Energy saving light bulbs...?

[Fozzer]

Hello my Chums... ;)...!

With all this worry about "Global Heating",  "Energy Conservation", "Carbon Footprints", "End of the World as we know it",  etc...etc... :o...!!

What is your opinion of "Energy saving light bulbs"....>>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

Have you had any experience of these (extremely expensive!) devices, compared to the
normal incandescent lamps, (available everywhere in your local Shop at 10 Pence/$0.25 each!), and what is your opinion of them?.... ...!

Paul...In the dark....as always... ....!

P.S. ...sorry about the rate of exchange

[ATI_7500]

We've been using that kind of light bulbs in our flat for many, many years now and I can only recommend them.

Next to the power saving aspect, their other advantage is the kind of light they're emitting...it feels considerably "warmer" and "softer" than light from normal bulbs.
The only downside I know is that the energy saving bulbs need two or three minutes to be fully lighted.

But they're well worth the money anyways.




Bj

[dcunning30]

meh, get the compact flourescent lightbulbs and save the planet, then you'll end up having to deal with the mercury.

[dcunning30]

...kinda reminds me of when the alarmists yelled about paper grocery bags.

[expat]

Don't know about the save the planet bit as they contain mercury, but they do use less power and that I notice when I have to pay the bill. I am more interested what's in my pocket at the end of the month........About the year 2000 I thought that it was forecast that we would all have our skin peeling of due to the effects of acid rain?

Matt

[Katahu]

...kinda reminds me of when the alarmists yelled about paper grocery bags.  ....ruin the planet they said, kills the trees they said.  so they created plastic grocery bags as the solution.  now the alarmists are yelling about the plastic grocery bags!  ...ruin the planet they're saying.  not biodegradable they're saying.  what alternatives do we have now?  paper grocery bags?

I hate those kind of people. They annoy me the most. They keep telling everyone to change their habits so as to save the environment; but when the habits change for the better, it's not enough for them. This reminds me of the debate with nuclear power. One of the members here in SimViation pointed out not long ago that the pollution created by burning coal was the main reason we switched to nuclear power in the first place.

I also remember watching a show on the discovery channel. It talked about ground-based wind mills that are used to generate electricity. However, that method proved to be ineffective because because the winds are not constant and you need large open land to get the best possible result. On top of that, winds are unpredictable. This is why researchers created sky-based wind mills. They look like little helocopters that are lifted up to the jet stream via ballons; there the constant wind brought by the jet steam will keep the rotors spinning at effective speeds so as to generate the best possible energy result. On top of that, the jet stream is easy to forecast. We know it's there and we know where it will go. That way, the sky-based wind mills will be raised and lowered accordingly. These machines work on the principle of auto-rotation. This method will allow homes to get more electricty from these things as opposed to drawing energy from ground-based mills.

These sky mills are also easy to manufacture do to their small design [one machine can fit on the back of a pickup truck]; compared to the ground-based mills, which require more materials to produce due to their size and structural integrity due to the high winds and height.

Source:

http://skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm

For some odd reason, this piece of technology seems to have been largely ignored by both sides of the debate. Gee, I wonder why.

[TacitBlue]

For some odd reason, this piece of technology seems to have been largely ignored by both sides of the debate. Gee, I wonder why.

I hate to say this, but it's probably been ignored because it looks weird. Believe it or not, that makes a difference to some people. That and it doesn't sound practical, even though that article states that tests have shown that it is practical.

Take this for example, if I invented a cold fusion machine that looked like a giant rainbow bunny rabbit, and required a hamster to do a back flip in order to turn it on, no one would care*. But if it looked like a normal nuclear reactor, I would be a hero.  ::)

*That's why I haven't don it yet.

[dcunning30]

For some odd reason, this piece of technology seems to have been largely ignored by both sides of the debate. Gee, I wonder why.

If people are forcing cellular companies to disguise their cellular towers as trees, do you think they will tolerate those devices going aloft?

[murjax]

As far as I believe, Australia is banning the incandescent light bulbs for environmental reasons.  ::)

[beaky]

...kinda reminds me of when the alarmists yelled about paper grocery bags.  ....ruin the planet they said, kills the trees they said.  so they created plastic grocery bags as the solution.  now the alarmists are yelling about the plastic grocery bags!  ...ruin the planet they're saying.  not biodegradable they're saying.  what alternatives do we have now?  paper grocery bags?  

The current ultra-trendy (and actually very sensible) solution is to bring your own canvas or mesh bag(s). I can't be bothered, myself... but the paper and plastic bags I bring home usually live many lives before they go to the landfill (or incinerator), so I don't feel too bad about it.

[beaky]

For some odd reason, this piece of technology seems to have been largely ignored by both sides of the debate. Gee, I wonder why. ::)

If people are forcing cellular companies to disguise their cellular towers as trees, do you think they will tolerate those devices going aloft?

I've always thought those camouflaged towers were uglier than plain ones. It's an affront to both trees and cell towers.  >:(

[dcunning30]

exactly!  When someone gets sick, just line a paper bag with a plastic bag, and you got something they can puke in!  When they're done, just close it up and put it in the trash!

Try that with an untra-trendy canvas or mesh bag!  

[beaky]

Almost forgot: yes, those bulbs do last quite a long time and use less juice to produce more light... the "daylight spectrum" ones have a more pleasing light, although after decades of seeing under either greenish flourescent or yellowish incandescent lights, the cool white of those lamps takes a little getting used to at first.

[Hagar]

[quote][quote]...kinda reminds me of when the alarmists yelled about paper grocery bags.

[ATI_7500]

The current ultra-trendy (and actually very sensible) solution is to bring your own canvas or mesh bag(s).

This habit has always been quite common here in Germany or maybe in Europe generally.


I think the problem is the different mentalities. While Americans seem to be like "Cut back? Voluntarily? LoL? No way!!!", Europeans are more like "Another regulation...*Sigh*...let's make the best of it.".

And even if the fuss is great in the beginning, you learn to live with it...ecology taxes, seperating waste (we've got three different thrash bins), high fuel prices, preffering the tram over the car...etc...