CFL Bulb Conspiracy?

[lapis]

According to this article (http://www.cmn.tv/blog/dirty-cfl-bulbs-big-payoffs-for-electric-companies/),

“Compact Flourescent Lights (CFSs) generate high frequency transients, which, in turn, are on the electrical wires in your home or office. This causes induction disk meters (the meters the electric company reads located on the side of your home) to read inaccurately.”

An electrical engineer by profession, Dave is by no mans a conspiracy theorist, but he continued by telling me that he have never seen one of these meters read on the low side, only the high side. The net effect is that the electric companies can deliver less energy as a result of the use of CFLs, but your meter readings would be higher, which is pure profit to the electric company without the need for a rate increase. Bingo!"

David owns a company called StetzerElectric.com so I don't know how credible this information is, but it sounds plausible. I've never understood the insanity behind pushing these mercury bulbs, but if there's profit to be made from them then it makes more sense.

[tekrunner]

There is a high pitched noise that emits when I first turn on one of my lamps with a CFL bulb in it. That alone has led me to desire regular incandescent or LED's. Would anyone like to start a GIM thread on the manufacture of old school light bulbs?

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

Oh it's a conspiracy alright. Those bulbs produce EMF fields, plain and simple. Electrosensitive people feel sick around them.

And if they break, it's technically a hazmat clean-up job, because of the mercury.

[Awoke]

They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

The shit is poison.

[freespirit]

They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

The shit is poison.


...and the gov wants you to use them in every light in your house!

[tekrunner]

They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

The shit is poison.


...and the gov wants you to use them in every light in your house!




The shit is poison, so the United States Corporation wants you to use them in every light in your house!

Just merging the obvious.

[sirgonzo420]

Damn... I shoulda bought more old bulbs before now, but I'm gonna pick up some up next chance I get.

I use two in my house just to test them and I hate them. Hate the sound.

[mick silver]

next year theys lights will be on the watch list and banned because they could be used as a weapon

[hoarder]

Solar panels...and LED bulbs.

[AndreaGail]

I tend to get headaches around the bulbs especially when reading

As such I've been buying them in preparation for the 2012-2014 phase out

[Cebu_4_2]

I replaced every bulb in my house with the CFLs and there was ZERO savings on electrical usage so I think the OPs article is spot on.

I did put an organite on top of my electric meter and after 3 months I can say that it dropped consumption over 10%. Comparing it over 6 months it's almost exactly 13% less compared to a year ago.

[sirgonzo420]

Where can I get some orgonite?

lol

[lapis]

They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

:o :o



Damn... I shoulda bought more old bulbs before now, but I'm gonna pick up some up next chance I get.

They're already getting hard to find, and the ones that are available have really low wattage.

[beefsteak]

There is a high pitched noise that emits when I first turn on one of my lamps with a CFL bulb in it. That alone has led me to desire regular incandescent or LED's. Would anyone like to start a GIM thread on the manufacture of old school light bulbs?


Thinking your makerbot could be utilized to create new "bulbs" for us non-CFL lovers???

Interesting tack there, tekrunner!

[Ash_Williams]

I actually like them. I'll be happier when LED becomes useful but right now the things have a few advantages, in that they don't heat up nearly as much and they don't burn out nearly as fast. Some spots in my house are incredibly hard to reach (I built a scaffolding to change the bulbs last time) so having something that lasts up there for over a decade is worth it for me.

Another thing I have in my house is fixtures with a wattage limit. The wiring to them can't handle over 60 or 40 (and looking at the wiring - even that is pushing it), so if I want the room or a lamp to actually be bright I can use a 25 watt CFL.

As far as saving energy they ain't gonna do much. If you have a fridge and stove and AC and furnace and microwave and washer and dryer then the lights really aren't an issue. So it's 13 watts rather than 60... you're literally paying pennies per 1000 watts per hour... I don't think anyone is going to see much difference on their bill.

[SLV^GLD]

In my limited experience they last no longer than a typical incandescent.

As for 3D printing incandescent bulbs I didn't know makerbot could pull a vacuum while sealing glass.

[Ash_Williams]

In my limited experience they last no longer than a typical incandescent.

About 10 years ago when I first tried them what I found is that they'd either burn out after a year or so, same as incandescent, or they'd keep on truckin'. The ones that didn't burn out are still going today and seem to be better for age (I was surprised when cleaning dead bugs out of one of the fixtures to see a CFL up there, 'cause it comes on at full brightness instantly and puts out a good color of light.)
Also the problem with the ones that die prematurely would appear to be solved 'cause that never happens anymore.

Not that I think the oldskool bulbs should be banned, or the new ones make any real difference to power use... I just find them useful.

[still afloat]

Lowes had a great sale on the bulbs about 2 years ago , so Dad bought everybody enough lights to replace every bulb in our houses . less than a year later I had none left in my house . They started going out in less than a year , and when they went out it scared the $hit out of my kids when a hole was burned through the side and smoke started rolling out as well as a bad smell i'm assuming the ballast burned out causing the problem so no I wont risk my family and property with these "Green" bulbs that require a hazmat team to clean them up if one breaks . So yep I'm burning up the watts with the not so green but alot safer old school bulbs.

[tekrunner]

There is a high pitched noise that emits when I first turn on one of my lamps with a CFL bulb in it. That alone has led me to desire regular incandescent or LED's. Would anyone like to start a GIM thread on the manufacture of old school light bulbs?


Thinking your makerbot could be utilized to create new "bulbs" for us non-CFL lovers???

