How many Australians will it take?
By on Feb 20th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
How many Australians will it take?
“The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country.” Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull predicted the new restrictions “could reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent.”
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My sister vacationed in Australia for a month, years ago, and she loved it. The present PM Howard is a Bush boot licker, so he must be forced to resign. Aussies: Get rid of him and celebrate by cooking Roo on the barbie > lol.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pmThis is the same idea that California floated a couple of weeks ago, that every crackpot right wingnut ridiculed.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pmomg! the communists have taken over the down under. i thought PM Howard was more stalwart than to let the idea of a free market economy die under his watch – next thing you know lesbian vegetarian “minders” will be assigned to all Australians, dictating every facet of their once-proud lives as free people.
someone – notify the troll brigade, stat! – it’s time to swiftboat that Australian Environment Minister – scramble the keyboards! fire up the insult generator!
February 20th, 2007 at 3:27 pmCompact flourescents are great, I have light bulbs I bought 12 years ago, still working fine. You can get full spectrum bulbs as well, healthier light on the eyes than old style flourescents and incandecants.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:27 pmI’ve already done this, as well as bought my parents a bunch of CF bulbs last xmas. California I think is doing this as well.
Just remember to dispose of them properly as most contain mercury.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:28 pmI did not know about flourescents and glaucoma……..thanks……..
February 20th, 2007 at 3:29 pmHooray for Australia for being “heads up” and making the necessary changes. That’s more than I can say for this government of ignorance of global warming. Of course, those ignoring it have no sense of global stewardship – their mantra is: “it won’t affect me so why should I care”? Ugly americans – living up to their moniker abroad!
February 20th, 2007 at 3:29 pmP.S. We just changed all of our bulbs to the fluorescents….it takes some getting accustomed to but if it will help (along with purchasing a hybrid vehicle recently) save the world from the devastating affects we are setting into motion via our actions (or inactions as the case may be), then so be it.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:30 pmI can see it all now…..Granpappy Dubya sitting on his front porch at Crawford as the water engulfs him screaming for a rescue from some of his fat-cat corporate polluters….hah! They’ll ditch him like the plague once he’s out of office – after they’ve made their gazillions from his lack of oversight of corporate pollution.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:32 pmDamn that Barack Obama!
-Johnny “The Rat” Howard
February 20th, 2007 at 3:37 pmI’d rather screw in a light bulb than be screwed by Rupert Murdoch & John Howard.
February 20th, 2007 at 3:51 pmSpudge in the article it said this;
Under the Australian plan, bulbs that do not comply with energy efficiency targets would be gradually banned from sale. Exemptions may apply for special needs such as medical lighting and oven lights.
I changed out all the bulbs we have in every place we have lived. GEt the full spectrum and you won’t be disappointed. Buy the cheap ones and after basking in a bluish other world for about 3 minutes you start to go crazy. So get the good ones.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:00 pmHow many Australians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
February 20th, 2007 at 4:02 pm#1 – Spudge_Boy,
February 20th, 2007 at 4:05 pmMy wife has glaucoma and uses tinted lenses to eliminate glare while driving and from flourescent lighting. Here is a link. In fixtures that take bulbs, I use the ones with a frosted bulb-shaped glass ovate outer envelope. These have less glare, but they are expensive compared to the twisties.
Beyond that, she has drops that she places in her eyes twice a day that reduce pressure. The drops are Travatan Solution, ophthalmic. Those drops are holding the condition in place and have actually reduced the pressure a bit.
#15,
February 20th, 2007 at 4:05 pmNone.
They’re already screwed.
@Spudge_Boy,
Problem: 100W + 1/2 voltage = 15W bulb. And this is *very* dim. The physics of incandescent bulb is just that to make them useful, you have to apply so much voltage as to make they burn out. It is not so much as matter of intention, as just a fundamental flaw of the item.
Moved into my new home ~3 months ago. First power bill: $150. Started in on my usual CFL mania. At this point, all the bulbs that can be easily converted to CFL have been. Last power bill: $90.
Not saying the entire saving can be attributed to CFL bulbs; I am sure part is just due to tuning my energy use patterns to the new house (”Kid, turn the light off when you leave the room!”). Just saying.
Moveover, now it bugs me when the lights I haven’t replaced burn out and I have to stop what I am doing and change it. Will have to find the speciality bulbs for the last remaining few holdout.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:08 pmWe could go completely dark and just walk around with night vision.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:19 pmWhat about LEDs?
February 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pmThis is a fine goal but the claim of a 65% reduction in household energy use is laughable. My guess is that the reduction would be less than half of that claim or around 30% tops. The TV, fridge, microwave, range, PC, AC and other “toys” consume more electricity than those nasty light bulbs. Plus, these bulbs are only manufactured in one base so about 20% of bulbs cannot be replaced anyway. Like many, I have replaced all bulbs with a standard base. While it has been enough to show up on the light bill it has been well below my “30% tops” statement, giving some benefit of doubt.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:44 pmAnd increase the amount of mercury in landfills by what percent? NPR had a story about these compact flourescents last week – apparently these need to be recycled or disposed of at places that deal with toxic material and hardly any of these exist that are convenient to US cities. That combined with fact that mercury issue is only listed in small print on bulb packaging means that most of these end up in a landfill.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:50 pm#22 – >>>,
February 20th, 2007 at 5:34 pmThe directions on packages are written to an eighth grade level. If you have problems, get an EED (Elementary Education Degree).
