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California may ban incandescent light bulbs in favor of CFLs starting in 2012.

Article with ridiculously long URL (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070131/sc_nm/energy_california_lightbulbs_dc;_ylt=AiuDjvNchsvtibJMAE.v3BvMWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-)

This could be pretty huge.

Hi Tim:

___That was an excellent find. Do you want to do a news item as this is truly huge!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Sure thing. I figured I would just post it here and see if you guys want to move it over to the News page.

I agree, this really could be huge. When you think about swapping out every 60W light bulb for something that draws on the order of 14W you have some serious energy savings in a state that desperately needs to conserve.

You can't force millions of people to switch over to fluorescents. It's an environmental disaster in the making. Fluorescent bulbs have mercury in them, and most people will just throw them away rather than find a toxic waste disposal site.

I've posted my unlucky experience with CFL's and how most of mine burn up within a few months if not weeks. Personally I couldn't imagine being forced to keep a steady flow of them coming in as they burn out. :(

I admit my experience seems to be unique, but I can't think I'm the only one.

Since I can't keep buying those for the expense I admit (The shame) of buying incandescents. But the guilt of it all and the added operating cost has me looking at the new LED bulbs.
Here is one source:
Best Home Lighting .com (http://www.besthomeledlighting.com/all_led_bulbs?gclid=CMznrZylnooCFSUkUAodwni2hA)
Home Depot etc also have them but seems less LED count. (Lower output)

They seem REALLY expensive for ones which output enough for a room but boast 30,000 life hours. Much simpler than CFL's (Only a bank of LED's and a resistor block) they should be about the last bulbs ever to buy. LED's don't reduce output like flourescents and are lower wattage. (But possibly lower output)
We were thinking of buying a 165 LED flood ($68) and two 96 LED general purpose ($66 ea) to try them out.

Have anybody experienced the light type and volume of these kinds of lights? They say they are white but I've never seen a white LED....just Red, Blue and a combo of the two which is yellow/amber.

Anyway we're curious about it.

-Steve

White LEDs use the same emitter as blue LEDs but have a phosphorescent coating that make them give off white light. A lot of White LEDs give off slightly blueish light.

Although LEDs are catching up quickly, fluorescent lights give off more lumens per watt than probably anything else you'd want to use in your house.

There's a good chart here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy

and OtherPower.com spells it out nicely at: http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_lighting.html

Cali will take one step forward and 10 staps backwards. Not to mention they have the most over turned fed. court in the nation. Take cali with a grain of salt...

Cali will take one step forward and 10 staps backwards. Not to mention they have the most over turned fed. court in the nation. Take cali with a grain of salt...

The CFL law is not one of the bad ones - New Jersey is likely to follow suit, noting they are getting rid of the light bulb Thomas Edison invented in Menlo Park.

For whatever reason it seems that things seem to happen in California first and then spread to the rest of the country at a later date. If you want to know what is going to be happening in BFE come 10 years time look at California today. Sure some of their ideas are a little wacko but all ideas that are ahead of their time seem a little wacko. Look at Governor Moonbeam. Communications satellites? That is crazy talk man!