Interesting tack there, tekrunner!




LOL, I don't think my Makerbot is suited for this task. Could probably print you some LED's though.

However a classic incandescent light bulb is just a tungsten (every gimmer knows what that is) filament inside the glass bulb and a vacuum. Watched a video the other day of a guy who made a pic n place machine out of his 3d printer so that he could make circuit boards. It was fuckin badass watching this homemade and largely printable machine pic up tiny electrical components and solder them onto the circuit board. I can't imagine the production of 100 year old light bulbs being much more complicated then that.

On a second thought, maybe incandescent bulbs are being phased out cause the banksters bought up all the tungsten for their gold reserves? ;D

[tekrunner]

They're not really light bulbs, they're "Heatballs"

Skirting EU law: The rebranding of incandescent bulbs as 'Heat Balls'

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/skirting-eu-law-the-rebranding-of-incandescent-bulbs-as-heat-balls

[tekrunner]

I replaced every bulb in my house with the CFLs and there was ZERO savings on electrical usage so I think the OPs article is spot on.

I did put an organite on top of my electric meter and after 3 months I can say that it dropped consumption over 10%. Comparing it over 6 months it's almost exactly 13% less compared to a year ago.



I've read here on GIM of orgonite working as an inductive load. So if the bulbs are throwing off the energy referred to by the OP then it makes sense that orgonite would reduce your bill.

Haven't tried orgonite myself yet but it's at the top of my to do list.

[Twisted Titan]

Everything associated with the Green Revolution is a Money Pit and Regulation Maker

Period end of story.


T

[lapis]

[i][b]Everything associated with the Green Revolution is a Money Pit and Regulation Maker

Period end of story.

That is how it ended up, but it started with the PTB taking people's genuine heartfelt desires (in this case, for a clean pristine environment, simple living, etc.) and using them to their own ends in order to make a profit and enslave the masses even more.

[madfranks]

Oh it's a conspiracy alright. Those bulbs produce EMF fields, plain and simple. Electrosensitive people feel sick around them.

And if they break, it's technically a hazmat clean-up job, because of the mercury.




They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

The shit is poison.




I actually like them. I'll be happier when LED becomes useful but right now the things have a few advantages, in that they don't heat up nearly as much and they don't burn out nearly as fast. Some spots in my house are incredibly hard to reach (I built a scaffolding to change the bulbs last time) so having something that lasts up there for over a decade is worth it for me.

Another thing I have in my house is fixtures with a wattage limit. The wiring to them can't handle over 60 or 40 (and looking at the wiring - even that is pushing it), so if I want the room or a lamp to actually be bright I can use a 25 watt CFL.

So the answer is really clear, that this should be a free decision for people to choose one way or the other. I don't like fluorescent light bulbs, my eyes are sensitive and pick up the flickering that some people can't see, so I prefer the old school bulbs for my home, but like Ash said, for certain uses and conditions the lower wattage bulbs can be advantageous. I wouldn't force anyone to buy one or the other, and the problem is solely due to the government forcing people to buy and subsidize things they quite simply do not want.

[JDRock]

...and the gov wants you to use them in every light in your house!


the above is the ONLY research you need......if they want you to have them their bad for you.

[sirgonzo420]

Oh it's a conspiracy alright. Those bulbs produce EMF fields, plain and simple. Electrosensitive people feel sick around them.

And if they break, it's technically a hazmat clean-up job, because of the mercury.




They emit mercury vapor even when they are not broken, if I remember correctly.

The shit is poison.




I actually like them. I'll be happier when LED becomes useful but right now the things have a few advantages, in that they don't heat up nearly as much and they don't burn out nearly as fast. Some spots in my house are incredibly hard to reach (I built a scaffolding to change the bulbs last time) so having something that lasts up there for over a decade is worth it for me.

Another thing I have in my house is fixtures with a wattage limit. The wiring to them can't handle over 60 or 40 (and looking at the wiring - even that is pushing it), so if I want the room or a lamp to actually be bright I can use a 25 watt CFL.

So the answer is really clear, that this should be a free decision for people to choose one way or the other. I don't like fluorescent light bulbs, my eyes are sensitive and pick up the flickering that some people can't see, so I prefer the old school bulbs for my home, but like Ash said, for certain uses and conditions the lower wattage bulbs can be advantageous. I wouldn't force anyone to buy one or the other, and the problem is solely due to the government forcing people to buy and subsidize things they quite simply do not want.



This has been posted before, but it's quite on topic here.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAn1FWInBi0

[gunDriller]

there's no mercury in an old AT computer power supply. that generation is useful because they have an on-off switch.

they also have 5 volt and 12 volt outputs (black = ground, red = 5 volt, yellow = 12 volts.)

if you can solder, you can rig up some arrays of LED's and a reflector, then use the power supply to power them.

no mercury, highly efficient, CHEAP.

i replaced some of the incandescents in my home with CFL's, to reduce my power bill. so now i have a lot of incandescents.

as time allows i will take my own advice and switch to LED's.

it's good to check the CFL (while holding your breath) to see if they are "sound". good seal, bulb not wiggling, etc.

you can also seal the interface between bulb & base with RTV.

AND - the base of the CFL contains some very useful electronic parts.

[Cobalt]

One of the things that I don't like about CFL bulbs is although the package clearly states 10,000 Hr. average life but all mine start putting out less and less light right around the 6 month mark, when they reach one year they seem to be about half as bright when I plug a new one into a socket alongside an older one.