Canada is banning the incandescent lightbulb

[The Judge]

TORONTO — Some are doing it to save the Earth and some are doing it to save a buck.

Everyone else still using traditional incandescent lightbulbs have until 2012 to comply with a government ban and embrace the new energy-efficient light bulbs known as the compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs.

Experts advise not to wait.

“If you replace one bulb today (with a CFL), it will still be running by the time the ban kicks in,” said Ron Cleary, chief buyer of electrical products for Home Depot Canada.

And in the long run, a houseful of the bulbs will save between C$50 and $60 a year in electricity costs.

People still not sold on the new bulbs might also consider a few facts.

Environment Canada says the fluorescent technology is much more efficient at converting energy to light.

Standard incandescent light bulbs waste up to 90 per cent of the energy they use producing heat, not light, which is why they’re too hot to touch.
That’s not the case with CFLs.

The inside of a CFL bulb is coated with phosphorous. Electricity vaporizes the slight traces of mercury inside, which reacts with the coating, producing light.

CFLs give off the same amount of light as a traditional incandescent light bulb, but use 75 % less energy and last 10 times longer — over 6,000 hours, or roughly five years.

That is why a 22-watt CFL has about the same light output as a 100-watt incandescent.

CFLs are now available for all kinds of residential and industrial applications.

And as consumers learn more about their advantages, the manufactorers come up with new products.

They give off light that looks just like the common incandescent bulbs, not like the “cool white” fluorescent lighting we often associate with hospitals and schools.

But all that comes at a price.

When they were first introduced to the market about five or six years ago, a single CFL light bulb cost about C$20.

Their price has now come down to about $2.50, which is still much higher than the 50 cents for a standard incandescent.

Although they are more costly, the energy savings can pay off the additional cost in less than two years when used in light fixtures that are on for more than three hours per day.

And most importantly, by consuming less electricity they reduce air and water pollution.

The reason they’re more expensive, according to Environment Canada, is because the CFL manufacturing process is more complex, requiring more electronic materials and higher product-inspection and quality-control costs.

Home Depot Canada says the sales of CFLs have grown 350 % 2004 to 2006.

The use of mercury in CFLs has raised some concerns among environmentalists and consumers and there are no government or provincial programs available to address the recycling of CFLs. Home Depot and Philips Lighting have announced they will test an in-store CFL recycling program this summer with the expectation of making it available nationally by 2008.

[Davydave]

I have already converted over to them.... when on sale in multi-packs they are roughly $1 each. The only ones that have failed are on a circuit that has a dimmer switch (which they don't like).

[guzzi]

wont graduate...

[revnecro1273]

if i am not mistaken, i believe australia had done that a while ago