Why LEDs Are the Light of the Future

"What do you plan on doing once the ban is in place?"

What I plan on doing is voting before the ban takes place.

I plan on voting before the ban AND buying a large quantity of incandescent bulbs.

Wait, wait! Don't we BUY electricity? The more we buy, the more money the utility companies make. What is the big deal? What is the justification for doing this? I'm going to stockpile 100W bulbs.

What I plan on doing is voting before the ban takes place.

Me too.

I've been experimenting with lighting for years and have tried some LEDs lately in the GU10 240VAC format with some interesting results. I have installed some 3watt single led types in recessed downlights, they are good to read by but are really spot lights. Light coloured tiles help spread the light around a bit. They are much better than the 50 watt halogen lamps that came with the fittings.

When compared to the CCFL downlights nearby they aren't as good at area lighting. I use a 1 watt GU10 (with about 20 leds) in a desk lamp controlled by a timer to come on at 04.00 and it lights the room up gently and well.

I find the comment about not attracting insects interesting and will experiment with that idea. My wife will check it out as she watches TV long after I turn in.

I got rid of most incandescents ages ago as I don't like the harsh light, I had to put one back in the security light as the control won't operate correctly without the resistive load.

I have seen LEDs coming in for indication for the last 35 or so years and they are especially useful in underground coal mines. I've not been underground for a few years now, but the improvement in light quality, safety and battery life are light years ahead of the rubbish we were using. A cap lamp with a couple of AAA batteries and LEDs gets about 10 times the battery life of the old 2 Kilo 4Volt lead acid battery and incandescent lamp that has been around for ages. Machine lighting has always been a problem with 20 to 50 watt 12 volt halogen lamps in brass flameproof (Exd) fittings that weigh about 5 Kilos. They get hot as hell, but not above the 150deg C that will ignite methane. The flameproof alternators are as unreliable as all hell. With LEDs the system can be made both intrinsically safe (Exia) and encapsulated (Exn) giving two complete systems of protection instead on one (Exd). The tearing of FRAS hoses protecting the non Exia cables is a constant risk, they certainly can spark and ground fault protection is now fitted to Exd alternators as a safeguard. Exia is designed to withstand multiple failures before a spark can occur.

LEDs already have useful applications and peripheral technologies such as diffusers should help make further inroads especially in area lighting.

LEDs are clearly far better than any other kind of general purpose lighting its shameful they are not being mass produced. No doubt the introduction of the poorly engineered CFL system has retarded the indroduction of LED systems because of all the time and money invested. There are so many poorly engineered systems in use because vested interests retard the introduction of better systems I sometimes why revolution has not been used as a cure(a cure worse than the cause)since nothing else seems to work. Making new laws might worse than a revolution would be. And voting makes no difference because you can't know what is being determined by the change of personal making the rules.

" After January 1, 2012, 100W bulbs will no longer be available… What do you plan on doing once the ban is in place?"

If LED lighting is still prohibitively expensive, I guess I'll have to install more light fixtures.

Is there something wrong with the diagram at #7 comment? It looks like the LED uses more energy per watt than the CFL. How does that square with facts about how the LED is much brighter per watt?

CFL? I see no CFL trace in the diagram.

In the diagram what they mean by "relative energy" is intensity. It's just a spectrum, not an indication of energy consumption. It is intended to give an idea of what the color temperature of the bulbs are. I hope that helps.

Though I agree with A.H. we should not be legislated on how fuel consumption is used next they will want to take away recreational uses. No more skiing or fishing from that new boat you bought.

As far as changing I did so 5 or more years ago. Not entirely because of the savings on my electrical bill. More so because got tired of changing the incandescent lamps. Seemed like every time you turn around one was burnt out. One thing the mandate may do is hold our rising medical cost at bay for short time. Wonder how many people fall from chairs changing the old incandescent lamps? Not as many changes not as many falls.

Another question need to be answered more CFL means more mercury introduce to our environment as waste. Does the increase in one waste justify the decrease in the the other CO2?

