Out with the old

[MotherBear]

Standard light bulbs to be switched off
5:00AM Wednesday February 21, 2007
By Greg Ansley

Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday announced that traditional light bulbs would be phased out within three years - a move he said would be a world first.

Under law, the super-cheap lighting will vanish from supermarket shelves by 2010, replaced by energy-efficient alternatives such as compact fluorescent bulbs.

Mr Turnbull estimated the move would slash Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by about 8000 tonnes a year in the five years to 2012.

In Wellington, Climate Change Minister David Parker said New Zealand was likely to implement similar measures.

More here .

[MotherBear]

Lightbulbs - making the switch
5:00AM Saturday February 24, 2007
By Simon O'Rourke

It may sound like a bright idea, but immediately replacing your entire household's lighting with energy-efficient bulbs may not be as immediately beneficial as some people might think.

While there is little doubt that New Zealand's use of old-style filament bulbs should be relegated to the dark ages, it seems rapid adoption of the new fluorescent bulbs needs to be treated with caution.

Climate Change Minister David Parker hinted as much this week when he was quizzed about a promise made by his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull.

In what was touted a "world first", Mr Turnbull promised incandescent lights in his country would be phased out by 2010, to be replaced by energy-efficient alternatives such as compact fluorescent bulbs.

However, Mr Parker took a more reserved approach. He said that while the benefits of fluorescent lights were obvious, "I don't think there will be an immediate ban [on incandescent bulbs]."

More here .

[MotherBear]

The debate still goes on.

Support split over ban on conventional bulbs
10:38AM Friday August 15, 2008

New Zealanders are split over support for the Government's move to make eco bulbs compulsory, as a warning is issued about the potential dangers of the energy saving lights.

Research New Zealand surveyed 500 people over the compulsory plan, to be implemented from next year, and found 46 per cent agreed with banning incandescent bulbs while 47 per cent disagreed. A further 7 per cent were not sure.

Research New Zealand director Emanuel Kalafatelis said while there had been vocal opposition to banning the bulbs, the poll showed there was an equally large but less vocal group who supported the ban.

People aged 15-29 were most likely to support the ban (67 per cent) while those aged 50-59 years were least likely to support it (31 per cent).

The research comes as the government's safety agency, Energy Safety, warns about potential hazards with the eco-bulbs.

The Dominion Post reported that Energy Safety had sent a memo to the Fire Service saying some bulbs had melted, blown up and blacked surrounding electrical equipment.

Fire Service national fire investigation manager Peter Wilding said staff had been warned to be "aware of the issue and pay particular attention to these faults".

"We do not know if there is a manufacturing fault, a user fault or a dud batch but we want to give the public assurance we are trying to be responsible."

A spokeswoman for Energy Minister David Parker told the newspaper Energy Safety had received 13 complaints about eco-bulbs in the past fortnight. However, none concerned serious problems and no structural fires had been reported.

- NZPA

From here.

[kokopeli]

I'm not sure that any Government should be dictating what light bulbs we can and cannot use....

....especially when you read stuff like this Warning on eco bulbs - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz

[SNataliaH]

Apart from all the health issues and environmental risks that have been associated with these 'friendly' lightbulbs, they are just no good!!

This decision was made before the change of government - it was made by the same government that thought global warming was not a priority issue; the same government that refused to sign the Kyoto protocol. Instead they distracted everybody with this stupid, and downright dangerous idea.

I'm in Australia at the moment and people are going around changing the lights for senior citizens. My grandmother no longer does much at night because the new bulbs are so dim she cannot see!!

We could not find any of the normal bulbs in the shop, and so tried out one of the new ones. We literally could not see to do anything - it was not possible to read (it would have been brighter if we'd just lit a couple of candles). I felt like I was on school camp, sneaking around with a torch after 'lights out'.

Now, I'm all for saving the world, but these new lightbulbs are a complete and utter failure.

Unfortunately, Australia has a long history of making utterly stupid decisions to give the impression they care so much more than other countries.