America’s ban on incandescent light bulbs, 16 years in the making, is finally a reality. Well, mostly.

Incandescent light bulbs are officially banned in the U.S.::America’s ban on incandescent light bulbs, 16 years in the making, is finally a reality. Well, mostly.

  • bob_wiley@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    11 months ago

    The first time I bought a CFL bulb that was supposed to last 10 years (or whatever the claim was), I turned the lamp on exactly 2 times and it blew. I was pissed, I spend like $15 on that thing. I bought an incandescent bulb to replace it for about $1, which lasted for years and years.

    The LED ones seem to be better, but I just talk to a co-worker who spent a bunch of time dealing with LED bulb issues. She thought it was the electricity in her house, because they were dim. Turns out replacing the bulbs fixed it.

    • apprehensively_human@lemmy.caEnglish
      14·
      11 months ago

      There’s a tradeoff with CFL bulbs between longevity and instant action. The normal expectation for a light bulb is to have it at full brightness the moment you flip the switch, but the first CFL bulbs to market often took minutes to reach peak output. Longer if they were cold.

      So to meet consumer expectations, manufacturers began designing bulbs that would, on ignition, damage themselves in order to reach peak output faster.

      It’s no wonder the CFL bulb failed as a product, you would either get a bulb that would never be bright enough when you needed it, or you got a bulb that would burn itself out just as quickly as any incandescent for twice the price.

      • bob_wiley@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        11 months ago

        I would have been fine with a slow startup. I was kind of expecting it and it’s something I could get used to. A $15 bulb that clams 10 years while burning out on the 2nd flip of the switch. Hell no.

        I have a feeling a lot of people had experiences like this and swore off any new bulb technology. Forced progress before a technology is ready can often stall progress long term as resistance to change builds up as a result of poor experiences. The most I see this kind of thing the more frustrated I get by rushing stuff out before it’s ready, especially when it’s pushed on the masses and not something for early adopters. Expectations are important and if you know you’re an early adopter you can better manage the disappointment when something sucks.

        • hdsrob@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          In 2008(ish) we rewired our house (built in the '20s) and replaced every fixture. We probably had 25 CFL bulbs (most in ceiling fans), and had no losses for the several years that we owned the house after that. But I remember paying way more for bulbs in years before that and having them all fail fairly quickly.