#37 - Light enough?

I head the other night that the Phillips corporation is making a huge push into the florescent bulb business. They are calling for the end of production of incandescent lights by 2016. The announcement follows the recent introduction of legislation in California , Connecticut, North Carolina, and Rhode Island to ban the sale of incandescent bulbs. Australia recently announced it will begin to phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2010.

So is the end of the 128 year old incandescent light bulb (ILB) at hand? There are compelling reasons to make the switch. The ILB uses more energy to make heat then it does light. If the world were to change today to florescent bulbs we would reduce the annual energy demand for by the equivalent of what is generated by 30 nuclear power plants or up to 80 coal burning power plants. Moreover greater than 158 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 5,700 pounds of air-born mercury emissions would be eliminated.

Of course there is no free lunch. Florescent lights cost 5 -10 times more then ILB, though they last much longer. There is also the issue of energy to produce the florescent bulbs. They are much more complex with a small ballast built into the base of every bulb. When small florescent bulbs first came out the manufacturers separated the actual bulb from the ballast. When the bulb failed you just replaced it and kept the ballast. This model was bulkier and consumers never warmed to it. They just wanted an ILB one for one replacement. Now you have to throw away the bulb and ballast when the bulb fails.

I've changed many of our bulbs over to to florescent. We've gotten used to the white light for reading. Make sure to get ENOUGH light for the job. You probably ought to try some out soon.