GLOBES, enviro, political or financial?
Posted by: Inez6306
17th Nov 2010 04:45am
Light globes were flouro or incandescent. I could get 2 incandescents for a dollar. Most of them lasted for months, in either normal or dimmable light fixtures.Then came the enviro calls for only flouro,and incandescent were banned. The halogens , which are the only ones that work in dimmable lights, are 3.50 each. Flouros are about $6 for equivalent to 40 watt, but only work in ON/ OFF lights. In the last 6 months I have replaced most of the halogens every two weeks. Yet I would spend $100 or more to replace each dimmer switch light.
1/ where are the savings? 2/ where is the lesser impact on the environment? 3/ what about the gases in flouros? 4/ who persuaded the government to ban a cheaper item for a lesser quality, more expensive option? Does anyone else feel that the whole thing is a ripoff?
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Comments 16
gk
Sounds like your power supply is prone to sudden high voltage surges. Talk to supplier; get them to monitor line voltages. Handle halogen lamps only with a cloth; not direct skin contact. Running costs should be 70% lower than old incand. lamps. No problem with gas in flouro tube; just take unbroken tube back for recycling. Regards; technician graeme in Nelson, NZ.
chips48
I certainly agree with you. They really are a rip-off, and the light they give off is nowhere near as good as the old-fashioned light globes. Also, with the old globes, you could get different colours (soft white, daylight, etc), but with the new ones you seem to be stuck with just the same ones. We've even had to change our llight fittings to fit the new ones before they made them in the same shape as the old globes. I worry about the gases in them as well, and they certainly don't last any longer, if as long, as the old ones. Bring back the old incandescent bulbs. The only reason they brought in the new ones was to make us pay more money, and because of the so-called "global warming", which is also a rip-off and just a reason for people to justify their existence and their large pay packets.
mysteron347
We used to make globes in Australia. They were targeted at 1,000 hours life - any more and the manufacturers would make less profit, any less and the consumer would object to the replacement rate.
Then we started getting imports from Indonesia (and other places) at half the (retail) price. They weren't much good, but they were cheap and stole the market.
Then the government of the day saw an opportunity to grab some 'green' credentials and banned them.
Now we import all our globes - and no-one has a solution for disposal of the deaders. I don't believe they last as long as is claimed, but few people have the interest to log exactly when they installed them, how much they were used or even where they were bought. Even if you did log this data, it'd be questioned by the inevitable gormless gum-chewing 'customer service' clerk. After all, what kind of nutcase keeps all these records about something like light globes?
These globes flicker faster than the eye can follow, like the older types of fluorescent light. The pupil is perpetually opening and closing slightly - eyestrain is a well-known effect - and the politicians now require that you sustain eyestrain at home. Perhaps they, like the greenies, would be more comfortable if you went back to candles. The more expensive types of light use a different phosphor which fluoresces for longer so the flicker is reduced.
Personally, I laid in a large supply of globes when they were being sold off cheap, as I was well aware of the potential for the eyestrain problem. When one of these new types dies (which is all too often) I simply dump the thing. If the government is more interested in the short-term political gain from leading the moronic cheer-squad and the community is too stupid to investigate and object, why should I put myself out to compensate for their wilful ignorance?
Inez6306
Nusanan, that is my point...you CANNOT go back to the old incandescent globes! We have had our choice limited to halogen, avg $4 ea, flouro spirals, avg $10, and now LED, globes $15 and up, inbuilt fixtures start about $100. Frankly, somebody is making money from the legislation, and I fear it wasn't only the manufacturers....
dingodan
Havev you noticed that the supermarkets have stacks of bloody Edison Screw Flourus but the average house uses Bayonet Sockets including all reading lamps ! .
nusanan
I find these new light globes useless for reading or doing any close work i am going back to the old globes because they are causing eye strain
Inez6306
To Ollie: This was never about personal cost of the globes, although I find it outrageous! It is about the environmental costs of throwing away halogen globes after under 2 weeks of use at 5 hours/day. Compact flouros are STILL flouro, and need a careful disposal, as well as being restricted to non-dimmer fixtures. Both have nowhere near the life I had from incandescent, even the cheaper globes. I was careful with my use of lights, and so I find that there is little difference in my KWH ( not the costs, which have escalated). My questions were " How well were the globes researched?" , " Who stood to benefit from legislated retirement of incandescent bulbs?" and " How do we spark an inquiry"
RussJ
I was skeptical about the manufacturers of compact fluros claiming they would equal 8 incandescent bulbs and so now I mark the date when first installed to keep track of how long they work. Found generally the more expensive brands last longer - roughly three years in the kitchen where they are used daily. Actually bought a coles brand duo set and found one failed in about six weeks of use - took it back to the store to have it replaced free of charge. Probably was faulty manufacture as other one seems ok. Other major concern with CF lightsis the kelvin temperature of the light they emit. The white balance of these lights vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some give a very white light and other more yellow but this is not generally discernible from reading the packaging prior to purchase. Also I think they have a small amount of mercury in them so should be disposed of as toxic waste.
gk
For reading use lamp with 2700 degrees Kelvin temperature rating. At 6000 deg. K the lamp output is stark white: ok to use outside, but feels cold. Buy "Daylight colour" of "full spectrum" flouro tubes. Most chain stores and wholesale electical outlets now accept used lamps for recycling. There is a pin-head size amount of mercury in each lamp; so dont break the globe.
Ollie
Phasing out the incandescent light globes is about looking after our environment, not necessarily about personal cost. Have you worked out for the longer hours they run, perhaps this balances out the initial cost ?? I hear that there is no effective way of disposal after they are worn out, and if that is so, then I think it is disgusting that the incandescent are banned before new options are a complete system.
curleyross
What is the latest status on this from the Australian Federal Government? Are these bulbs safe to use?
PukPuk
Moved into this place in 1990. The 25w Mirabella incandesants are still running in the small rooms where lights are on for short periods. The new fluros are by far more efficient but only if they are used in areas where they are required to be on for longer periods of time. But I doubt if I have had any of them last the claimed 8000 hours.
Gypsy
This is all too much the same with the plastic bags. We were told to stop using these, but if you go shopping and forget the green bags, the shops charge for PLASTIC bags, some cases 10, 15, or even 20cents, again these big stores win. Why not bring the brown bags back. After all, the making of the so call green enviroment bags are worse for the enviroment when making them than the plastic bags we use to use and recycle. I don't care what these big companies say they achieve, they are behind the enviroment, what a load of crap. Another Government supporting ripoff ideas.
jamatock
supermarkets sell all cardbord etc so why would you expect them to give away free
jamatock
supermarkets sell all cardbord etc so why would you expect them to give away free
Ollie
Yes, I agree about the paper bags... where are they ? I don't know much about the green enviro bags, but they don't seem very organic to me. One good thing, I don't think they blow around as easily and are not so dangerous to our wildlife.
I guess the plastic bag fee is a punishment for not remembering the enviro bags. Think I heard that money does not go to the business, but back to some enviro cause..... hope so.
It's good at Bunnings where you can choose a cardboard box to carry your smalls. What's wrong with supermarkets... where are all their packaging cartons ???