Full Thread: Turdcoil Nightbulbs
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Old September 17th, 2013 #33
Anders Hoveland
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 86
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CFL's have numerous different potential disadvantages. They take a few minutes to warm to maximum light intensity, they give off hideous quality of light, they emanate UV radiation, their lifespan is greatly shortened by being frequently turned off and on, many are not dimmable, some should not be used in an enclosed fixture. Some CFLs designs seek to mitigate some of these problems, but few solve them all, and these improved CFL's tend to be more expensive. CFLs also tend to have trouble lighting up in outside locations in very cold weather. These are just some of the disadvantages of CFL, there are several more. It's not a solution appropriate for every situation.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Faust View Post
I have changed every bulb in my house to pigtails. My electric bill the first month dropped by 30 bucks. They have since payed for themselves
Well of course they pay for themselves when the enviro-nazis have been jacking up the price of electricity in many states. In some cases, they have even been raising electric rates to hand out free CFL bulbs! My mom hates the spiral bulbs, but some man from the local utility company came by and they were offering to give 5 of them for free to each household. She was too thrifty to say no. The higher they raise the price of electricity to subsidize "energy efficient" appliances, the more money they "save".

As I am sure many of you are well aware, the state of California is in a hopeless fiscal death spiral. Most blame fat pensions for state workers, and an enormous influx of illegal aliens into the state, but wait there's more!
According to the Wall Street Journal, California is also burning money they don't have on Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs:
Quote:
"No state has done more to promote compact fluorescent lamps than California. On Jan. 1, the state began phasing out sales of incandescent bulbs, one year ahead of the rest of the nation. A federal law that takes effect in January 2012 requires a 28% improvement in lighting efficiency for conventional bulbs in standard wattages. Compact fluorescent lamps are the logical substitute for traditional incandescent light bulbs, which won't be available in stores after 2014."
Despite the fact they are swimming in red ink, left wing legislators in Sacramento still managed to find money to subsidize the forced adoption of these ugly light bulbs. The California Public Utilities Commission has handed hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds over to the electric company to drive down the real cost of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs:
Quote:
"...the commission last month gave the utilities $68 million of rewards, on top of $143.7 million of incentive pay previously awarded. PG&E pocketed $104 million total."
And guess who benefits from the government's force feeding of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs?
Quote:
"California utilities have used ratepayer funds to subsidize sales of more than 100 million of the bulbs since 2006, most of them made in China. It is part of a comprehensive state effort to use energy-efficiency techniques as a substitute for power production. Subsidized bulbs cost an average of $1.30 in California versus $4 for bulbs not carrying utility subsidies."
So there you have it, hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money wasted to force us to use a product we hate.