I will also vote against those that I can who support the ban. I will also stock up on certain incandescent bulbs. But...

I will look at LED lighting as better designs become available at reasonable prices.

The problem here in Virginia seems to be...

We get constantly pounded to save energy in every way possible. "It's our patriotic duty as good Americans." Then the electric company applies to the State Corporation Commission for a rate increase because they aren't making enough money because people are using less energy, and my rates go up.

So, what's the reality? Save energy only to pay higher rates? Does this really lessen our dependence on foreign energy sources? Or does it just enrich our utilities(and those who regulate them)? Is this a concise energy policy? Or is it just a feel good movement by those heavily into green?

You decide. I call it BS.

Hooker

I hate to be picky but there seem to be a lot of people on here who's view is screw the planet and screw our children's future!

I have changed to CFL's partly because i got them free from the local energy companies, i got so many free that I now have years worth of spares but mostly because i was sick of paying so much money to the electricity company to use 100W bulbs becuase they use so much more power. You have the additional costs of regularly having to buy new bulbs every time they blow as well. Along with the additional danger that in the house i lived in at the time every time a bulb blew it tripped out the power for the whole place so you would be plunged into total darkness and have to try to feel your way to the fuse box to reset the trip switches.

I am not in the US but they have already banned the 100W bulbs here and there have been no real problems that I can see.

I think that some people need to start thinking about others and about the future and not just think about themselves and there own little world.

"I think that some people need to start thinking about others and about the future and not just think about themselves and there own little world."

Ahh, the standard liberal retort. Attack the person, not the issue. You don't know me from Jack, or my practices and beliefs related to ecology.

I will say this. I am a freedom loving individualist who will stand up and defend your right to believe what you will, even as you are condemning me.

That said, and to keep this on topic, there is no way I will knowingly use a product that contains a known carcinogen (in however minute a quantity) without a programmed method of sound disposal. CFL's have mercury and while there are lots of "suggested" ways of disposing of them, I can pretty much guarantee that probably 90% of the users don't even KNOW that CFL's are an environmental hazard, much less follow proper disposal procedure.

Do YOU know how to dispose of a CFL, and, more importantly, do you dispose of them safely? How many CFL users do you know that simply hide them away in the household trash because it's too inconvenient to do otherwise? I know plenty, and they continue the easy way even after I inform them of the potential problem.

Hooker

To answer your question YES i do know how to safely dispose of a CFL and any fluorescent light for that matter.

And YES i do dispose of any that have gone in the correct manner. Although that is a slight misnomer as none of the lights in my home have actually burnt out yet. But at work we have to follow the environmental standards and do use the correct disposal method.

Yes i am a liberal and i am very proud of that fact and will shout it from the rooftops. But what is so wrong with being a liberal? You say it like its a bad thing! Admittedly I was slightly personal and for that I do apologise but it was to make a point. We do have to think not just about yourselves we do have to think about others too. I do know that CFL's are not the answer but they are a step along the way. We have rarely got the best safest technology at the first step along the road it normally takes time to get to the final solution. That doesn't mean that the first step is wrong and we must never take any steps and jump to the end when (if) we get there. Do you know what the final solution is? I don't!

Governments are not good at a lot of things but sometimes they have to ban things which may for our small picture seem a bad thing but they are looking at the bigger picture. Banning 100W incandescent bulbs may seem to be them interfering in the lighting I have the right to use at home but think about it. If everyone carries on using them then more power will have to be produced to power them. More power then it is highly likely that power comes from a station that puts more carbon into the atmosphere and in turn speeds up global warming. I don't have children yet but when i do i want to bring them into a world that is cleaner and better place and I will do my bit to achieve that.

I love freedom too and very much believe in the quote "I disagree with everything you say but i will fight to the death for your right to say it". The best way to get a debate going is to have 2 people with diametrical opposed views starting talking.

Ok, let's think about this a sec...

The current widely disseminated thought model is we have to find less energy consuming lighting so we reduce power demand so that we pump less carbon into the atmosphere. Only slightly simplified but that's much of what MSM pumps out incessantly (fed from those who like to make emergencies out of everything).

