Light Bulbs Poised for a Big Change
Mar 30, 2009 – Tom Zeller, Jr, writing in The New York Times notes that the European Union [EU] adopted regulations on household, commercial and public lighting in March 2009. The directive contains language regarding “nondirectional” and other sorts of lamps, and it makes room for the halogen, a more efficient version of the standard incandescent bulb, which much of the world has used since Thomas Edison perfected it in 1879.
The key points in the new rules are these: The light bulb you’ve known is about to become extinct, and you’d better get used to compact fluorescent lamps [CFLs] , which may become the only viable alternative for many homes.
The European regulations will phase out the standard incandescent bulb by 2012, and are similar to those across the globe, from Australia, New Zealand and Japan to Brazil, Cuba, etc. In the United States, the Energy Act of 2007 established efficiency standards that will render most incandescent bulbs unmarketable by 2014.
Estimates vary, but the U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] puts the efficiency of a typical incandescent bulb at less than 10%.
Still, those data have thus far proved ineffective at getting many consumers to switch over, which at least partly explains the growing raft of legislation worldwide. And while it’s possible that researchers will ramp up development of alternative technologies like LEDs or even next-generation, high-efficiency incandescents, it seems more likely that, at least in the near term, consumers will have to get accustomed to CFLs whether they like it or not.
Levels of mercury, a necessary component in CFLs and one that can affect the nervous system with prolonged exposure, are also being reduced in newer generations of the bulb researchers said. Which is why the European Union, in issuing its new regulations, prepared a pre-emptive list of “frequently asked questions” about compact fluorescents found at its Web site.
I find in my house that the bulbs are slow to get to full brightness, usually over 1 minute. Also, unless you pay for extremely expensive bulbs, the typical CFLs will not work with dimmers and all the high hats in my house use dimmers. Some new dimmers will work with CFLs, but these and the special bulbs will not provide a reasonable payback on the investment.
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