The EU banned light bulbs.

Now they come back...

[jecasc]

As heatballs:

A German entrepreneur is bypassing a European Union ban on light bulbs of more than 60 watts by marketing his own brand as mini heaters.

Siegfried Rotthaeuser and his brother-in-law have come up with a legal way of importing and distributing 75 and 100 watt light bulbs -- by producing them in China, importing them as "small heating devices" and selling them as "heatballs."

The heatballs are very efficent - 95% of the energy is converted into heat. However they also emitt light as a waste-product. ;)

[msnbc.msn.com...]

[wheel]

That's handy! And I already have heater plugins installed all over the place in my house - anywhere I have a light bulb receptacle.

[Swanny007]

Well incandescent light bulbs do generate more heat than light. That's why I've switched to CFL & LED for 90%+ of my lights.

Clever guys...

[graeme_p]

They have a point: if you are using electric heating, then you do not use more electricity by using incandescent light bulbs.

They are also not a bad choice for lights that are only ever lit briefly.

[cmendla]

I have to wonder about the reality of CFLs. I could probably understand LED lights however

1. When they did the analysis of 'energy savings' did they calculate the additional costs of manufacture in terms of environmental impact and cost? An incandescent bulb is pretty simple. CFLs are much more complex requiring more components and probably more transportation.

2. Is the energy savings enough to offset the impact of spilling mercury, one of the nastiest substances when the bulbs break? The thought of the spectacle of a team in hazmat suits to clean up a broken light bulb is a bit bizzare.

3. I had a CFL start smoking. I shut it off before it burst into flames. What is the impact on the environment when a home with all it's wood, nylon, paint, plastic and vinyl goes up in smoke? Do you get enough positive environmental savings from using CFLs to offset the occasional house or office building fire.?

Finally, I would LOVE to see the homes of the people pushing the CFLs on us. My bet is that they are lit up like Las Vegas.

[Old_Honky]

I believe that if you have any form of central heating then incandescent lamps are not going to increase your overall energy consumption. Their contribution to heating the room increases the temperature then the thermostat turns of the gas, oil, or electric heating system. This fact has not been taken into account by the pro CFL lobby.

Add to that the fact that incandescents are brighter, and they start intermediately with no slow build up; then I am forced to conclude that they should be the preference of any rational civilisation. IMHO CFLs are a dead end technology, LEDs may be the answer but so far I have not seen an acceptable LED replacement lamp for the standard incandescent.

[thecoalman]

2. Is the energy savings enough to offset the impact of spilling mercury, one of the nastiest substances when the bulbs break? The thought of the spectacle of a team in hazmat suits to clean up a broken light bulb is a bit bizzare.

Mercury evaporates, it's the vapor that is harmful. If you break one ventilate the room and clean it up with duct tape, seal everything in a plastic bag. The EPA recommends using a vacuum after that but not something I would do.

My understanding is there is so little mercury in one of these bulbs that even if you broke everyone it would still offset the amount of mercury that would have been put into the atmosphere producing the power they save. Keep in mind most of these are going to end up safely contained in a landfill. By using them you lowering mercury emissions.

I use them, the only issue I have with them is for outdoor use because I live in a colder climate.

[john_k]

LEDs may be the answer but so far I have not seen an acceptable LED replacement lamp for the standard incandescent.

Quantum-dot LEDs will be a great solution. The price is still very high because the industry is just starting and not scaled up yet. But using quantum-dots to change cheap blue LED light to white light is one of the most straight-forward applications of the QD technology and will be one of the first to go commercial.

[physorg.com...]
[en.wikipedia.org...]

Also look for quantum-dots to be used first for backlighting cell phone displays, and next for the entire display.

[MatthewHSE]

I hated CFL's until I became responsible for my own electric bill. ;) When I actually worked it out that we could have double the light for 25% of the cost (or something like that), we switched over every bulb in the house, except for the kitchen which has halogen track lighting. We're planning to update that to different fixtures sometime soon, so after that we'll be all CFL.

I particularly like the "daylight" CFL's. They often actually trick me into thinking sunlight is flowing into the room from a direction it has no right to be coming from.

[Essex_boy]

Laugh my head off at that ! Good Man.