The provincial government might have thought it had seen the light when it decided to ban incandescent bulbs, but some British Columbians are taking a dim view of the restrictions.
The ban’s first stage, which took effect Jan. 1, applies to 75-and 100-watt bulbs. It’s expected the prohibition will soon extend to 40-and 60-watt bulbs.
The objective -to save energy -is admirable.
Traditional incandescent bulbs are hugely inefficient, as much of the electricity they burn produces heat, not light.
Compact fluorescent lamps, which employ a curled, gas-filled tube, require far less power. Installing CFLs could reduce the average home lighting bill by 75 per cent.
As technology progress so will energy bulbs, I start using the Mini florescent Bulbs back in the late 80’s Roy. The company i worked for gave us a free rein too try many things. I had a work center that used at least 50 high pressure sodium lights we replaced them with the 30 watt mini Florescent and added motion sensors , We also added a few windows ( this was Inside Parking for 60 or more trucks ) . We a few other other additions to the building Power consumption dropped so much the Utility company came in and change the meter twice , We deregulation hit the utility company bought the building to house their vehicles .
When i Left i heard they were showing as a energy saving Building.
If they stifle Progress No one will take the initiative to save energy.
I used non conventional ideas in a commercial Building. Everyone laughed at first .
Motion sensor for lighting and bathroom fans
Occupancy sensors for heating and cooling Office space ( found in Motel rooms Now)
Occupancy sensors for lighting
Solar powered Lights above outside doors Motion sensor controlled
Led bulbs installed in exit lighting . anyway back then it was all available but no one used it , A few years later DDC controls came in .
DDC is to expensive for Most home use , As the smart Home people found out . But this will Change too .
Sorry i got rambling But i feel Incandescent lights will be a thing of the past as the Mini florescent light will be . I feel LED will be the future , Long and the short if they do not force the end of something people will continue to use the old and not try the new.
LOVE’ EM!! Except for some early, poorly designed CFL’s to replace 75 watt spotlights, I have had great success with them…just replaced the first regular one a few weeks ago after 4-5 years since installation.
My carriage-style front door lights used to have incandescent bulbs which would break at least 2-3 times/year when a drop or two of wind-driven rain dripped onto the bulbs while lit and HOT; CFL’s have been installed for 4-5 years with no replacements!!
I have visited several times my Grandparents are from the Northwoods. I considered moving there several times but for the cold. Sometimes I feel like I did in the winter with all the visitors.
It does not bother most Canadians ,
We are only 10% of the USA and we both are each others biggest trading partners.
Unfortunately most wounds are self inflicted .
TVs , cell phones and many other things are no longer Manufactured here .
It is getting more and more a world economy .
If we make it to hard here then the Manufactures will continue to move around .
Our Countries are still much better off then most others .
No two out of the 3 bad lamps cost over $8;00 each .
Years ago when I was an apprentice electrician.
My Brother said you can never afford to buy cheap tools they always cost more the the best ones .
To this day I always try to buy the best and it usually pays off.
Cost of various types of heat sources.
Many years ago I calculated the cost of BTU’s provided by Natural gas, Fuel oil, propane and electricity. In Alberta the cost worked out as follows:
Nat. gas 1
Fuel oil 2
Propane 4
Electricity 8.
My heating bill last month was $164.00 $28.00 for the gas and $136 for all the other stuff like taxes, transmission costs etc. The same heat from Electricity would be $224 for electricity along.