How many of you have bought the new bulbs? I have bought several and will soon have all bulbs replaced. Hell even the copy of “An inconvenient truth” I bought came with one.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:47 pmWe have increasingly used the spiral flourescent bulbs for a number of years now. I’ve bought them for others as well. We have very few incandescent bulbs around the house now, and I know my electric bill is reduced.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:19 pmI should add, that while I am using the bulbs (as well as other energy saving measures) I don’t think I like the idea of a government total ban on regular bulbs. There always has to be room for the exception.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:24 pm#24 – ggibson,
February 20th, 2007 at 6:25 pmActually, it is a three stage process. I replaced all of my ballast based bulb sets (and their ballasts) with electronic ones. These are more efficient and do not have the flourescent hum. Next, every bulb in a shielded or enclosed fixture was replaced with one of the curlies. After that, it was all of the strip lights and exposed bulbs with curlies that have outer envelopes. The total cost was about $187, the average savings $39 per month based on a 7 month baseline.
Incandescent bulbs can become more efficient during winter, since the waste heat may reduce the need to burn heating oil or gas.
In summer — and kids, we are heading for 100 YEARS OF SUMMER — that waste heat will be VERY unwelcome most of the time.
Change out your bulbs, and put solar water heating on your roof (no electronics needed, except in the heat-exchanger.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:37 pmIf them Aussies could harness all the HOT AIR and INFLATED NOXIOUS DEMAGOGIC GAS coming out of P.M. or is that
February 20th, 2007 at 6:59 pmB(owel) M(ovement) John Howard’s vile yap-trap they could save a tremendous amount of wasted energy and harness it to a better use instead of having Howard, who is the Lost Fourth Stooge of the Deceased, Late Great Three Stooges, The Black Aussie Sheep of the Howard Family and shameless supporter of CHIMPya’s criminal activities in Iraq and co-conspirator and War Criminal to be indicted along with Bushland Uber Allies for their crimes against humanity. Howard put his plugged Aussie nickel’s worth of propaganda against the Great Senator Barack Obama–WELL, I’M RETURNING THE FAVOR TO THAT MISERABLE COWARDLY CREEP Howard with a RESOUNDING SLAP! to his ugly bald head with me Curly ham-fist!
One question on the CF bulbs that’s not mentioned on the packaging, can they be used with a dimmer? I have a number of incandescent bulbs on dimmers and I’d like to replace them, but not sure they will work. Also, in my northern climate, they take a while to put out any light in the garage and barn and the packaging says they won’t start below -20. Yes I know it doesn’t get that cold all that often, but when it’s that cold I don’t want to be out changing bulbs!
February 20th, 2007 at 7:13 pm#28 – Paul in LA,
February 20th, 2007 at 7:18 pmI live in Florida – sometimes have to turn on the AC between December 20th and March 20th. If I need heat in the house during that time period, I merely open the blinds during the day and close them at night. From June 20th to September 20th, I reverse the process. My winter heat/AC bill is about $35, the summer AC bill is another matter.
I lived for about two years in Germany. There the insulation rules are extremely strict. I made it through two winters on 430 liters of fuel oil in a 1400 square foot home. The average home in the US of simular area would use 5 times the fuel.
#30 – MikeB,
February 20th, 2007 at 7:29 pmYup, they can not be used with dimmers. Also, they do take a bit to turn on during cool spells. For that reason, I use incandescents outside. Inside, I figure an occasional gourmet dinner is a better reward than a moment of impatience.
Re: CF bulbs. Look for “instant on” bulbs. My wife hated the first batch that weren’t ( she is a bit impatient).
February 20th, 2007 at 9:02 pmOutdoor security lights-if you need them use high pressure sodium instead of Mercury vapor, The light is much warmer, uses about 1/2 the wattage and please use a sky shield to focus the light down-that way we can still see the stars.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:08 pm#33 – Joefriday,
February 20th, 2007 at 9:27 pmThe wife had an initial dislike, but a night out at Outback put her in the mood. The instant-ons use about 1/3 more energy then the more efficient ones. We are a two Prius family. On the flip side, we decided to not convert the house to solar – at 67, the payback is doubtful, but, then, our parents made it to 93 and more.
Walt- I am installing a PV system at my beach house. Bought a Sunny Boy inverter, controlls and solar tracker. Now I have to save up for the solar panels. I live in Texas-no state help like in Calf.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:49 pm“There the insulation rules are extremely strict.” –WaltTheMan
Not necessarily a good thing. Many U.S. houses have interior toxins (degassing furniture and carpets, paint and finishes, etc.) that would cause even more illness if the R value of their walls goes up.
It’s a complex problem that will require a generation or two of solid educational effort and corporate reform to get even a handle on.
Glad to see so many people here up on the issues.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:28 pmWalt, solar WATER heating is fairly cheap, and pays off immediately in the sun belt. I’ve had it for twenty-five years, and leave my HWH off for eight months out of the year.
Solar panels is a whole other ballgame. This is just antifreeze running through a piped panel on my roof, with a heat-exchanger and piping to the HWH supplies. Plenty of hot water, in summer at 185 degrees+, ‘free.’
February 20th, 2007 at 10:32 pmDallasNE,
The original article stated that the 65% reduction would be for “lighting” costs. It seems it was changed to “household power” when it was imported to thinkprogress.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:38 pmFlourescent lights flicker and that flickering causes mental health problems and causes the body to use up its vitamin A. So, if you don’t take a supplement you will be vitamin A deficient. I think there are better ways to conserve and gain much more than this one act.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 pmFuel Saving Australia
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100%, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong.
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April 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm