastic bag and take it to a recycler.

Sure. Can anyone give me an example how to do that with carpet, instead of hardwood?

Other than that, I don't use 75 or 100 W bulbs anyway, so I don't give a flying ****

They've thought of that already--that's why they'll be banning carpets next year.

[wildrosegirl]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

There's also the warnings about how much UV radiation these bulbs give off.

This has prompted me to do some Googling...

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/cfl-afc-eng.php

After reading this, I'd like to beat someone (badly) for approving this product for sale.

[Gunnair]

Frankly, I've been thinking about going away from CFLs. This just gives me some personal ammo...

[andyt]

Gunnair Gunnair:

andyt andyt:

This is utter bullshit. When you're heating your house, (ie winter) incandescents are a net savings of energy because of the heat they put out.

I've heard this argument before and I'm rather curious to see the proof of this.

Pretty simple. The "waste" from a light bulb is heat - it's going to be the same cost as using electricity to heat your home. Maybe a bit less efficient since the bulb will be on the ceiling, not where you want the heat to originate.

[Khar]

I've read the same thing as andty actually. From what I remember, under the assumptions that the electric energy for heating is not too different in how much it costs for lighting your house, then the cost to you of buying these sort of lights are nothing but the bulb, for about three quarters of the year for most Canadians (some regions, like the Vancouver/Victoria region or the Okanagan valley, for example, might be different) because the other costs for lighting also cut out the costs from your heating bill. The two end up being fairly interchangeable.

A few studies which have looked at these light bulbs and compared the two are supposed to have taken into account the impacts on heating and air conditioning systems between these two types of lights, in addition to environmental, health related, economic and other impacts for your typical Canadian household. I'll be honest that I don't remember anything from those studies, if I've even read one, but the fact that it's still being pushed for and even now legislated gives me a feeling I potentially know the end results of those papers.

It's been a while since I saw anything on that though, even in a news article, I only remembered because andty brought it up.