Banning the use of Incandescent Light Bulbs

An article written By ROHAN SULLIVAN (Associated Press Writer)February 20, 2007 11:00 AM EST
Australia to ban old-style light bulbs, go fluorescent to reduce greenhouse emissions

I could really see our government making this kind of proclaimation but it would be nice if people would just act on their own and start replacing incandescents with CFL's (compact fluorescent lights). The power required for these bulbs is one forth the power needed for incandescents.

We could save enough power in this country to shut down 19 coal fired plants and to top it off it is economical to use these bulbs. I did a spread sheet to show this and even with the increase in initial cost, the bulbs last longer and need to be replaced less and save enough on power cost to save $8 to $10 per year.

So why would not everyone jump on the band wagon. Ignorance is part of the reason, initial cost is more, some of the cheaper CFL's do not last as long as quoted and the quality of light is not as great for these cheaper CFL's. By buying the CFL's that are $8 instead of $3 you still can save a substantial amount of money over the life of the CFL's. The CFL's can also be purchased that look like the old light bulbs and there are ones with a lower profile that will fit in tradition lamp fixtures.

Guess what this is only a transitional bulb because LED's are just around the corner that will last for your lifetime and almost never have to be replaced and require one tenth of the power of an incandescent.