The only thing I dislike more than incandescent lighting is fluorescent lighting.
Really. I don’t like the distortion of colors, true, but what I really don’t like is the flicker. And I’m not talking about the obvious flicker of some malfunctioning lights — I’m talking about the 120 times each second that a fluorescent bulb turns off and on. A lot of people with super-powers inferior to my own (sheesh, I hope you know me... and if you don’t, I hope you’ll trust me that this is an attempt at humor) don’t see this flicker or are not bothered by it... but me, I can see it.
I don’t know if it’s bad for the brain or bad for the eyes, but it seems like it is and given a choice, the flicker-free glow of an incandescent suits my eyes better, although I don’t care all that much for their orange tinge either.
So as I wrote before, my ceiling fans have “candelabra base” light bulbs and sockets.
I was curious why this might be.
Candelabra bulbs are much smaller than standard (“medium base”) bulbs, and so presumably can’t be made with as much wattage as standard bulbs... knowing, as I do, that using a bulb larger than the marked “maximum” on any given fixture is a safety hazard that many, many, many people choose to ignore (almost understandably, because many light fixtures don’t give out sufficient light when used at their rated maximum) and I speculated that this was the manufacturers’ attempts to mediate that risk by making a too-large bulb impossible to install.
Of course, I had limited information, because all-such fans I’ve seen have been Hunter fans, so I didn’t realize this was industry-wide.
I’ll give you a hint. It’s got something to do with misguided legislation (surprise!) and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (surprise, again!).
I do like Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL's) for one reason, and it’s not the reason that I’m “supposed” to like them, which is the fact that they give off “the same amount of light for less energy.”
No. I like them because I can use them to get more light for the same energy and the same or less heat. Heh. In my bahtroom, I have 3 x 42 Watt CFLs in a “dressing room”-style fixture... a total equivalent to 450 watts. Woohoo! You can really see yourself in my bathroom mirror.
Same thing for other areas... why settle for the same light, when you can get more, while staying within the safe range for sockets.
Some might not believe that most conservatives actually do like clean water and air, and believe in being good stewards with natural resources. No, really. Seriously. Where we part ways is the realization that changing light bulbs and unplugging cell-phone chargers isn’t going to make any difference.
Why?
My clothes dryer pulls as much energy as 112 60-watt light bulbs.
My toaster uses as much as 18 bulbs when toasting “four slices.”
My window unit in the bedroom, 11 bulbs.
My central air, around 24 bulbs.
My computer, with all of its accessories powered up and running (excluding the printer, which is in another room) uses the equivalent of 2-1/2 bulbs (~150 watts).
Oh — unplugging your cell phone charger when you’re not charging your cell phone? That saves less energy than any of my tools are actually able to measure.
Most of these things use more than all of the light bulbs in my entire house, even if they were all turned on at the same time — which they seldom are.
Government policies based on “feel-good” principles rather than solid evidence are not good policies. Sure, it’s nice to feel like you care. To feel like you’re “doing your part.” But purchasing light bulbs that include mercury rather than the essentially harmless components in incandescent bulbs — in the interest of saving the planet — doesn’t make a lot of sense.
But you’ll really want to bring CFLs into your house after you read the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for cleaning up a broken CFL bulb:
I am not making this up.
Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room
- Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
- Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more
- Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
- Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag
- Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
- Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag
- Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
- Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag
- Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
- If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
- Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
- If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
- You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
- If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
- Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup
- Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials
- Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
Oops, did you see that? Slipped that one almost right past us. First, they say, put it in the trash. Then, they say, oops, don’t do that if you’re not supposed to, where you live. Fact is, you’re never supposed to put a CFL in the trash. Unless your version of saving the earth includes sending mercury to the landfill, but I digress.
- The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
- Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
So that brings me back around to the question about candelabra base bulbs in ceiling fans.
Related to CFL’s? You bet.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which became Public Law 109–58—August 8, 2005, and which you can read for yourself, at http://www.epa.gov/oust/fedlaws/publ_109-058.pdf, made this magic happen. It’s a classic example of Washington “helping us” on their terms.
How?
“(A) Ceiling fan light kits with medium screw base sockets manufactured on or after January 1, 2007, shall be packaged with screw-based lamps to fill all screw base sockets.”
Okay... Remember, “medium” screw base means “regular light bulb.” It’s the government meddling in private business. Manufacturers have to ship bulbs with their light kits. Many might object to my objection, saying things like “it encourages consumers to use energy-efficient light bulbs,” or, “It ensures that the decorative glass globes on ceiling fans can accommodate the larger body of some CFL’s,” or even, “Sure, they’re adding a burden to the businesses, but it’s not a very big deal!”
