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Author Topic: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs  (Read 32421 times)

Offline Carl Wright

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Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« on: September 09, 2009, 01:28:50 am »
This is what the Germans feel about going to energy light bulbs.  What do you think the Americans
will feel about the change to more energy efficient light bulbs?

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/business/2009/09/08/pleitgen.germany.bulb.boom.cnn

Offline adam2

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2009, 07:15:40 am »
With todays concerns re the enviroment and the depletion of fossil fuels I find it very sad that people are willing to go to so much trouble and expense in order to waste energy.

I wonder if those who "fight for incandescent lamps " are the same people who oppose the building of new power plants ? I suspect that they are.

Incandescent lamps certainly have theire uses, and will still be permited for certain specialist applications, but should we be really still be useing them for general household and similar illumination ?
They belong in a museum such as this one ! not in everyday use.

For most applications CFL is the way forward, with LEDs worth considering for lower powered, directional or coloured lighting.
Were incandescent is considered essiential, then mains voltage halogen lamps are available that are slightly more efficient than non halogen types, and JUST scrape within the new effeciency requirements.


As far as I know, lamps of less than 60 volts are still permitted, as are pilot lamps, torch bulbs, vehicle lamps, and those required for specialist industrial uses.

I have stocked up in case I need incandescents for any specialist purpose in years to come, but I certainly have no intention of useing them for everyday domestic lighting, nor any intention of supplying them to others for such uses.

I switched to flourescent, compact flourescent and metal halide years ago, and now use a few LED lamps.







Offline Christmas Lamp

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2009, 04:23:20 pm »
I Don't think it's a Case of not Likeing the energy efficient light bulbs.... I Think its about being TOLD What we Can and Can't do in Your OWN Home, I thoght that the West had The freedom to CHOOSE... But That Right is being Taken away.... I Think Thats what its REALLY About....

Thoughts Anyone
I love Any Bulbs be They the Light up kind or the kind that Grows!!!

Offline adam2

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2009, 09:06:54 am »
If I were in charge I would not have prohibited energy wasting lamps, but would have very heavily taxed them in order to discourage use.
A tax of say ?2 per lamp would ensure that they cost more than energy saving alternatives.

I suspect that in fact these lamps will still be available in street markets and the like, after all if stolen bicycles, illegally imported cigaretes, and pirated DVDs are sold openly, then I doubt that a few lamps will be of much concern.

A worrying number of people use incandescent lamps out of habit, if reputable stores stop selling the lamps, then such people might start useing more efficient lamps.

Offline Nick D.

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2011, 06:53:50 pm »
The irony is that there's nothing wrong with using incandescent lamps in colder climates... they give
off heat which in turn heats your home (marginally). It's not as if they mysteriously lose energy that
you can't benefit from! It's also ironic that they promote CFLs as being 'greener', despite the fact
that they use much more and many more material(s) in their manufacture, some being
 non-environmentally friendly.

Offline adam2

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2011, 06:47:25 am »
The use of incandescent lamps is less of a concern in cold conditions since the "wasted" energy does indeed appear as heat and may reduce the need for other heating fuel.
In many cases though it wont help since most lamps are at high level and increasing the ceiling temperature from 24 degrees to 25 degrees wont reduce the fuel used to heat the lower, occupied parts of the room.
And remember that the electricity wasted by the lamps is expensive electricity, whereas any saving is likely to be relatively cheap oil or gas used for heating.
In hot weather the use of energy saving lamps reduces the need for air conditioning.

CFLs do indeed take more energy/materials manufacture than incandescents, Phillips state about " two or three times as much". It is however incorrect to compare a single CFL with a single incandescent since the CFLs last longer.
The correct approach would be to compare the energy/materials used to make ONE CFL with that used to make TEN incandescents. This would show a saving.
The widespread use of energy saving lighting not only reduces the fuel burnt in power plants, but also delays or reduces the need for building new power plants, thus reducing the energy and materials used in power plant construction.

Offline Nick D.