So, can you remind me just WHY we've had a moratorium on nuke plant construction for the last 25 or so years? Could it be because of fear mongering by the same people who like to make emergencies out of everything?

Seems to me that we could give more breathing room for led light development (and trash the CFL debacle) if we pushed for "green" power initiatives.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. Unfortunately we have too many "PETA's" muddying the water, and pushing their personal agendas.

WARNING - Political aside follows

BTW, I didn't say it was "bad" to be a liberal. It's just that every time I throw a little logic into a discussion with one, I get personal attacks in return. Straight out of the Saul Alinsky liberal/progressive/socialist playbook. Personal attacks do nothing but put one into super-defensive mode and bring the big guns to bear in return.

Also, I wish you guys would quit reinventing your label. One generation you're a liberal, the next you're a progressive, wash, rinse, repeat. When one label gets too onerous, the other one gets dragged out, like clockwork.

Hooker

You may no how to dispose of your burnt out CFL properly. But what percent don't or will not care. Are we just creating another environmental hazard?

Not that I find fault with you as a liberal. Just find fault with liberals in general. They are too quick to jump on the band wagon of change with no fore thought in the consequences of that change.

They want to legislate the removal of incandescent bulbs to reduce energy demands. That's fine. What about standard on the CFL bulbs? Or do we wait until they are so cheaply made. That they put more mercury and last no longer then a incandescent. That they create a worse environmental hazard then if they left it alone. When they first introduced CFL they guaranteed them. I haven,t seen one on the newer packages.

I'm a liberal, but I agree with Hooker on this one, though let me try to say it in a less antagonistic way. If LEDs are better for the environment, all you have to do is make them cheaper and most people will switch to save money. What we don't need is the government telling us "Use this", "Don't use that" for the very reason Hooker pointed out. The Government is essentially forcing people to switch to CFLs with this ban, is that really better? Energy use savings, certainly. Toxicity of the disposed product, not so much.

Just tax the incandescent bulbs a carbon tax. Will that still piss Hooker off? Probably. Will he still be able to buy incandescent bulbs, absolutely.

Ideally, in my experience, you want to piss Hooker off enough that he complains but not so much that his arguments make sense.

ROFL!! Dadgumit, Roger, now I'm gonna have to change my modus operandi since you figured me out.

Anyway, you're right. Two things I dislike; 1) those who are voted in telling me that they know what's better for me than I do, and, 2) regressive threats from the Feds when they're trying to do social reconstruction that contravenes our Constitution. The banning of incandescents hits both of those hot buttons.

IMO, positive reinforcement is the preferred way to go. Educating (not lecturing) the public and subsidizing the cost of LED's would be preferable. This would tend to create a demand that industry would be forced to respond to, in the way they respond best; profits and greed.

In any case, I'm currently celebrating nearly 40 years of the Department of Energy's continual movement towards their mandate of making the US free of foreign energy dependence. Yessir, the Feds will get there someday. Probably around 2254 of the Common Era, if I may be so bold as to make a prediction.

In the meantime, while they're waiting for the ultimate end, they can continue eroding our personal freedoms bit by bit and taking over private industry to boot.

Hooker

Sorry about the following reply, but...

As you said, "I am not in the US but they have already banned the 100W bulbs here and there have been no real problems that I can see."

Can't see much in the way of any problems when in the dark.

Quality Answer!

I agree with Hooker and Roger Pink its not a problem govt action can resolve. The LED is so much better than CFL or incandesant its only a matter of time until they become standard lighting-they already are in casinos all over the world. The CFL is bad for the envionment and energy conservation-its a very poor device no matter how you look at it. The cost of LEDs will come down just like all other electronic devices and the quality will improve.

I have LED,s in half my house lights all my sailboats lights and still changing them as old light,s go out only reg bulbs are in ice box my kids new room is LED,s and soler power to run the LED,S have work great can see better in hall then with the old lights and the LED spot light over the sink works great too the ban don,t change a thing