Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

[Tim]

Sad news.  I was provided with a rare opportunity to tour this plant in 1999 (thanks to chrisk).  We were received with a warm welcome and the plant engineers went out of their way to answer the many questions we had concerning lamp production, engineering, etc.   Another collector in our group was very fond of collecting only bulbs with clear glass, so the bulb's inner workings could be studied in detail.  One of the GE engineers caught wind of this and surprised us all at the end of the tour with several freshly made samples of General Electrical 3-way lamps made using clear glass envelopes - not something you see everyday!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html?referrer=emailarticle

[Anders Hoveland]

Regular incandescent light bulbs, at least those that screw into regular lamp sockets, could become sought after antiques in just a few years.

Most people in America do not realise that incandescent light bulbs could essentially be banned in 2020 under the current law. The exact details of the law are complicated, but that will be the overall effect. Incandescent bulbs will not be able to meet the 45 lumen per watt mandate.

Those spiral CFL "energy saving" bulbs leak out UV radiation, if none of you were aware. I cannot use them because they make my skin feel sore if I sit under one for too long. And "energy saving" CFL and LED bulbs have numerous other potential disadvantages and problems.

Nothing else puts out the same warm pleasing glow of an incandescent bulb.