" GE had apparently considered a $40 million investment to retrofit the plant -- located in Winchester, Virginia, and employing some 200 workers -- to manufacture compact fluorescent light bulbs, but it says that bulbs made at the plant would have cost 50 percent more than ones from China, which is where the vast majority of CFLs are made."
I'd rather pay 2x the price for an American made bulb that doesn't explode.
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03:17 PM
cliffw Member
Posts: 37877 From: Bandera, Texas, USA Registered: Jun 2003
linky What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.
Thanks global warming greenie weinies. The Dumbocratic Congress it should be noted. The social engineers (by the way wanting to make big money from the climate exchange proposed to offset the non existent global warming crisis. Get out of the way guberment.
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linky If there is a green bandwagon, as Doyle says, much of the Obama administration is on board. As a means of creating U.S. jobs, the administration has been promoting the nation's "green economy" - solar power, electric cars, wind turbines - with the idea that U.S. innovations in those fields may translate into U.S. factories. President Obama said last month that he expects the government's commitment to clean energy to lead to more than 800,000 jobs by 2012, one step in a larger journey planned to restore U.S. manufacturing. "See, when folks lift up the hoods on the cars of the future, I want them to see engines stamped "Made in America," Obama said in an Aug. 16 speech at a Wisconsin plant. "When new batteries to store solar power come off the line, I want to see printed on the side, "Made in America." When new technologies are developed and new industries are formed, I want them made right here in America. That's what we're fighting for."
Ironic. The incandescent bulb being an icon for a good idea. What a dimwit, . Spain lost two jobs for every one green job created. If we can't manufacture a widget cheaper than foreign competitors, how are we gonna make engines and batteries cheaper, ?
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linky "Everybody's jumping on the green bandwagon," said Pat Doyle, 54, who has worked at the plant for 26 years. But "we've been sold out. First sold out by the government. Then sold out by GE. "
" GE had apparently considered a $40 million investment to retrofit the plant -- located in Winchester, Virginia, and employing some 200 workers -- to manufacture compact fluorescent light bulbs, but it says that bulbs made at the plant would have cost 50 percent more than ones from China, which is where the vast majority of CFLs are made."
I'd rather pay 2x the price for an American made bulb that doesn't explode.
I'd rather pay 3x the price for an American incandescent. The CFL's are STILL crap.
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06:17 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
We looked at putting 2 LED lights in our kitchen. Nice stuff, nice light, but very expensive!!! I am waiting for the price to come down to, but under pressure from my wife for new lights, we will get something, just not LED.
Alright, so what's this going to mean for people that use big incandescents for light and heat. Such as I use for reptiles and a friend uses for chicks and other young farm animals? CFL's have a bad history of allowing too much UVC light and that light is detrimental to reptiles and other creatures that need them for light. Am I going to be forced to use a long tube fluorescent and a ceramic heat emitter for my lizards and snakes? If the enclosure was large enough I could use a Mercury Vapor Bulb, but those are expensive and l throw off a LOT more heat than my enclosure can handle. I don't have room for a long tube fluorescent and a ceramic heat emitter is even less efficient than an incandescent bulb. I'm not going to subject my reptiles to deadly amounts of UVC light, so I'm screwed. I'm not the only one with that concern either. What are we supposed to do?
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06:58 PM
PFF
System Bot
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
No, no, of coarse I kid! Lightbulbs for that purpose are not going to dissappear for a very long time.
But from what I understand, the action is against all incandescents, there was no distinction made for those that are actually used for heat as well as light. Or am I missing something.
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07:04 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
But from what I understand, the action is against all incandescents, there was no distinction made for those that are actually used for heat as well as light. Or am I missing something.
I think there will allways be those kinds of lights available. Incubation, hobbiest, science, ect.
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07:07 PM
htexans1 Member
Posts: 9116 From: Clear Lake City/Houston TX Registered: Sep 2001
Some people really don't like the kind of light cfl's put out. Also can't use them in dinner circuits...
On a side note, I used to use a heat rock(only gets 'warm', never 'burning hot)and different types of lights for my iggy. He knew the deal, and would happily go from zone to zone depending on how he wanted to feel. The hot rock kept his tummy nice and warm- (good for digestion)
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07:38 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
Originally posted by Boondawg: All "green" aside, aren't incandescent bulbs only 5% efficient? 95% of the energy pumped into an incandescent bulb is lost in heat?
Not exactly but very close, and you have a good point.
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Originally posted by Boondawg: You wouldn't put up with that kind of loss in gas mileage, why would you with your lighting?
Let me first say that if I wouldn't put up with that kind of mileage, it would mean I had a choice. Freedom to make a choice. CFL's have been around for awhile and I have tried them. Perhaps I am conditioned to incandescent light but CFL light quality does not seem to be as good. My home has about half and half now. They do not seem to bother me as much anymore. They do work off of heat and need to warm up (not a long wait) so they do not work so well in the fridge or on the porch on cold evenings/mornings.
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08:09 PM
Blacktree Member
Posts: 20770 From: Central Florida Registered: Dec 2001
All "green" aside, aren't incandescent bulbs only 5% efficient? 95% of the energy pumped into an incandescent bulb is lost in heat?
