Loophole found around light bulb ban

[halffull]

With the next phase of the government-mandated phase out of incandescent light bulbs just days away, die hard fans of the traditional yellow glow might not have to flock to their local store and purchase them by basket-full after all.

newcandescent
The Newcandescent still fits within the federal phase out of traditional, incandescent light bulbs because it is considered “rough service.” (Image source” Newcandescent)

When the federal ban on producing or importing incandescents of varying watts was passed under the Bush administration, Larry Birnbaum, carrying on the three-generation legacy of his family’s New Jersey-based Light Bulb Store, saw an opportunity.

“100 [watts] are as rare as hens teeth, 75s are in the same direction and 60s, this time next year, most will be almost gone,” said Birnbaum, who added his great-grandfather was friends with the incandescent light bulb inventor Thomas Edison.

“We’re addicted to color of incandescents, unless you were born yesterday,” Birnbaum continued. “Your body is used to it. When you put on something different, the body reacts to it, and you get irritated.”

With millions of people still supporting the use of incandescent bulbs, Birnbaum found a loophole in the Energy Independence and Security Act. The ban applies to general service incandescent light bulbs but not rough service incandescents.

While frequently used in automobiles, subway systems and other applications that require a heavy-duty, vibration-resistant bulb, rough service bulbs can still be used in a general application, according to Birnbaum.

The website Bulbs.com breaks it down this way: “Rough service lamps function identically to regular incandescent lamps, but generally have additional wire within the glass enclosure that serves to protect and support the filament.” [emphasis added]

Read More
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/24/a-manufacturer-found-a-loophole-around-that-incandescent-light-bulb-ban/

[GNC Harteveld]

I don't like incandescent light bulbs.
If i wanted my interior to be yellow i would paint it yellow. :rolleyes:

[outerheaven]

So the "loophole" is to make the incandescent bulb more durable and longer lasting? Kinda funny, isn't it -- considering the history of the incandescent bulb and its planned obsolescence.

Here's a short excerpt from an article I found:


Earlier this year, Philips released an LED light bulb with a life span of 20 years. While deserving of recognition, it is not the tour de force in indoor illumination. The real marvel is the Centennial Light in Livermore, California – an incandescent light bulb manufactured back in the 19th century. The world’s longest lasting light bulb still shines today uninterrupted after a century of use. Indeed, early light bulb innovators like Thomas Edison and Adolphe Chaillet had always pushed for products with the utmost longevity. So decades-lasting light bulbs existed in the early 20th century, and only now are we returning to form with the popularization of LED technology. Where did our ability to make long-lasting light bulbs go?

Enter the Phoebus cartel. Established in the 1920s, light bulb manufacturers like Philips, General Electric, Osram and others across the globe decided to collude in the light bulb market. As technological advances improved and pushed out the life span of incandescent bulbs, sales volumes would be negatively impacted. Fewer, infrequently burnt out bulbs meant less need for replacements – less demand for their products. While price fixing was a natural result of cooperation in an imperfectly competitive market, the Phoebus cartel strived to do more than hike prices. They went beyond limiting product innovation – over the gradual course of a few years, manufacturers actively lower the life span of light bulbs. The industry standard of 2,500 hours in 1924 would eventually drop to 1,000 hours by 1940.

Full article here. (http://economicstudents.com/2012/09/planned-obsolescence-the-light-bulb-conspiracy/)

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the bulb ban. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy involved, and lamenting the addition of more completely unnecessary laws and regulations.

We've got all the elements of dirty business -- price fixing, anti-trust, fake solutions to the fake "global warming" problem, so and so forth. And we're talking about light bulbs, here. I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise, as we already know we're getting screwed at basically every turn, but ... still. We're talking about light bulbs.

We're up to our eyeballs in it, folks.

[Flash]

I don't like incandescent light bulbs.
If i wanted my interior to be yellow i would paint it yellow. :rolleyes:

I am sorry you think that way because:

1. The new fluorescent lighting, which is in fact old, vibrates at a rythm that is not appropriate for the eye. In offices where this lighting is a regular thing, people working long hours with their eyers, either in front of a screen or for other works, will get eye fatigue, because the eye is constantly trying to adapt to the lighting. What is suggesting is a incandescent lamp on the desk so that the eye catch this light instead of the fluorescent, which is more in sync with the real eyes capacities.

2. Some people do get epilepsy crisis because of the fluorescent lighting. These people won't be able to litterally live anymore. Adaptation of offices meant for them changing all the fluorescent. In their home, they would have incandescent, because there is not switch for the eye to adapt to it and the modulation is the same.

Fluorescent IS NOT natural for your system, indandescent is.

CORRECTION: I MEANT INCANDESCENT LIGHT ON THE DESK

[Redstar Kachina]

..........

[meeradas]

... the incandescent bulb and its "planned obsolescence".

And, of course, you know that neither 'deathbulbs' nor LEDs are exempt from this...

[rgray222]

With the next phase of the government-mandated phase out of incandescent light bulbs just days away, die hard fans of the traditional yellow glow might not have to flock to their local store and purchase them by basket-full after all.



The discussion IMHO needs to be about why we are letting government tell us what type of light bulbs to use. This is beyond ridiculous. This is not the PTB, this is dim witted bureaucrats going so far overboard that they have lost touch with their responsibilities. This only proves that the government has gotten too large and too out of control. We have two wars going on, the monetary system is close to being in crisis, the fed pumping $85 billion into the stock market every month for more than a year creating an economic bubble that is about to burst, a new healthcare system that was suppose to cost $900 Billion and now we are told will cost $3 Trillion and probably more than $2 Trillion every year for the next 8 years and people in the government worried about light bulbs.

[GreenGuy]

The ostensible reason for the shift from incandescent bulbs is that they waste too much energy as heat. I suppose there's a point, although folks have come up with many ways to utilize that heat, from the Easy-Bake Oven to reptile cages and honey tanks. I am going back to candles. I refuse to use those curly poison bulbs, and I can't afford LEDs.

[Eram]

I am going back to candles. I refuse to use those curly poison bulbs, and I can't afford LEDs.

hmmm... this sounds like the most expensive option available :)

[GreenGuy]

hmmm... this sounds like the most expensive option available :)

Not really...but I was being glib. You can spend a lot or a little. I have a few oil lamps too, which burn very inexpensively. Candles are cheap if you shop around, and easy to make. Plus I have a nice collection of vintage brass candlesticks.

[Sidney]

I am with rgray222. If it is the law, that means that they "could" start going door to door. Can you imagine, the light bulb police? They have abused their power, once again, to strong arm people into giving away our freedoms. Seriously, light bulbs? Whats next? Take away our clumping kitty litter?

[WhiteFeather]

Here in NYC they were installing these trance hypnotic bulbs free in residences. My spidey sense started to tingle. I opted out. I find these new bulbs to put me in a weird vibe. Anyone else?