Overhaulin'

Why the incandescent light bulb ban eliminates them entirely?

I have to on occasion work with trouble lights on automobiles or in crawl spaces in attics or under house. Bulb breakage is imminent and much expected. The blame is as much the hazardous placement as well as the techniques and situation. The work involves constant banging around jacking, not to mention the tools or materials usually damage or even break a bulb. For instance on a recent classic car restoration project I shattered at least twenty bulbs in a five month period. That is pretty normal for crawling around under a car. Considering the amount of mercury in the new CFL light bulb I would have turned my basement into an EPA hazardous waste zone. Thankfully I was aware of the mercury and had better sense. Still, why would my own government not easily think of this and force me to poison myself with a new law. Surely they thought this thing through better than that. bob

Public Comments

1. The incandescent light bulb ban will be repealed in the next four years. This is showing to have NO economic effect and in fact is contributing to hazardous metals in landfills. Don't worry about this, it is another paper tiger.
2. You would have to break literally thousands of CF bulbs to get any significant amount of mercury. In addition elemental mercury is not very toxic. It is mercury compounds that are toxic.
3. why not use a silicone/teflon coated bulb in your light? They don't break. They also make compact fluorescents with a silicone/teflon coating. Here is a link to some I know of: http://www.vosslighting.com/storefrontB2BWEB/browse.do?action=refresh_browse&ctg_id=234
4. You should use LED lights. They are many time more robust that incandescent bulbs. You will start to see more and more screw-in replacements as the phase-out of incandescents grows near. The planned ban is based on all the energy that is wasted by incandescents as heat (rather than light). That is why CFL will say something like "20 W power, equivalent to 60 W brightness -- that 40 W difference was being wasted as heat. This is like mandating good mileage on cars, or "Energy Star" appliances. Or requiring a certain amount of insulation on new houses being built.