The Light Bulb Problem

by Little Miss Attila on May 22, 2011

Standard incandescent light bulbs* will be illegal, starting [with 100-watt bulbs] next year, so I hope everyone is hoarding the wattages they use. In California, 100-watt bulbs are illegal to sell, so we’ve been buying them from Amazon.com.

The cleanup procedure for compact fluorescents, and a link from Althouse, who’s hawking incandescents through her Associates link. Go for it, because you are running out of time.

Remember: any time you buy something from Amazon, you want to access their site through your favorite blogger (which, uh–that’s me, right?).

From the Wikipedia entry on the phasing-out of incandescents:

The efficiency standards will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014.

Light bulbs outside of this range are exempt from the restrictions. Also exempt are several classes of specialty lights, including appliance lamps, rough service bulbs, 3-way, colored lamps, and plant lights.

By 2020, a second tier of restrictions would become effective, which requires all general-purpose bulbs to produce at least 45 lumens per watt (similar to current CFLs). Exemptions from the Act include reflector flood, 3-way, candelabra, colored, and other specialty bulbs.

* I accidentally typed “fluorescents” there, since I’d been researching just how difficult it is to clean those things up properly.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

yak May 22, 2011 at 9:10 pm

Tell me again why CFLs are better than the old ones…

Reply

ponce May 22, 2011 at 10:12 pm

100 watts?

What are y’all doin’, keeping your chicken coops heated?

Reply

Ric Locke May 23, 2011 at 6:20 am

Umm, Joy m’love, that first word should be “incandescents”. And it isn’t quite true, because gradualism is the order of the day.

It’s amusing to us cynics. For the first decades of its existence, the EPA was out to stamp out heavy metals — lead, mercury — with the enthusiasm of True Believers. Now, in order to Save the Earth, every American household is required to have a few grams of gaseous mercury on hand, stored in ultra-fragile glass containers. What’s next? Can we do our bit to Combat Climate Change by re-doing all the low income housing with lead-based paint?

Regards,
Ric

Reply

richard mcenroe May 23, 2011 at 8:16 am

Ric the next EPA plan is to avoid pollution at Yucca Mountain by keeping small amounts of expended uranium fuel in mason jars in our basements. If you’re an apartment dweller, a bedroom will do.

Reply

richard mcenroe May 23, 2011 at 8:21 am

Ponce’s only problem is, the CFL’s are on, but nobody’s home…

Reply

Roxeanne de Luca May 23, 2011 at 5:09 pm

Oh, snap. 🙂

Reply

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