Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?

[California]

Meanwhile, solar and other non-petro energy sources are coming online. Solar in particular is dropping in cost year by year making it more profitable to invest in. And meanwhile improvements in efficiency like we have been discussing here can also reduce demand. This will lead to big changes - less demand for the traditional petro and coal energy providers, and perhaps pushback by the ones that don't convert themselves. Over on the public utilities side, customers producing their own solar buy less energy but want improved distribution systems so they can sell energy to the utility. I saw an interesting comment recently - an energy analyst from Hawaii spoke at a conference and opened with the line "I've come from the future to speak to you today". Hawaii has so much solar that the utilities are having to respond to falling energy demand, increased demand to improve transmission lines, and of course a continuing responsibility to make a profit for utility stockholders. All in a regulatory environment that never contemplated customers selling energy to the utility, and lacking a model for fairly distributing infrastructure cost.

Let's not go all political and get us all banned but I think just describing the challenges facing the energy sector of the economy - in a neutral way - should keep us out of trouble.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I know of one aluminum plant that shut down last year due to the economy. It has created a whole power plant of extra capacity.

 

[SPIKER]

Larry may have read the same story I did...

"In response to tepid demand, electricity production in the U.S. fell in 2008 and 2009, amid the recession, then ticked up slightly in 2010 before falling again in 2011."



Electricity Use on Wane in the U.S. - WSJ.com

It started ticking down even prior to the 2008 depression as people switched from older energy sucking devices to more efficient ones. This was helped along by the Energy Rebates of 2009/10 which put a LOT of new devices into consumers hands/homes.
Factories moved south of the border and to Asia by hundreds per year from 2000 or so up after NAFTA passed. In the recession the Factory moving trend ended as Asia and Mexico wages came up (quality went down) and so many in US were unemployed no one was buying.

By 2011 the switching to more energy efficiency continued (including CFLs etc) but the bigger one was old PCs were shut off in favor for LCD TVs, Lap Tops and Smart Phones which all use a great deal less power. Then we have the decrease in labor hours for 2011 on as less workers put in full time and more part time.

Anyhow lots of problems with pin pointing but the facts above points to a great deal of lower consumption. The entire process has led to lower energy demand from electricity generators ever after EPA is forcing many Coal Fired plants to close we have an excess of power under normal conditions. These COLD temps have forced some rolling blackouts just as if it was HOT...

Mark

 

[California]

sure wish I could get the $4.97 CREE Home Depot price in Washington DC here in California where the best is at least double that.

Good news!

On your way to Tahoe, the Home Depots in SMUD's service area have special pricing. Today I paid $7.97 (+tax) for that same Cree bulb that was recently $12.97. It is 60 watt equivalent / 9.5 watt, Warm White, 800 lumen. Quality and electrical efficiency are top tier. I installed this Cree 9.5w bulb in place of an 18 watt CFL. The Cree is brighter.

 

[sixdogs]

Good news!

On your way to Tahoe, the Home Depots in SMUD's service area have special pricing. Today I paid $7.97 (+tax) for that same Cree bulb that was recently $12.97. It is 60 watt equivalent / 9.5 watt, Warm White, 800 lumen. Quality and electrical efficiency are top tier. I installed this Cree 9.5w bulb in place of an 18 watt CFL. The Cree is brighter.

I still don't get it---if that bulb is as bright as a 60 watt incandescent, how can you see anything? Even 100 watt is dim.

 

[MikeInEburg]

I still don't get it---if that bulb is as bright as a 60 watt incandescent, how can you see anything? Even 100 watt is dim.

That's my beef too! Very few 100+ watt equivalent bulbs out there.

 

[California]

All true. They still don't sell a general-application bulb.

I use the Crees in the downstairs hall and the upstairs stairway/hall. These run 24/7 when we are away, to make the house look occupied, so that is where they are most useful. 60 watts (equivalent) of light is just right for walking through these pass-through locations when we are home.

Outside porch lights are a similar application.

An occupied room needs more light, a 100 w equivalent CFL or better, minimum, and won't run as many hours per year.

 

[grsthegreat]

its simple, you onlt need to add 4 LED lights to replace the existing 100 watt incandescent. ohoh, that means youll still need 100 watts of power.

thats the rub. I saw 4 packs of 60 watt equiv at Home depot for $19.95, but the're all some Chinese knockoff brand. dont think so. I bought a 72 pack of 60 watt incandescent lamps from my supply house for $19.75 cash. ... thats $ 0.27 each, and that should last me for some time. I also have a case of 100 watt incandescent i bought last year. Have lots of 65 watt incandescent in my normal stockpile, as i use these lights on a weekly basis.

Funny thing is they also banned the 40 watt incad light this year. who the heck uses 40 watt light. there a useless lamp.

The building codes here in Idaho now REQUIRE 50% of all new house lighting to be either LED or spiral florescent. There forcing it on everyone. The dimmable florescent arnt worth the dynamite to blow them up. The dimmable LEDS are so expensive they generally cost 4x what the light fixture costs. Try explaining that to a client. Also most (not all) dimmable leds and florescent wont work on standard dimmers. You need the new brand of dimmers that take 1-2 seconds to operate. So now when you flip a switch, the lights dont even turn on for up to 2 seconds.

They end up flipping on a series of switches in an effort to try and find the right one. this drives the clients absolutely nuts. Ah, the modern convenience of a light switch has now gone away.

 

[Scooby074]

I think some of you guys who say a 100W is too dim need to see an optometrist or something!

There isnt a 100W bulb in my house, all the lights are 60W and 40W equivalents. Even the halogen spotlights at the chicken coop are only 90W and we can see just fine. I dont understand the need for enough light to play a nightime ballgame in the living room

 

[grsthegreat]

I think some of you guys who say a 100W is too dim need to see an optometrist or something!

There isnt a 100W bulb in my house, all the lights are 60W and 40W equivalents. Even the halogen spotlights at the chicken coop are only 90W and we can see just fine. I dont understand the need for enough light to play a nightime ballgame in the living room

i have 12 foot ceilings in my living room. Just try and get a few 60 watt lamps to light up your reading materials. Now, if the fixture uses multiple lamps, than 60 watts are ok. Some of mine use only 1 lamp.