Yup, and CFL's are around 20% efficient. That may not seam like a lot, but it's about 1/4 as much heat dissipated into the air, which means less heat for your A/C system to deal with. So the energy savings are two-fold. If you live in a warm climate ( like Florida ), that's a big deal. We converted our whole house to CFL lights about 5 years ago, and the effect on the electric bill was noticeable.
If GE were to manufacture CFL bulbs in the USA, I'd buy them. But I fear most of my fellow Americans would not. So I can understand their reluctance to convert the factory.
" GE had apparently considered a $40 million investment to retrofit the plant -- located in Winchester, Virginia, and employing some 200 workers -- to manufacture compact fluorescent light bulbs, but it says that bulbs made at the plant would have cost 50 percent more than ones from China, which is where the vast majority of CFLs are made."
I'd rather pay 2x the price for an American made bulb that doesn't explode.
Or burn out by the time you climb down the ladder.
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08:27 PM
Gridlock Member
Posts: 2874 From: New Westminster, BC Canada Registered: Apr 2002
I switched my whole apartment building common areas over to CFL's, and most of the apartments.
The reasons are two-fold. One, I hate running around and replacing bulbs. Apartments are tenants responsibilities of course but the common areas are a pain. The lobby was on 13 florescent tubes, running a ring around the perimeter in the front part, and 1 light in the back part. . Now, its brighter, more efficient and I have 15 lights spread around the entire room.
My favorite part, other than the lower power bill is the lack of heat.
It's sad to see incandescant bulbs dissapear. I like them, they really are my favorite bulbs.
Not to mention that I better stock up on utility bulbs because I'll never again be able to use my lava-lamps when they burn out.
That said, 95% of the bulbs in my house are CFLs. I am very careful about the ones I buy because the vast majority of the ones that are cheap are garbage bulbs. The circuits in them fry, and they certainly won't last the 5 years they say they will.
I buy GE and Philips CFLs. They all last a long time.
The truth is... they do give off SIGNIFICANTLY less light. The cheap small crappy ones still give off **** -loads of heat. My house in South Florida is late 80s / Ultra-Modern, so the light-fixtures aren't the typical carriage lamps you see on most of the homes up north. I have nautical / 80s wall bubble lights. I have small CFLs in them, and they get soo hot, that it actually cracked the class casing on one of the lighting fixtures.
In my house though, I had one room that had TEN 90watt incandescent bulbs. The room was always like a sauna. I replaced them with FOUR 25watt CFLs and SIX 11watt CFLs and it made a huge difference. The room was brighter, and cooler.
I still keep the incandescent bulbs for mood lighting (they just can't be beat).
What I DON'T like are hippie liberals telling everyone that they're evil and bad if they don't switch to CFLs. These same pinko-commies are damaging the environment even more by buying cheap CFLs. At the end of the day, an incandescent is nothing more than melted sand and metal which could fit into a beer cap. A cheap, crappy, CFL that ends up in the landfill has a circuit board, silicon, glass, tons of plastic, and of course Mercury (among other things).
Not to mention of course that incandescent come in corrugated cardboard containers, while CFLs come in THICK blister packs made of plastic that's a level 5-6 (which can't be recycled in most centers).
Definately seem to get what you pay for when it comes to CFL's in my experience, cheap ones seem to burn out quickly but I have one that has been outside on the proch for 7 years or so.
The original article was interesting, the Chinese guy they talked to said he took the American idea back to China and produced them with their cheap labour but now wants to open a factory in the U.S. as he has made the factory more efficient and says the vendors are looking for American made products because of public demand.
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10:51 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
The original article was interesting, the Chinese guy now wants to open a factory in the U.S. as he has made the factory more efficient and says the vendors are looking for American made products because of public demand.
Which brings up an interesting paradox; Does a factory that is owned by a china intrust, importing chinese raw materials, employing U.S. citizens, paying U.S. taxes, building a "U.S. Product" but shipping profits back to china, really a U.S. factory?
Is that "Buy American"?
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 09-13-2010).]
Which brings up an interesting paradox; Does a factory that is owned by a china intrust, importing chinese raw materials, employing U.S. citizens, paying U.S. taxes, but shipping profits back to china, really a U.S. factory?
Is that "Buy American"?
Does make you stop and think for sure. I've even heard of companies just repackaging Chinese goods so they appear to be made locally.
I often think about car manufacturers as well, sure they are employing american workers in their factories but I'm sure the U.S. would be doing much better if people didn't buy foreign vehicles as they do. I know it's way more complex than that but it is something to think about.
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11:17 PM
spark1 Member
Posts: 11159 From: Benton County, OR Registered: Dec 2002
I don’t see how a CFL could last in a clothes dryer or bake oven. Maybe there are ones made for high-heat operation but what’s the point? The more heat the better in some applications.
You can buy Chinese incandescent bulbs at the dollar store. That likely had more to do with GE’s decision than the transition to CFL’s.
My experience with CFLs vs incandescents... My old bedroom was a converted attic - flimsy walls and every time someone slammed the outside door, it would shatter the filament in the old bulbs. Went through one or two a month, maybe?
Switched over to CFLs and didn't have another burn out in the 3 years following. The light output is quite harsh and not at all pleasing to the eyes, but they are consistent and reliable.
I'm keeping my oldschool lamp, though. I like it for reading.
. Spain lost two jobs for every one green job created. If we can't manufacture a widget cheaper than foreign competitors, how are we gonna make engines and batteries cheaper, 
?
Here is an article I found comparing all three tyoes.
