California Proposes to Ban Incandescent Lightbulbs

zhang1983 writes to tell us CNN is reporting that California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs with the "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act". The act will promote Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) to replace the inefficient incandescent lightbulbs. According to him, "Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications, meanwhile, they remain incredibly inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the energy they receive into light."

Comments

Cool, but what about the mercury?

[ZipR]

Don't most CFL's contain a small amount of mercury? What are we supposed to do with them when they go bad/break/whatever? Maybe this should also come with a CFL recycling bill.

Re:Wrong target

[vought]

This is the dumbest goddamned thing I've ever heard of.

I use CFLs here at home. Have for years. But the idea of making incandescents illegal is ridiculous.

What will studio photographers do? How about people who are sensitive to the noise many CFLs make? What about legacy fixtures that CFLs don't fit into?

Run a public information campaign instead.

Re:Great!!

[rapidweather]

I replaced as many incandescent bulbs as possible in my house with these new lights.
Sure, there are some left, but I'll go to the store and come back with more!
You get used to them quickly, they do have a short hesitation before lighting up, and some require a warm up of a few minutes to reach full light. Most don't.
I have one outside in the carport that comes on instantly, but it is an old style florescent, in a circle-shaped package. It really is instant, no problem.
On one, you get about 35 watts of light (incandescent) for 7.5 watts. That one cost more, but I love it.
Only problem is paying for all the new lights. Most people want a replacement bulb for one that has burned out, the cheapest they can get. The 7.5 wall bulb aforementioned was about $7.00. I hope it lasts forever...
The sooner you replace those incandescent bulbs, the more you save. Can't use them on a dimmer controlled circuit, or one with an infared motion detector sensor. Probably not a good idea to replace the incandescents in the refrigerator, mine has several, in freezer also. You can try that, but some compact florescents are dimmer when cold.
Here is a good link for information on the new bulbs, and how they can save money.
Get to the store, however, to find the less expensive bulbs in 4-packs, etc.
That isle will have a lot of interested shoppers, so be forewarned.

Rapidweather