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2011, 08:44:11 pm »
Ah, what can I say? I'm an incandescent junkie.  :-D
We were eager to try CFLs in our home but to our dismay, they were short-lived... more so than even the incandescents we were trying to replace them with. We tried some in the basement and (floor) vibration killed them within a year. Had some in other places that also quit in short order... and to this day we have only 4 remaining ones in a single enclosed fixture upstairs that gets infrequent use.

Offline Yulelights76

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2011, 10:51:20 pm »
I have to agree with Christmas Lamp. I don't like some government agency telling me what I can buy.
My biggest gripe with CFL bulbs is they are noticeably dimmer when first turned on and don't reach full brightness until after about 2 minutes. This gets worse as the bulb ages. Also they don't work well in extremely cold or hot environments.
Most of the lighting in my home is conventional fluorescent or CFL, except for a crystal chandelier which WILL stay with incandescent bulbs. Yes I stocked up on chandelier bulbs.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2011, 11:47:40 pm by Yulelights76 »

Offline nicholaskheinrich

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2011, 12:53:49 pm »
I live in a cold climate, so incandescents are beneficial, except in the summer. I also prefer the softer light of incandescents. My thought is that, while cfls take less enrgy, and less materials compared to the 10 equivalent incamdescents, they use mercury. There are recycling programs for their safe disposal, but most people just throw them away, and while landfills are getting better at containing hazardous materials, mercury is just too hard to contain. Not to mention the countless hazardous chemicals in the ballast. Also, as others have said, they do not work well in moist environments (i.e. bathrooms), cold environments, or extremely hot environments, I also have yet to see a cfl last 10 years. If we just build more wind turbines instead of more coal fired power plants, then who cares how much energy we waste.
Nicholas K. Heinrich

Offline Anders Hoveland

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2013, 05:20:30 pm »
I am stockpiling on incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs simply do not give off the same quality of light. Perhaps in the future LED lighting will get better, but I am not taking any chances. All I know is that I have tried or researched all the lighting options available now, and am not satisfied with any of the alternatives.

Those spiral CFL bulbs give off UV radiation and make my skin feel sore. I can begin to feel it after about 10-20 minutes. I am much more sensitive to this than most people, but I cannot imagine all this additional exposure to UV is a good thing for everyone else either. The strange thing is I do not seem to have much of a problem with sunlight. Besides that, CFL bulbs give off awful light. It has an annoying pink tint, makes all the colors in the room look a little greyish, and strains my eyes.

I also do not believe "energy efficient" lighting is actually going to save me any money. It is very cold where I live. I have a little electric space heater turned on all the time in the evenings, and often the mornings too in the winter. It makes absolutely no sense for me to be using "energy efficient" lighting when I am simultaneously using an electric heater. Incandescent bulbs may not give off a lot of heat, but they are 100% efficient in my home where any additional heat is more than welcome.

There are also numerous reasons to believe that CFLs are actually worse for the environment. This is a very complex (and controversial apparently) issue that I do not want to get into in this thread. I will just say there are a number of factors unique to CFLs that people are not considering, not to mention that they are all being made in Chinese factories. I will also just say that the rated lifetime and light output of CFLs only holds true under certain optimal conditions.

« Last Edit: February 02, 2013, 05:35:16 pm by Anders Hoveland »

Offline funkylamp

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Re: Germans stock up on traditional lightbulbs
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2013, 04:21:01 pm »
 I dont like the bans going around Either,  there is just too many application were you cant banned incandescent
  first of all I have a 12 by 20 shed on solar power, where I have enought power to burn energy wasting lamps
  it just all about energy management. I use 4 x 100 watt incandescent in my building for heat and light so it not wasted there
 but in the summer time due to my energy demands pretty much on Air conditioning in hot summer Texas.  aslo I used incandescent
 to keep the pump house from freezing up wich 100 watt lamps is perfect for this application as well. so banning lamps have unintended
 consquences. there for I have about 6 cases put away.