See... it is a big deal.
Every time the government’s nose gets in to private transactions, it’s a big deal. Burdensome regulations like these are a slippery slope. I once — in person, I was there — heard Lena Guerrero, former Texas politician, résumé-padder, and idiot, say that sometimes she would encourage opposing colleagues to vote differently than her on this or that piece of legislation, because it might be good for one of their constituencies, and not good for another. Spineless. If it’s not good overall, it’s not good. A small benefit can’t justify a detriment.
A little bit of government can hurt.
So if a manufacturer sells a ceiling fan light kit with regular bulb sockets, they have to “give” you the bulbs. You still say, “big whoop?” Fine.
“(B) The screw-based lamps required under subparagraph (A) shall—
(i) meet the Energy Star Program Requirements for Compact
Fluorescent Lamps, version 3.0, issued by the Department
of Energy; or
(ii) use light sources other than compact fluorescent lamps
that have lumens per watt performance at least equivalent
to comparably configured compact fluorescent lamps meeting
the Energy Star Program Requirements described in clause (i).”
Ah. Here we go. They have to use light bulbs that fit the energy requirements for CFL's. Let’s see... what kind of light bulbs have the same efficiency as CFL’s...?
I guess the answer would be “CFL’s.”
CFL’s and other not-yet-mature, and currently expensive technologies, like LED lights. I personally like LED lights for their seemingly-pure white light color, and very high color temperature.
But not good ol' incandescent bulbs. You might as well have sex with the devil, you’re so evil.
If I want something, and I can afford it, why does the nanny-state feel the need to tell me that a manufacturer can’t sell it? If I want to set my thermostat wherever I want it, and take a shower for as long and hot as I want it, or run my dishwasher after every meal... or pay more than my neighbor for the same amount of light... what business is that of anyone else?
So the manufacturers — duh — said to themselves, “let’s see... we either have to spend more than the cost of the fixture to fill it with CFLs, or, we could just start putting in candelabra based bulbs and it would be no biggie.”
Hmmm, which to choose? Which to choose, indeed?
This piece of legislation goes on to say that fixtures can’t use more than 190 watts total. Stupid. That’s it.
This is not a real energy policy. A real energy policy is “get out of the way and let the market take care of itself!” When there’s a real, actual shortage of oil, prices will go up and to the point that alternative energy technologies will be developed by the free market. Anything that needs a government subsidy to get off the ground is not worth the money. Meanwhile, there is no oil shortage — the oil is there if we could just get down to business and drill for it.
Reducing our consumption will not fix it. Finding more supply ... will. And there are vast reserves being held hostage by noisy, small groups of people with agendas of their own... The use of oil for energy — I’m all for it. The use of foreign oil? Not so much. And remember that oil prices have gone up... but so have copper and gold prices. They aren’t rare. They aren’t scarce. The dollar has gone down in value... making the price of virtually everything — stated in dollars — go up.
Oh... and when you consider how much pollution is spewed from volcanoes, you realize that the Earth always finds it way to strike a balance. The “man-made greenhouse gas emissions” are not warming the earth. That’s not to say it’s not warming, but I assure you, it will cool down again, assuming that cycle hasn’t already started.
Remember, twenty years ago, the same class of alarmists told us the next ice age was coming.
You get some real perspective on the “leaders” pushing us in these directions when you consider that Al Gore’s residential electric bills at his house average $2,500 per month. Whether he unplugs his phone chargers, I can’t say, but I don’t need preaching on alcohol from a wino, and I don’t need preaching about energy from such a blatant hypocrite. Given “consumption” like this, you have to ask what his real motives are in pushing the rest of us to limit our consumption.
It’s sort of like mandating the use of “bio-fuels.” Fewer miles per gallon, and a worldwide shortage of corn that has increased the price of tortillas for extremely poor families in Mexico — not exactly a “we care” policy. (And lest anyone think there is any sarcasm in this paragraph, I assure you there is not.)
Trivia Fact: The proper term for a “light bulb” is a “lamp.” The glass part of a “lamp” is called the “bulb.” The table-top or floor-standing object we call a “lamp” is more properly called a “luminaire.” But old habits die hard, or, in this case, just keep on living.
Language is fun.
And for some reason, I feel some of my groove coming back.
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